Profile of a painter:
John Horejs

by Matt Smylie

Recognition for many artists lasts only until they quickly lose their fame, money or interest—or all three.

Other artists, like Burley resident and painter John Horejs, enjoy all three for multiple decades, with the best years still ahead.

Born and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho, Horejs was introduced to oil painting in 1973 by his aunt, an amateur oil painter. Before that exposure, he said, painting had never interested him in the slightest.

“I was into cars and architecture in high school,” he said. “But I saw what she was doing and asked her if she would show me how to do it.”

With his aunt’s help, as well as classes at Brigham Young University and workshops with accomplished painters such as Sergei Bongart, Michael Lynch, Jim Wilcox and Olaf Moller, Horejs opened a gallery in Burley back in 1979. Horejs refined his approach, focusing on oil paintings of gardens, wildflowers, mountain ranges, deserts and cityscapes.

During his academic career at BYU, Horejs said many of his instructors warned him it was impossible to make a living as an artist and bored him with a focus on history and theory rather than the creative process.

"Wildflowers in the Hills" courtesy John Horejs 

“After I started watching other artists in their studios and found out they actually could make money doing it, that was very encouraging,” he said. 

As he received more and more recognition for his work, Horejs began making more money from his artwork than through his gallery, prompting him to close it in 1986.

“I remember when my first painting sold for $100, and I was really excited,” he said. “But eventually, I was able to spend more of my time, and make more, by just working on my art.”

Horejs’ art has been called many things throughout the years. He does use the plein air approach for some of his work, but other pieces are created within his studio.

“It’s hard to drag a large piece of canvas out there every time,” he said. “So I always make sure I have my camera with me. I’m always looking for the perfect composition.”

Some art collectors have called his artistic style “impressionist-realism”—a definition that makes Horejs wince.

“I don’t see any use in labels,” he said. “All that can do is limit what and where I do something. What if I decided I wanted to go out and do something completely different?”

“Different” is a word that can be easily associated with Horejs, as all his work is done on box canvases—designed to be hung without frames. The idea for the unusual format came from viewing box canvases hanging at a gallery in Seattle, he said.

“Now, leaving the border around the edge of the canvas is a signature for my pieces,” he said. “But doing so leaves a lot of options for the owner of the piece.”

"Colors in Summer Garden" courtesy John Horejs 

Horejs said different themes and subjects within his work are accepted to varying degrees, depending on where he’s selling it. His paintings of mountains have proved popular in the Pacific Northwest, while deserts are in high demand in the Southwest.
Wildflower art, though, sells briskly across the nation, he said.

“There’s something about wildflowers that appeals to everyone,” he said. “And it lets me play with the color and texture more than I would with the landscapes, where I want to interpret it literally.”
Varying his subject matter between snowy peaks and parched deserts is easy for Horejs and his wife, Elaine, as they spend their summers in Burley and winters farther south in Phoenix.

“That helps broaden my subject matter,” he said of both homes, each of which contain a studio. “And I’m glad I have both locations to work from, because I think it would be terribly boring to reinterpret the same subject over and over again.”

The studio in Arizona, Horejs said, has also allowed him to expand his audience as well, enabling his art to be sold throughout the country through the contacts he’s made there.

“That opened it up so I could go everywhere,” he said. “The name of the game is having a diversified market out there, where people can see it.”

With that exposure to a nationwide audience, Horejs said he is now able to focus on improving his work, rather than have to worry about finding buyers. Those interested in his work, he said, now know where to find him.

“Some people are going to like it, and some people are not going to like it. There’s a taste for everything,” he said. 

"Salmon River Sunrise" courtesy John Horejs 

For several years, Horejs taught occasional weekend workshops for aspiring artists, but preparation for the courses eventually proved too much work.

“I enjoyed the teaching, but it takes a month to prepare for a weekend class, and a month to recoup from it. So I had to drop it.”

Another item dropped from Horejs’ schedule is the grueling number of art festivals he has been attending. Instead of blitzing 16 shows across the country, he said culling the list down to five each year lets him concentrate on what really matters.

“I decided I had to stop the madness and focus on the quality of my work.” 

With more time to spend allowing his talent to mature, Horejs said he feels fortunate to be able to make a living off something he enjoys so much.

“I have the opportunity to look at a subject, dissect it, put it back together and present it to people who might not otherwise have that opportunity.” •