Horton first began his studies in art at the Chouinards Art School in Los Angeles. At the age of twenty-one he left the school to serve in the post-depression army, whence his unit was sent to New Guinea in 1942. The war, the jungle, and the beauty of the environment inspired Horton to continue his art by carving on logs. In 1945 Horton returned to California to renew his studies of art. His experience in New Guinea had a profound effect upon his artwork, for he tended to look harder at everything he painted in order to truly grasp the reality and energy that lay within. Horton completed his studies at Pomona College and Claremont Graduate School, and then started his own art school in Claremont, which became quite a success. Horton later sold the school but continued teaching art in prep schools on both the East and West coasts until he recently retired from St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island. He currently resides in Arlington, VA and continues to exhibit his work.