ARTS + ENTERTAINMENT
KENT ARTIST PROFILE
RIC W. HORNER
KNOWN FOR HIS ENCHANTING DEPICTIONS OF THE AWE-INSPIRING KENTISH COAST, WHITSTABLE-BASED PAINTER RIC W. HORNER’ S LOVE OF ARTISTIC EXPRESSION HAS STAYED TRUE THROUGHOUT HIS INSPIRING JOURNEY. CREATING ATMOSPHERIC, BEAUTIFULLY MOVING LAND AND SEASCAPE PAINTINGS, HE ALSO GUIDES RISING ARTISTS TO EMBRACE THEIR TALENT AND INDIVIDUALITY.
Ric, tell us about your artistic journey.
I was a very keen painter from an early age and had great art teachers at my school in Margate. For me, the art room offered a degree of freedom not available in other subjects. I later studied graphics at Canterbury and then fine art at Exeter, situated near the inspiring Dartmoor National Park. This is where I developed a strong interest in landscape painting. After graduating, I moved up onto the moor and started making and selling my work locally and further afield in Bristol and London. I later moved to the capital and continued developing my art, setting up a studio in Tooting and qualifying as an art teacher for further education. Eventually, I decided to leave London and, having grown up on the coast, was drawn back to Whitstable in the late 90s. I had a clear aim of developing my painting practice, particularly in regard to seascapes, light and weather.
Do you have a creative process or any significant rituals you follow before beginning a piece of work?
My creative process is about reacting to a place, sky or atmosphere. I will make sketches and colour notes, plein-air, but I also paint from memory, since I tend to recall the details of importance and enjoy the process of reinvention in the studio. This affords me creative freedom and ideally to find a poetic interpretation of the subject.
You truly capture the outstanding beauty of Kent in your paintings. Have picturesque land and seascapes always been your greatest source of inspiration?
As a six-year-old, I can remember being amazed and fascinated by the towering white chalk cliffs at Botany Bay in Thanet. The way they dazzled in sunlight, combined with deep violet shadows, made a deep impression on me and I think underpinned my interest with light and colour. Kent has such a vast range of possibilities for a landscape painter- it is inherently picturesque and I try to reflect that in its interpretation.
Your paintings are all at once reminiscent of great 19th-century landscape painting and yet utterly modern; is this style deliberate or something that’ s developed?
I guess we are all forged by our environment, both in terms of education and culture. The history of landscape painting is well documented; it probably wouldn’ t be possible to make a piece without it drawing comparisons with what has creatively gone before. I and many others are using pretty much the same materials and techniques that were used 500 years ago, so there is an inevitable link in its results. I am not consciously painting in a style, just using techniques developed over centuries to communicate my fascination with light and landscape.
As an experienced art tutor, what’ s the one thing that you hope budding artists take away from their time at your studio?
Teaching art is an interesting process. We are all burdened with preconceptions about art and how one‘ fits in’ in some kind of imagined creative hierarchy. As a tutor, it’ s important to replace these obstructive ideas with new understanding, both technically and personally. Creativity is in all of us and
teaching is partly about the removal of inhibition and encouraging the student to overcome fear of failure and the judgement of others. Studying nature can be a useful way of overcoming these difficulties as it requires concentration and hopefully, for brief but significant moments, we forget the self, as we are often what’ s getting in the way of our natural ability. My one hope for a budding artist to leave with would be that they feel inspired and encouraged that with practice they can shut out the doubtful mind and suspend their disbelief.
Where can we find / see / purchase your work?
All original artwork, including prints, can be viewed and purchased online from my website, as well as via the British Contemporary online art gallery( britishcontemporary. art).
I hold regular open days, such as at the East Kent Artists Open Houses coming up on 11, 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 October 2025( ekoh. org. uk), and studio visits outside these days are welcome by appointment too. You can also email me at enquiries @ richorner. com or call 07835294317.
richorner. com
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