ARTIST’S STATEMENT

Individual- Artistic- Creative- Expression

“Signing my work Nhorner, I began as a surrealist in my very early stages of artistic development. Then through High School I became a pure realist using color pencil and mixed media to create photo realistic highly detailed works from life drawings and photographic compositions. Being very passionate, poetic, and philosophical, I sometimes expressed deeper meaning in my titles and sometimes with the subject matter. In college I was exposed to more art and art history. At this time my influences and path of artistic development began to be evident. My work began to emulate Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla, and Edward Hopper. I began to paint in oils as the masters of impressionism, loosening my techniques, painting with less concern for detail, allowing the paint in all of its manifestations to convey my individual painterly illusion of a realistic image, in fact the painting becoming its own reality. As a contemporary artist, I am inspired by my surroundings. Southern California and Mexico offer beautiful subject matter. Each painting is romantically and energetically executed, each descriptive brush stroke a deliberate respected flowing action. I am a unique individual in time and space, documenting my worldview/ existence via creating original oil paintings, each being a, one of a kind, thing of beauty, and value for generations to come.”

PROFILE

“I was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on February 6, 1967. Of humble origins in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I have overcome much adversity. Life was challenging in those days for someone of my racial identity (Mulatto), I realized at an early age that I would need a creative vision in order to manifest my dreams. Acknowledged by my teachers and peers as an Artist, I was inspired to further develop my creative gifts. I am grateful to my High School art teacher for her support and guidance.

Through my desire to paint and draw, I received many local awards, TV, and press coverage - including recognition in the Lez Krantz, New York Art Review, 1990 edition. My early works were done in a Photo Realistic Neo-Folk style using Color Pencils. Broadening my horizons, I was accepted into Parsons American University Paris, and New York but I chose to attend United States International University in San Diego, California. The international campus environment expanded my mind, and encouraged my desire to experiment with new ideas. I began to paint in oils developing a style influenced by Edward Hopper and John Singer Sargent. A full time Painting and Drawing major, I painted for the Drama department as a "Scenic Artist". Living in San Diego, I began to surf, and work as a graphic artist for H-street Skateboard Company. I returned to Virginia in the early 90s due to the illness of my grandmother. While at home, I attended Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA majoring in painting, drawing, and printmaking. I was very prolific during this time and produced many paintings. Also under an independent study program, I developed a feature film production company called "Second Coming Productions". In 1993, I was awarded the honor of Golden Key National Honor Society membership in recognition of maintaining a 4.0 GPA. I also was involved in the production design of the, a "rock-u-mentary". It was released globally and was nominated for a type of Grammy, my name appears on the credits and I have a cameo in the film. I was commissioned to paint a (Tree of Life) mural at the Helen Woodward animal center in Rancho Santa Fe. I participated in the Sony Art Walk, of April 2000 in San Diego's Little Italy.

My work has been displayed at the CB Richard Ellis corporate office in Carlsbad, California for 6 months. I enjoyed an Internship with Vitro Robertson, a graphic design company; in downtown San Diego Oct-Dec 2000 at this time I was studying computer graphics courses at San Diego City College. The month of March 2001, I was honored to be the first artist to show at Café Lulu in the Gaslamp District San Diego. Donating my art to save the oceans, May 4th 2001 one of my paintings titled Baja Malibu, was auctioned off to benefit the Surfrider foundation and drew the highest bid. In The Center for the Moving Arts annual show 2001 in Hillcrest, I won best in the show and my art was on the cover of The Update Newspaper. August 2001 my art was on display at The Living Room Coffee House Point Loma, San Diego, CA. This show also drew media attention, and an interview in the Beacon, a regional newspaper. I am a member of The La Jolla Art Association and a member of the San Diego Museum of Art Artist Guild

I continue to be the Art Director of the East Village Coffee House in Downtown San Diego since 2000

On August 20^th, 2002, I underwent a cornea transplant, to remove a scar that has impaired my vision since 1997. My painting, The Meditation Garden, was juried into the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild Annual Exhibition and was on display at The Palomar College Boehm Gallery July-August 2002. Within the past year I have received Grants from New York’s Artists Fellowship Inc. and Change Inc. based out of Florida. The print, of my oil painting of the Old Point Loma/ Cabrillo Lighthouse, was approved by the National Park Service and is now being sold at The Cabrillo monument gift shop.”