Biography:

Diana Skelhorne is a 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. A graduate of the Milan Art Institute's Mastery Program, 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 instructional videos through her Make Art With Diana YouTube channel.

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Diana's interests are eclectic. A lover of wilderness and the outdoors, she has most recently focused on painting animals, reflecting their wild spirit and inner complexity.

Diana was formerly an Artist in Residence at the Leir House Cultural Centre in Penticton as part of the Penticton and District Community Arts Council’s Artist in Residence program. She was also a partner in Penticton’s Front Street Gallery from 2019-2020.

 

Diana’s work has been featured in many solo and multi-artist shows, including the Lake Country ArtWalk in 2012, 2017 and 2018, the Chroma art show in Penticton in 2020 and the Mélange art show in Penticton in 2021. Her work is featured in public venues and private collections in Canada, the U.S. and Europe and she has been commissioned to create original works on many occasions.

 

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.