Being an ‘Artrepreneur’ with UWG’s Horne Share this page
Jennifer Horne is the ultimate “artrepreneur.”
Oftentimes students may be discouraged by the business aspect of becoming an art major, but Horne, a painting professor at the University of West Georgia, continues to inspire her art students by showing it is a practical – and achievable – dream. From 3D printed and watercolor trays to mahjong mats and artisan scarves, Horne is always looking for ways to share her art and inspire those around her.
Horne has always had a business mind. She recalled a time when she and her childhood best friend created an at-home tie-dye business thinking it would take off.
“I was always just doing something,” Horne said.
Horne has spent her whole life as a creative yet has always had a diligent attitude towards the business side of arts. Now she’s able to share that driving passion with her students. An Auburn University B.F.A. alumnus, she returned to school at UWG for an art education certificate in 1996.
“Being a college art professor was what I always wanted to do,” Horne added, stating that was the reason she returned for her master’s degree.
Her most recent entrepreneurship endeavor started this past January with selling her own line of sketchbooks and then creating a logo for her brand. She landed on “House of Hearts,” an image based on her 1800s cottage where she resides.
After designing and creating her logo, Horne stumbled upon the mahjong community. As a businesswoman, she saw the playing mats and knew she could make them even better by combining them with her painting talent.
She started working out the kinks of selling a product through research, trial and error. In the meantime, she started selling scarves based on her paintings. Those scarves began to sell, which gave her more momentum for finalizing the production of these mats. Horne found a local printer, and started selling the mats on her website, www.houseofheartsstudio.com.
The mats gained popularity through social media. A customer with a substantial following posted Horne’s mats, and it received lots of hits. Horne understands the social media side of running a business. She has yet to pay for an advertisement. The skill of running a successful social media is wonderful to have in a professor, especially an art professor.
Her mats are designed by using adornments from her paintings.
“The weird thing is, I’m a figurative painter,” Horne explained. “I take the figure out and leave behind the background.”
The attention to detail in all of Horne’s artwork displays her devoted love for the arts. This is not just something she does to make money – it’s something she is passionate about, and the passion spills over into her classroom. She recently taught a watercolor class, and she and her students designed 3D watercolor trays that were intended to be portable and fit into small tins. She not only inspires her students to create, but she does it alongside them.
“I think it’s important for students to see that you can do things with your art other than being a gallery,” she said.
She also encourages her students to dig deeper within themselves and find their true purpose for being here. The better they understand themselves, the better they can understand their journeys.
“Until you know your why and the underbelly of it, it’s like you're lying to the canvas,” she posed.
Another way Horne encourages her students within the classroom is sitting down with her students to discuss important things they can do for their career outside of class. She explains to her students how to accomplish these topics, allowing an open discussion.
“In my advanced painting classes, I do what I call table talks,” she said. “And so I pick different topics, like applying to art shows.”
When asked what her biggest inspiration is for her art, Horne was quick to answer.
“My students, because they inspire me to just keep going,” she concluded. “I get excited to come to school, see my students and be a part of their journey and help them become the artists they want to be.”