Jesse Van Horne

Jesse Van Horne was born in Denver, Colorado in 1978 to parents who had spent time as Peace Corps workers in a small rural village in India during the Vietnam War. Both his parents were avid gardeners (they had been helping with agricultural production in India), and his father Brian was featured by the magazine Mother Earth News in the early 1980's for a passive solar greenhouse he designed and built from salvaged materials as an add on to the family home in North Denver. Jesse has many fond memories of that greenhouse, and of gardening in general thanks to his parents interests.

Fast forward to 1996, longing for adventure Jesse took a sojourn to Europe for two months and wandered through 10 countries, riding the trains, staying in hostels, and meeting other travelers from all over the globe. This had a profound impact on him and of the experience he later said "It really got me out of the "American Bubble" as I discovered first hand what a huge world there was out there". Upon returning to the US, still yearning for adventure and feeling restless, instead of choosing college like most of his peers he joined Americorps NCCC and continued his explorations in the NorthEastern United States where he worked on many exciting community building and disaster relief projects with various environmental and community based organizations.

Through all of his adventure and meandering he was always an artist, always creating something and he really kept his artistic ambitions alive throughout those early years with painting, drawing, writing and music/songwriting. After a series of odd jobs at factories and office buildings (and an attempt to get his pilot's license) he finally felt the desire to obtain a college degree. He struggled to decide on a major however, wanting to pursue so many different areas but finally settling on a Bachelor of Arts in English. He immersed himself in the world of poetry, literature and creative writing, and later turned down an opportunity for an MFA in poetry to switch gears and pursue an MLA (Master of Landscape Architecture), though he still actively writes poetry to this day.

After completing graduate school he worked with the National Park Service as a Landscape Architect for 4 years (which he described as his "dream job"). His time with the Park Service continued to fuel his wanderlust as he worked on projects all over the country in far flung locales like Death Valley, Big Cypress, Lewis & Clark, Capitol Reef, Shenandoah, and many other inspiring natural wonders. In 2012, after landing his first official commission for a public art installation, he walked away from his fledgling career with the Park Service to focus full energy and effort on various modes of artistic expression, running his art & design business Skullflower Design Studios.

Jesse is an active author, poet, singer/songwriter, painter, and illustrator. He is a commissioned artist in 3 distinct disciplines: painting, sculpting & illustration. An avid gardener and a constant student of philosophy, spirituality, mythology and religion, Jesse uses his various modes of artistic expression to deliver his findings to the world at large.

He visits his alma mater frequently to give poetry readings (one of his favorite things to do), and never turns down an opportunity to speak to students at colleges and universities about his writings and his artistic endeavors.

You can catch him at local book shops around Denver giving book talks or reading poetry.