Sight and sound: Former illustrator plugs into deejaying
Former illustrator plugs into deejaying
 |
| Erica Burrus photo/ Jim Horne, an artist and graphic illustrator, talks about his passion for art. He likes to take an object, interpret it as he pleases and not worry about the end result. |
|
Jim Horne was a freelance graphic illustrator who created drawings for ad agencies based on clients' ideas. The art directors would show the drawings to clients to give them an idea of how an ad would look.
Computer technology made it possible for art directors to put together the tentative ads using stock photos.So Jim Horne fell back on his love of music and dance. He created his own business called Jim's Dances.
"Jim's Dances was a show, an experience, a thrill, something to look forward to - like a night club."
Horne rented out the Concord Farmers Club in South County and promoted Imperial Swing Dances. The evening combined dancing lessons, dancing demonstrations and dancing.
"I deejayed the dances and arranged everything from parking to the condition on the floor - the cleanliness of the bathrooms, the arrangement of the tables, the bar, everything," he said.
The dances were popular and went from one a month to several times a month and drew around 450 people at times.
"Being from Arkansas, I've always loved hillbilly country," he said. "I started dancing at the old South 40 on Butler Hill in 1986 - learned texas two-stepping there. I loved two-stepping."
In 1997, he started Imperial Swing Dancing at the South Side Swing Dance Club. He tried competing in dance competitions, but tired of rehearsing the same thing over and over.
Today, Horne conducts country western dances and deejays at Trinity Hall, 4689 N. Highway 94 in St. Charles. Every Wednesday from 6:30 to 10 p.m. people come out to have a good time and dance to Brooks & Dunn's "Boot Scootin' Boogie" and other country classics.
While dancing and deejaying, Horne's passion for art never left. He does commissioned pencil drawings and color portraits of people and pets to pay the bills the deejaying doesn't.
"He has the heart of an illustrator and the eye of a painter," said Bill Vann, a graphic illustrator and friend of Horne's.
In his free time, he enjoys the freedom to create abstract art for his own pleasure.
"I take objects that don't make sense maybe to other people and I interpret them how I feel like," he said.
Horne is an oddball when it comes to home decor and his Lemay home serves as a gallery. A tennis racket, minus the strings, sits in the bedroom. An octagon mirror with 16 forks attached to the sides hangs in the living room. And an item that resembles a flower made out of wires with balls and a tall paint brush is displayed in the back room.
"Jim is a character - he's a little bit different," said Larry Eaglin, Horne's friend.
Horne doesn't know what exactly inspired his passion for art - it's just an interest he had since childhood.
He recalled drawing pictures of his grandfather at age 7, he said.
Horne attended the Memphis Academy of the Arts - now known as the Memphis College of Art - a small, private college of art and design in Memphis, Tenn., for four years. In 1972, he received his bachelor's degree in painting.
He then headed to Paris where he studied under his mentor, Philip Keller, a famous illustrator throughout Europe. Then it was off to Germany, where he lived for 12 years. Horne returned to the U.S. in 1986 because he was tired of the rain and wanted to see the blue skies, he said. In St. Louis he has worked as a freelance graphic illustrator for firms that include Fleishman-Hillard, Waylon Advertising and J. Walter Thompson Co.
Horne's is now trying to showcase showcases his talents to realtors.
It's a common practice among some realtors to give a customer housewarming gift, often a portrait of the new home.
A friend suggested he show agents his portrait work to tap into what may may turn out to be a lucrative market for him.
Dancing, deejaying and art are actually only his latest gigs.
"I've been a carpenter. I've drilled for oil in Oklahoma. I've worked at airports, but I've never been a millionaire," Horne said.
For more information on Horne's art work or dances, visit www.jimsdances.com
