Richard Horner is a self-taught artist based in West Cornwall. It was a result of moving there in 2014 that painting became the medium through which he expressed his creativity. Frequent walks along the many coastal paths provided inspiration along with the works of Edward Seago and Edward Wesson. Initially painting in water colours, Richard wanted to be bolder and more dramatic, so he switched to painting in oils.
His first accolade was the annual Sunday Times Watercolour Competition. The next step was the Royal Society of Marine Artists open entry exhibition. Although not particularly interested in paintings of ships, he did find the work of some of the RSMA members quite inspiring. The work of Deborah Walker really impressed him with her light filled canvasses, David Curtis’s masterful oils and Tim Hall with his Mousehole sailing scenes.
In 2016 he submitted three paintings for the RSMA annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries and had one accepted. Since then, he has exhibited at the RSMA exhibition every year other than lockdown year.
After applying for membership in 2019 he was granted first associate membership and then full membership. He continues to exhibit at the RSMA at the Mall Galleries annually.
Richard Horner is in a tradition of artists being drawn to Cornwall. Why should this be so? Denys Val Baker in his seminal 1950 book: Britain’s Art Colony by The Sea, got it right when he wrote:” it is something very deep rooted in the landscape, that complex world of granite cliffs and wild seas, lonely moors and weather-beaten cottages, white beaches neighbored by cruel rocks lurking in green -eyed seas”.