Website: https://www.MyArtClub.Com/Linda.Skalenda

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Linda Skalenda: The Artist

Colour. Drama. Nature. And more colour.

These are the things that not only influence and inspire Linda Skalenda, but also drive her with such a passion that a fresh canvas is the beginning of a new relationship.

I get excited when I get an idea for a painting. It stirs something inside me and it feels almost like falling in love, and I have to start painting the scene To see where it takes me.

Linda is primarily a landscape painter, except for the times when an interesting cow, seal or heron captures her attention; however, her landscapes are anything but typical. Gentle, rolling hills in pastel colours are not for her.

I need to bring out the drama of the scene. I need to capture the excitement of a weather-twisted arbutus tree growing out of the rocks and hanging precariously over the ocean surf.

Linda captures the startling rays of light that penetrate the dense coastal rain forest; she deftly interprets the dancing red and pink waves of poppies in an overgrown field. Her eyes see colour and gradations of shadows they create paintings in her mind's eye that beg to be splashed across a blank canvas.

Her mediums are acrylics and oils: both for their bold colours, and oils especially because they leave the imprint of the brushstroke a reminder of the labour of the artist. In Linda's case, a labour of love.

Linda Skalenda: The Person

We're all artists

Linda believes that maxim deep in her soul. When she was a child, she was allowed to explore the artist inside her by her grandmother, who had been trained as an artist in England and by her mother, who loved art so much that she filled the house with reproductions of the masters rented from the Victoria Public Library.

When she was eight years old, her mother enrolled her in youth art classes at the Victoria Art Gallery; Linda thought she had entered heaven: there were crayons and paints, paper and craft supplies, there was everything a little girl with a creative bent could hope for. She was fearless: she knitted, made jewellery and created pictures with seashells. Everything she touched became a work of art, even the meals she cooked.

When she married and had children, she focussed her attention on her family and didn't fully come back to art until her children entered university. Then, the first thing she did was enrol in a watercolour course.

I was hooked! I jumped in and found a new love.

When she mastered the art of watercolours, she moved on to pastels a new love: pure pigment on a stick. Her excitement grew , and so did the enthusiasm of her friends and family who started buying her work and passing on her name to others.

But Linda was looking for more. She began to crave the feel of brushes in her hands and the intimate connection she could forge between the canvas and viewer. She taught herself to paint with acrylics and then oils. Although she is largely self-taught, she also took advantage of opportunities to attend workshops with artists she admired. While she worked she began to place her paintings in exhibitions. At her first one in 1999 she won an award of excellence. Art was no longer a hobby: it was her new career.

When you can find something that you love that much and be able to support yourself with it, you are blessed.

Linda's career has spiralled upward rapidly. This year (2014 - 2015) she is the resident artist in her own gallery at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. Many doors are opening for her and her incomparable, colourful, heartfelt art.

Having been given so much, Linda also wants to give back.

I want to share. I want to see other people get as excited as I do. At some point in the future, I will teach because I love to share.

Website lindaskalenda.com

FILBERG FESTIVAL Comox ,BC -FEATURED GUEST  ARTIST August 4th-7 BC Day Long weekend 2017 Four Days of Art ,Music and food! In the Gorgeous Filberg Grounds and Gardens. Artists comments: fabulous time meeting new people ,  thank you to all in making my show a successful experience !!

EMPRESS HOTEL SOLO GUEST RESIDENT ARTIST from November 2014 until October 2015 

 NEW!!! MICHELANGELO GALLERY in Calgary opening June 2015 pleased to announce I will showing my work there

Horticulture  Center August 2014

UP coming show MOSS STREET PAINT-IN July 19 2014

Resident Artist at the INN at LAUREL POINT for the month of JUNE 2014

ECLECTIC GALLERY SOLO SHOW FEB-MARCH 8 2014

ECLECTIC GALLERY small works NOV-DEC 2013

MORRIS GALLERY- November 2013

SIDNEY FINE ART 0ctober 2013

Moss Street Paint-In 2013

Arts and Music in The GLENDALE GARDENS 2012 is happening the weekend August11&12 with 60 artists plus music and delicious food not to mention beautifull gardens to explore

BRITISH COLUMBIA MAGAZINE sales of art cards and art prints

visual art event, the TD Art Gallery Paint-In is celebrating its 25th Anniversary! So mark your calendar and plan to stop by and say hello on Saturday July 21,between 11 and 4:30

GORGE ON ART SHOW June 23,2012 11-4:30 artists set up along the Gorge walkway

12TH Anniversary Show opening at MORRIS GALLERY Friday March 2nd 2012 7-9PM Reception,

Autumn Show at MORRIS GALLERY 2011

- SOLO SHOW Featured artist for month of June 2011

GORGE ON ART July 2nd 2011,11-4PM Set up on the beautifull Gorge Walkway Seee you there!

GLENDALE GARDENS VICTORIA AUGUST 6& 7th 2011

I Won't see you at The Moss Street Paint-In this year heading to the Lavender Festival In Sequim for more inspiration for my Lavender Paintings!

Just Finished!!!!FEATURE ARTIST large window display at IMAGINE THAT! GALLERY Duncan BC April 4th- 30th Thank you to all for your interest in my work

11th ANNIVERSARY SHOW MORRIS GALLERY MAR 11-31 2011

SOLO SHOW MORRIS GALLERY October 2010

MORRIS GALLERY VICTORIA Fall Group show

SIDNEY FINE ART SHOW October 15-17 2010

SOLO SHOW MORRIS GALLERY Victoria, BC Featured Artist for the month of October 2010

MORRIS GALLERY Victoria BC, Group Show September 10-30th 2010 opening reception Sept. 10, 7-9

"GLENDALE GARDENS Art In the Gardens" Victoria BC August 7&8 2010

"MOSS STREET PAINT-IN" Victoria, BC Comming July 17 2010!

GREATER VICTORIA ART GALLERY Summer Small Works June -Sept.2010

LEGACY GALLERY Victoria, Painting on Location July 10, 2010

"GORGE ON ART" Victoria, BC, Hugely successfull show
THANK YOU to all for the positive comments and your puchases!July 3 2010

Eaglewood "ART AND HOMES SHOW"Qualicum Beach June 12&13 2010

Coast Collective Bloomin' Show March 2010

Brant Art and Photography Show March 2010

LOOK! Art Show Victoria, BC. March 2010

Greater Victoria Small Works Christmas Show 2009

SIDNEY FINE ART SHOW October 2009

Englishman River Gallery Outdoor Art Show 2009

The Old School House Art Center Autumn Views Show Oct. 2009

Kitty Coleman Woodland Garden Show Sept. 2009

Coast Collective-Land and Sea Show plus the Clothesline Show Summer 2009

Moss Street Paint-In Victoria 2009

Victoria Art Gallery Small works Summer Show 2009

Legacy Gallery Aug 2009

SIDNEY FINE ART SHOW October 17th-19th 2008

Englishman River Gallery Fall 2007

SOLO Show October 2008-Sooke harbour House Opening Oct. 5th

SOOKE FINE ART SHOW August 2008

SOLO SHOW Nov. 12-2007 at The old School House Art Center , Qualicum Beach BC

SIDNEY FINE ART SHOW Fall 2007

NANAIMO ART GALLERY, Spring Show April 2007

Oceanside Art Show march 2007

SIDNEY FINE ART SHOW Fall 2006

SOLO SHOW-NANAIMO ART GALLERY, Artist for the month of July 2006 featuring "The West Coast Residents" series of paintings

*SPIRIT BEAR* "BEARS IN THE CITY" Lions Club Program on display in public outdoor space in Victoria, BC May-October 2006 -  Linda painted a seven foot fiberglass bear

FCA Fall2005

FCA Spring2005

OCEANSIDE 2005

Art Show GALLERY 223, 223 Commercial street Nanaimo,BC Aug.4th-18th 2005 Studio Artists Show Featured in the main Gallery

FCA Fall2004

FCA Spring 2003

Oceanside Art Coucil Show 2003,2002,2001

Metchosin "GREEN" Art Show Spring 2002

Representation:

Present and past representation

CENTRAL ART GALLERY BAY CENTER DOWNTOWN VICTORIA, BC. Current 2019

VILLAGE GALLERY SIDNEY BC. Current 2019

MICHELANGELO GALLERY 908 17th Ave. SW Calgary.

ECLECTIC GALLERY OAK BAY Village Victoria, BC

MORRIS GALLERY, Victoria, BC.

LEGACY GALLERY, Victoria, BC.

Little Cricket Gift Gallery two locations- Fort Langley,BC and Maple Ridge, BC.

Nanaimo Art Gallery-Nanaimo,BC.

Qualicum Frameworks-Qualicum, BC

Shorewind gallery-Tofino,BC

Sooke Harbour House Gallery- Sooke, BC

The Old School House Art Center