Persian-born Hooshang Khorasani left his home country to spend about 10 years in southern Spain, where he worked as a graphic designer and also in interior design. While visiting his brother in Ruston, he met Sallie Rose Hollis, who would become his wife in 1992.

“Just as we met, I was preparing to go to California for a job. I wound up staying another two months as our relationship developed before going on to California,” Khorasani said.

The couple married in Santa Fe, N.M., in 1992 and for some time thereafter had a long distance marriage with Khorasani in California and Hollis remaining in Ruston. Eventually, in 1993, Khorasani moved back to Ruston, where the couple still reside and he works as a professional artist maintaining working studios in Ruston as well as Orange County, Calif.

“When artists are asked at what age their career began, many times they will say 6 or 7 years old. I do think that is often the case because if someone has the desire and ability to make art at that age, it shows they can deal with the trials that may come later in the life of an artist. This was how it happened with me. Truly, my art career began when a newspaper published one of my drawings at the age of 7,” Khorasani said.

Enrollment in a special arts-centered high school followed, then college and a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in painting.

When asked for their influences and inspirations, most artists will cite any number of masters. However, Khorasani did not follow any specific artist.

“In my three years of classes at my artscentered high school, we worked in a group studio every day. During this time, we had a lot of teachers coming from the school of art at a neighboring university. There we learned the basics of art. Then, at the end of those three years and during four years of college, I started establishing my own style of work that has continued to evolve over the years,” Khorasani said.

The majority of his work these days is focused on horses and landscapes. His equine portraits go beyond the normal representation of realism found in most Western art.

Khorasani’s “work reflects a bold contemporary style with hues that alternate between muted and highly energized. He paints on canvas, board and paper using acrylic, oil, pastel, charcoal and pencil. The work ranges from brush work to washes to work done with a palette knife.

Khorasani’s work is in permanent collections in England, Spain, Belgium and across the United States. His gallery affiliations have included the prestigious Tamarack Gallery in Naples, Fla., as well as the Wade Gallery of Fine Art in San Antonio

and the Cottage Gallery in Laguna Beach, Calif. He is also well-represented in the collections of Club Mirafloras in Spain and the collections of Holiday Inn, Regions Bank, The Lake Eustis Museum of Fine Art, Keathley University Center at MTSU in Tennessee and Taylor’s Contemporanea of Fine Arts in Hot Springs, Ark. He has been awarded Best of Show and Best of Category at various events across the country. In 1999, his work was chosen for the show poster and postcard at the Historic Shaw Art Festival in St. Louis, Mo.

Locally, his work has been featured at the University Center Art Gallery at Louisiana State University in Shreveport and in a current exhibition at The Agora Borealis at 421 Lake St., Shreveport’s exciting new venue for local arts and artists. Call for schedule at 268-3011.

“I was introduced to Hooshang Khorasani’s work through another artist, whose taste I respect. Upon seeing just a few of his pieces, I realized it is some of the most fluid abstract Impressionism out there. His skill is comparable to the best in North Louisiana, and he shows great passion for his work. Everyone enjoys the rich colors and motion his paintings capture. We are excited to share his work on our gallery wall in February,” said The Agora Borealis owner Katy Larsen.

When asked what he gets from his art, Khorasani said, “Almost everything.”

“If I can’t work for a while, it seems as if something is missing from my life. Speaking of using the word ‘creating,’ I’ve always thought that because we are a part of creation ourselves, the only thing we can do is discover. This includes not only art but also science and anything else that we humans are involved with on this planet,” Khorasani said.