Biography:

Diana Skelhorne is a Penticton, British Columbia-based artist.

Diana has been an artist since her earliest days, supported and encouraged by elders and teachers who quickly recognized her talents. She has continued to develop her abilities and hone her craft studying under a number of well-known artists in classes, workshops and retreats. In turn, Diana has shared her knowledge with younger generations and other artists, conducting workshops, teaching one-on-one and creating an ongoing series of instructional videos through her Make Art With Diana YouTube channel.

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Diana's interests are eclectic; she expresses herself through abstracts, landscapes, portraits and character studies. Her preferred media are acrylic and oil on canvas, but Diana also incorporates natural elements — rocks, leaves, grasses, shells — when inspiration, opportunity and serendipity converge.

Diana is an Artist in Residence at the Leir House Cultural Centre in Penticton as part of the Penticton and District Community Arts Council Artists in Residence Program. Her work is featured in a number of public venues and private collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe and she has been commissioned to create original works on many occasions.



 

Diana is a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.

 

Artist’s Statement:

While the world is most often expressed in three dimensions, I believe there are depths and hidden corners to nature we have not yet begun to understand, let alone explore. Painting offers me an avenue into those hidden corners — a way to go beyond what appears obvious on the surface and express the inner spirit of my subject.

Painting landscapes and abstracts, I strive to reflect not only what I can see, touch, hear and smell, but also what I perceive lies at the deeper, essential core of nature. I love to hike — to seek what Thoreau referred to as “the tonic of nature” — and my work often reflects the sense of motion I feel walking on a trail. My brushstrokes are quick and sharp, mirroring my footsteps. The colours I choose are vibrant and rich — not always the colours seen in nature, but the colours I feel in the presence of my subject, the warm, the cool, the unclassifiable.

More than anything, my work represents my yearning to share the vibrance, life and movement of a scene that at first blush appears calm, serene and inert.