Artist brings Vinsanity to Odessa

Randall "Ran" Horn knew his time in Van Horn had run its course.

The artist says his Van Gogh Gallery was so cluttered it looked more like a junk store than an art gallery.

"I wanted to get back to the art," Horn said.

An elected leader of the city of 2,400 was causing Horn, 56, "misery" because of the painter's strong views against President George W. Bush, Horn said. And then there were the walks in the desert, where Horn collected thousands of arrowheads. While he enjoyed the walks, there was one problem.f

"I was spending so much of my time doing it," he said. "That's partly why I've stayed skinny."

So Horn decided to return home. He grew up in Odessa, where he graduated from Permian High. From there he headed to Henderson, in East Texas, where he studied at a seminary. He went on to become a Baptist minister in Dallas and Southwestern Oklahoma.

But, ultimately, Horn decided that the clergy wasn't for him. Now he doesn't even go to church.

"I feel like when I attend church, I'm actually disobeying (God)," he said. "Do nothing for show."

VINCENT VAN HORN

Horn had always loved art. He picked up some painting tricks by watching the late Bob Ross on public television.

One day while living in Minnesota, Horn saw a gallery of reproductions of Vincent Van Gogh's masterpieces in the Mall of America. He was hooked.

"I can see what he did in 10 years," Horn said. "It amazes me what he did with the things going on in his life."

So Horn began using his artwork to pay tribute to Van Gogh. Some of his works are direct reproductions of Van Gogh paintings; others try to show what Van Gogh might do in West Texas.

Others, like "Vincent's Parlor" and "Vincent's Gallery," incorporate up to 25 elements from Van Gogh paintings. Horn said he wouldn't sell those two works for less than $50,000.

"I let him be my teacher," Horn said of Van Gogh. "I'm not him. I don't claim to be."

Other paintings in Horn's gallery are available for much less, with prices for prints starting at $15.

Horn's love of Van Gofgh eventually led him to open his gallery in Van Horn. He chose the town, located 170 miles west of Odessa and 120 miles east of El Paso, because it draws traffic from Interstates 10 and 20, and then there was the name.

"I'm Ran Horn from Van Horn," he said. "It makes it easy for people."

The gallery in the remote city brought Horn notoriety everywhere from the Los Angeles Times to Texas Monthly to Texas Country Reporter.

He also had well-known customers. Horn said Dwight Yoakam bought four paintings while in town for the filming of the 2005 film "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada." George Rodrigue, the artist of the "Blue Dog" paintings, has a couple of Horn's works in his home.

And Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach drove 300 miles from Lubbock to commission Horn to do a Van Goghish likeness of the eccentric coach.

Leach said Thursday that he first heard of Horn's work on, "some kind of show - ‘Texas Highways' or something or other - where they show the biggest ball of yarn.'" 

It made him want to make the trip to Horn's gallery.

"I bought a couple of 'em, and it was really interesting to go down to his store and check out his stuff," Leach said.

Horn presented Leach with the finished product, which immortalizes the coach wearing a straw hat, at a practice last spring - about two years after first talking to the coach about it. Horn remembers standing next to Red Raiders quarterback Graham Harrell and receiver Michael Crabtree, who finished fourth and fifth in Heisman Trophy voting, respectively, in 2008.

"That was a hoot," Horn said.

Now, the painting is a "conversation piece" for those who come into the football offices. Leach said it even helps out in recruiting players to Texas Tech.

Leach said he had one disappointment, that Horn didn't cut his ear off - similar to Van Gogh's "Self Portrait with Bandaged Ear."

Horn said he's working on that one. But he's already got another piece ready for Leach - this one a painting of Van Gogh with black eyes.

"This must be how it feels after a UT or OU dustup," Horn said.

Leach said Horn could have a future doing sports-related work in a Van Gogh style. He sees it lending itself to athletic themes, in a way similar to LeRoy Neiman's work.

But, while Leach made a special trip, most of his customers were just traveling through Van Horn. Horn said he didn't see much repeat business. Marfa, the artists' haven located about an hour down Highway 90, it ain't.

TIME TO GO

Horn said he thought of moving his gallery to art-heavy Taos, N.M. But ultimately he decided on Odessa, somewhere that's less-than-fully exposed to culture.

"I got to looking - 100,000 people in this town, and I didn't see a gallery," he said.

Plus he could save money by staying with his mother.

"That sort of cuts me some slack there," Horn said.

Horn is still working to get his gallery open. He hopes to have the new store, located in the Sherwood Village Center at 621 E. 42nd St., open by the start of the New Year. But he's not rushing it.

"One thing I don't believe in is having a heart attack over things," Horn said. "I'm not having a heart attack over this."

Since art hasn't made him rich, Horn's taken a second job working 12-hour shifts as a corrections officer at the Reeves County Detention Center in Pecos, even though he doesn't believe in prisons. Horn was in town but hadn't started his shift when a riot broke out Dec. 12. So he watched the events unfold from a rooftop.

"I wish I had my camera with me," Horn said. "I had some ideas for paintings."

Though the store isn't officially open, Horn has many paintings on display. And not all of them are Van Gogh related. He said his work is also inspired by the likes of Rembrandt, Franz Kafka and Leo Tolstoy.

There's the eight-foot-by-one-foot painting of Guadalupe Peak - an example of the "panoramic" style Horn now favors.

There is a sarcastic jab at Thomas Kincaid, using the heavily commercialized artist's face as a "pretty little house."

Horn has another painting that pays tribute to two other artists who influenced him, the self-explanatory "Picasso shoots Norman Rockwell."

And then there is "Bush fiddled," which compares the president, wearing an olive leaf crown and toga, to the Roman emperor Nero. Bush plays the violin with Sept. 11 images of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon burning in the background.

Horn said it's not meant to specifically target Bush; it was just something he wanted to get off his chest.

"He is a metaphor for all of us," Horn said. "We were all fiddling."

But going against the grain in "Bush Country" wouldn't be unusual for Horn. He said he's never been into talking about what shows he's done or awards he's won.

"I consider myself an outsider artist," Horn said. "I'm not going to do things the traditional way."

"I'm not a person that's into fashion," he said.

The gallery also includes items Horn has collected, from boxes of rocks and arrowheads, which he says were all carved by American Indians, to cases of old soda bottles.

THINKING OF OTHERS

Part of the reason Horn is opening the gallery is to allow other area artists to show there. Unlike galleries that charge artists commissions, Horn said he'll let those who display with him keep the full amount of their sales.

Ultimately, he'd like to have 50 artists displaying in the gallery on walls set up within the store. He said the works don't need to be anything like his art - he welcomes everything from Southwestern art to sculptures.

"I want this to be a place where there's no telling what you're going to see," Horn said.

So far, two artists have taken Horn up on his offer. Glenn Lackey, who works largely in oil paintings, is among them.

"I think it's about time to have a place like that in Odessa to show your art," Lackey said. "There are a lot of artists in Odessa who would love a place like that."

Lackey said he's grown tired of local museums requiring him to show a "resume" of the galleries he's shown his work. He doesn't understand how he's supposed to develop a resume when he can't get museums to show his work so that he can build one.

"I think Ran's got the right idea," he said, recalling the first time he saw Horn's gallery going up.

"I was delighted," Lackey said. "I just saw the building and saw the word ‘art,' and I made a detour to check it out."

Horn said he's back in Odessa for the "long haul," even if the economy is down.

"This might not be a good time to be starting a gallery," he said. "But I'm not looking at it as a way to make money. It's a labor of love."

But he can count on one customer.

"I'll definitely peak in there," Leach said. "He's a very interesting guy with an interesting background. I enjoy his friendship."

In some ways, Horn still feels like he's calling folks to the congregation.

"I still consider myself a preacher," he said. "I just do it though my art and just talking to people."