That was sure a busy time! This summer has been a whirlwind for me, with travel, painting and getting ready for my biggest show of the year, the Lake Country Art Walk, in early September. Check out my newsletter to see what I’ve been up to and what’s coming up!
Finding inspiration in the Yukon and Alaska
Behind the Art: Standing Strong
Come see me at Lake Country Art Walk!
Finding inspiration in the Yukon and Alaska
This summer I have been doing a lot of travelling — all the way from southern British Columbia to Alaska and back in a 29-foot trailer. I thought you might be interested to know a bit about my trip.
We started in Cache Creek, BC and drove up Highway 97 to Mile Zero of the Alaska Highway, which is in Dawson Creek, BC. From there we drove the entire length of the Alaska Highway (2,237 kilometres!), then kept driving to explore some amazing places in Alaska like Denali National Park, Seward, Homer and many more. Our time in the Yukon was also amazing, visiting places like Kluane National Park, the Whitehorse area and Liard Hot Springs (OK, that’s in BC, but it’s close to the Yukon!).
Along the way I saw a lot of beautiful landscapes and wild animals. And of course it’s not possible for someone like me to see all those great sights and not do something with them. So as I travelled, I set up my easel many times and in many interesting places. If you followed along with my adventures on Instagram you would have seen some of those places.
No trip that long comes without some misadventures, and we had our share. The biggest was when we were cruising down the highway just outside Kluane National Park. We had just remarked on how beautiful the area was when our trailer suddenly lurched sideways. What was that? We looked back and saw pieces of one of our tires flying off onto the highway. Long story short, we had blown a trailer tire. We spent four hours on the side of the highway before we got going again, and our trailer now has some denting and damage to remind us of the experience (not that we need any reminders!) We also drove without trailer brakes for several thousand kilometres before we could make repairs. That was exciting!
The good news is that the landscapes and animals I saw this summer will definitely make their way into my future paintings. The misadventures…not so much.
Have you ever driven to Alaska? If so, let me know what your favourite part of the trip was!
Behind the Art: Standing Strong
People often ask me why I chose to create a painting or what a painting means. I thought you might be interested to know a little about one of my recent paintings, Standing Strong (which will be featured at the Lake Country Art Walk in early September).
Standing Strong is part of my Wild Essence series. The painting is on canvas and I used oil paints for it, the medium I like working in the best. It’s 24 inches tall by 36 inches wide, which is a good size for almost any space — living room, bedroom or office. Looking at it, I’m transported to the wilderness and I can feel the animal’s hot blood coursing through its veins.
Why did I choose a moose as a subject? To me, the moose is a symbol of strength in a world that can seem, at times, chaotic. Their legs are long, their bodies enormous, yet they stand firmly. They are huge and can be fierce — even deadly — if backed into a corner, yet they are vegetarians, happiest when they are quietly eating marsh grasses and plants.
If the moose I painted could speak, I think it would probably say something like this: “I have a tough, thick hide, but I have many scars. I won those scars through hard experience, staking out and defending my place in the wilderness. I wear my scars proudly. And I stand firmly in a world that sometimes moves more quickly than I would choose…if I were given a choice.”
What do you see when you look at Standing Strong? What does the moose mean to you? I’d love to know!
Lake Country Art Walk
Great news! I’m going to be in one of BC’s largest art shows in early September. And if you come and visit me at the show you can enter a draw to win a free print of one my paintings!
The show is the Lake Country Art Walk. It will be held September 7-8 in Lake Country, BC (in the Winfield part of Lake Country). The theme of this year’s show is Art For A Changing World. How appropriate for my recent work, which features wild animals standing strong amidst the swirl of a world that sometimes feels a little chaotic.
The show is huge — it’s held in two side-by-side schools joined by a curved sidewalk and a foot bridge over a creek. It features more than 200 artists, all of whom must apply and go through a jurying process before being accepted for the show.
I will be in the HS Grenda Middle School, right inside the door as you enter. I’ll be displaying my Wild Essence series and my Little Birds series. You may have seen paintings from those series online, but believe me, art is always better in real life!
Besides my work (though why would you want to see anything else, lol!), there are lots of other things to see and do at the Art Walk. Things like a paint off, in which three artists complete an on-site painting of the same subject in 15 minutes, and the quick draw, in which eight artists complete a painting in one hour. There’s also food and music and, of course, a lot of art. And admission is only $2! How can you go wrong?
If you can’t make it to the show, you can still enjoy my paintings online at www.dianaskelhorne.com. And if you’d like to add a little colour and wildness to your life, you can also buy prints on high-quality art paper and canvas there for a very reasonable price.
Thank you for reading my update newsletter! Get in touch if you have questions, feedback or want to talk.
If you know anyone who would enjoy or benefit from the content in this newsletter please forward it to them. And be sure to visit me online:
Website: dianaskelhorne.com
Youtube: Make Art With Diana
Instagram: @dianaskelhorneartist
Comments