Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Horner, ButterMsBagel.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
As a young kid, I became extremely fascinated watching my brother and father challenge each other in drawing, pushing one another to become a better artist. Knowing I couldn’t draw like them at my age, I would often hide away in my room with my crayons, watching Disney movies and drawing from my own imagination. My mother told me that one day I would be better than them, but even till today, I work to outdo myself, changing my styles and developing new methods of expressing my passion.
In school, I thought drawing was something of the norm. It always amazed me when fellow students would gather around my desk just to watch me draw and ask me to create images of their favorite cartoons. It wasn’t until middle school, I had a teacher who realized my potential and pushed me to further my art. I would soon send my art to showings and win awards for the ones I would enter. I knew in high school that all I wanted to do was focus on my art. My teachers would often get upset with me for drawing during class. However, doodling on my papers paid off when I won awards like, best of show for “V.A.S.E.”, “The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo”, and became one of the first in my school district to obtain a Letterman jacket for art.
Coming out of high school and moving on to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I just wanted to do “art”. My dream was to be an animated artist and create concept art for video games, so I took classes that helped develop my graphic media understanding. Everything from filming, to 3D modeling, a whole new world opened up for me. I soon found myself creating logos for local bands, DJ’s, and companies in the Houston area, pushing me to develop my own line of t shirts and understanding the art game a bit more.
Along the way I found myself more involved in the haunted house industry and became the art director for “The Dungeon of Doom”, located at The Kemah Boardwalk. I found a way to act, create, and learn special effects makeup all in one. Since then I had the opportunity to even work in “The House of Torment of Austin”, one of the top-rated haunted houses in America.
I began to look for professions that were centered around art, so I taught acrylic paint classes and learned to custom frame artwork. These all became building blocks for the artist I am today.
Please tell us about your art.
For a while, I focused on proportions of the human figure, because I really enjoyed doing commissioned portraits for friends. I soon became bored with the lack of exaggeration in style, so I went on to explore different medias and combined them in any way I could. I would study works of art from Dali, Alex Grey, and of course the masterpieces of Michelangelo and Da Vinci.
Much of my art is centered on religion, spirituality, and unity. The main being unity. I work to portray how everything plays a part in this world and the interconnected realm of consciousness. I usually will have an idea in mind, but more often than not, I just begin to explore my emotions with colors, marks, and textures. I begin building layers of pastels to lay a foundation of expression, then move on to the details with color pencils. When I feel that I have a strong conceptual idea of what I’m looking for, I then move on to painting over the already existing image, or enlarging the image on a bigger platform. Sometimes I will have a large image in mind, but will study each part in smaller pieces until I feel it’s ready to stitch together.
I often get asked, “What is the meaning behind the number 333?”, that I always have somewhere in my art. The number signifies the holy trinity number, and messages from the spirit guides. I feel that art is a holistic journey that flows from a higher conscience awareness and portrays every emotion that the creator is going through at that given time. It’s almost liked a story. I enjoy the symbolism behind meaning and work to include hidden messages in all of my art.
The biggest thing I want others to take away from my art is to explore a different idea of reality and to understand that not all of what you see is real or has the meaning you have come to understand. The vision has ways of playing tricks on you and personally, I enjoy creating an illusion of what’s not really there.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Being an artist means sacrificing a lot of your time from your friends and family to create your artwork. It can be challenging and indeed can be very lonely. Spending hours on end in a studio surrounded by your own ideas and thoughts can be quite consuming. One thing, I have found that helps the chaos of the artists mind is going out and connecting with like-minded people, those who also have a passion to create. It’s funny because when you socialize with people about what you do and they are not a part of the art world, there can often be a lack of understanding about the struggle. Artists get artist.
That’s why we flourish in groups and need each other to push ideas back and forth to. I recommend going to any art shows you can, even if you don’t have anything to show at the time. It can be a great way to promote yourself and meet people who share the same interest. Social media is also another wonderful way to connect with others. I’ve met many artists around the world who are open to discussing their techniques and ideas and offering critiques on how to improve your work. There’s also a lot of podcast that share interviews with different artist and it really helps you to understand that all artist thinks alike, even if your styles are not of the same.
If I had any piece of advice when I first started doing art, to where I am now, it would be, “Refuse to quit!”
Sure there are times when you get stagnant and you just need some time to gather inspiration, but even if it’s a small sketch to get you started, don’t stop. There’s going to be many people out there who think you are crazy for pursuing art as a profession, but there are also twice as many people who want you to achieve your goals and ambitions.
The successful artist isn’t built overnight and your methods are not going to stay the same, but the trick is to keep coming up with new ideas and pushing the ones you have learned along the way. Many artists fall off, because they give up too quickly or stop creating because nothing is happening for them. Networking with other artists and galleries will also help build up confidence, because you start to understand how the game works and what the viewer is looking for, especially if you are targeting a specific crowd. If you have the passion for art and you love the feeling you get from it, as long as you continue to grow and look for ways to get out there, it will happen for you. Never give up on your dreams. They will take you further than you will ever know.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I attend gallery shows in Houston as often as I can to meet local artist to gather inspiration from. I’ve shown at Houston events like RAW, The Hardy and Nance Studios, and other local galleries in my area. Most of my art is displayed online via Instagram and Facebook (WWW.Instagram.Com/ButterMsBagel and my Facebook. www.Facebook.Com/ButterMsBagel.), as I’m working to launch a website to sell my works from.
All pieces are available for purchase and I’m always open for commissions. I enjoy the support from all my fans and any ideas they have to keep the creative juices flowing. The best way you can support my art, is to promote it, or let me know about any upcoming shows. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the studio working on new ideas, so I’m itching to get out and attend.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 8329498622
- Email: ButterMsBagelDesigns@Gmail.com
- Instagram: WWW.Instagram.com/ButterMsBagel/
- Facebook: WWW.Facebook.com/ButterMsBagel/
Image Credit:
Photos taken by Michael Horner, Rose Horner, and Frida Aguirre.
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
