DOUBLE LIFE: Kane forester Keith Horn was featured in the fall
issue of Pennsylvania Forests newsletter not for his professional
skills but for his artistic skill.

We wish we could show you a couple of his sketches printed in
the magazine but, unfortunately, our format does not allow it.
Suffice it to say, his work shows off his artistic talents.

Keith is known to many in Bradford as the long-time forester for
the Bradford City Water Authority.

According to the story, Keith attended Penn State on a football
scholarship and graduated with a forestry degree in 1955.

He credits his early interest in art to his mother’s
encouragement. “She was a school teacher; she got me drawing
Christmas cards when I was about 15, and I’ve been drawing them
ever since,” he said in the article.

His late wife Phyllis had also encouraged his hobby over the
years.

Keith never received any formal training in art but has read
quite a few books on outdoor artists and their art over the years.
He likes water colors and pencil drawing best.

Keith credits his forestry knowledge and career in helping his
paintings be more accurate and true to form. Knowing the Allegheny
plateau forests as he does, he also tries to emphasize the
different aesthetic values of the forest stands.

“I like to include both conifers and hardwoods, mountains and
forest steams in my paintings,” he said.

Occasionally, he will use his artwork to educate and inform his
clients and the public about political and biological issues.
Topics such as over-browsing by white-tailed deer, past forest
history, tree diseases, salvage of tornado damage, the need for
good forest regeneration and wildlife trees have all been addressed
in his artwork.

Keith often carries a sketchbook into the woods to capture the
key elements that he needs to do a watercolor later on.

Interestingly, he says there’s an analogy between his art and
his college football career: “I enjoyed the challenges of football,
and I look at art as a series of challenges, too. You want to do
the best you can, like in a football game.”

“The different things you try to capture in a painting, such as
the mood of the scene, a storm approaching, or shadows on the snow
in the winter … these are some of the challenges I enjoy,” he
said.