David Shkolny
David Shkolny grew up in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (1992). He has been teaching painting and drawing since 2001. David’s artwork is in collections across Europe and North America as well as the Canada Council. Recent public commissions include a painting for Fort Saskatchewan City Hall as well as a pastel for the Kaye Edmonton Clinic.
"The first time I touched a pastel to paper was in my freshman year of college. Something just resonated – the combination of using such a direct way of applying colour on a toothy paper, the scumbly appearance of the stroke, the colour of the paper peaking through, even the subtle sound – a synaesthetic experience for me. I couldn’t get enough of it.
As often happens that unfettered joy of artmaking slipped into the ether after I graduated and I didn’t return to soft pastels until I went back to college some years later to study design. A happy reunion in a drawing class with the medium reminded me of the charge it gave me. A few years later and I fully launched back into it and haven’t looked back.
I have always looked to landscape as my main subject of expression. Chalk it up to living in Canada – wide open spaces and lush wilderness! A penchant to experiment with colour and texture keeps me engaged and inquisitive – what would happen if I tried this… All in all pastel is my favourite carrot!"
DAVID SHKOLNY
9024 96 Street
Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
T8L 1S2
Cell: (780) 903-8123
[email protected]
EDUCATION
1989 Visual Arts Associate Diploma, Red Deer College
1993 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (Major - Painting and Printmaking)
1997 Visual Communication Diploma, Grant Macewan College
TEACHING
2024 - Guest instructor, Red Deer Polytechnic, Red Deer, Alberta
Teach drawing landscapes in pastel to Red Deer Polytechnic Fine Arts students.
2022 - Present - Instructor, Hotel Leone, Montelparo, Italy
Teach painting landscapes of Italian towns and countryside to adults.
2018 - Present - Instructor, Metchosin International Summer School of Art, Vancouver Island
Teach pastel landscapes to adults.
2018 - Present - Instructor, Children's art class, Leduc
Teach drawing and painting to children age 8 - 12 for Leduc Art Club.
2016 - Present - Instructor, pastel, Red Deer Polytechnic
Teach pastel at RDP Series to adults of different levels.
November, 2011 - Artist-in-Residence and guest instructor for grade twos, Victoria School of the Arts, Edmonton
Guest artist in foyer and taught pastel to grade two classes.
2009 - 2022 - Visual Arts Instructor, MacEwan University, Edmonton
Teach pastel and drawing courses to beginner and intermediate students in Edmonton.
2009 - Present - Visual Arts Instructor, City Arts Centre, Edmonton
Teach Pastel and acrylic courses to beginner and intermediate students in Edmonton.
2009 - 2011 - Northgate Senior Lions Centre, Edmonton
Taught pastel and drawing courses to beginner and intermediate students in Edmonton.
2004 - 2011 - Pastel and Drawing Instructor, Harcourt House Artists' Centre, The Paint Spot (to present), Edmonton
Teach various workshops and courses to beginner and intermediate students in Edmonton.
January 2001 - 2009 - Part Time Term Instructor, Design Studies, MacEwan University, Edmonton
Taught Drawing Foundations, developed curriculum.
- Responsible for grading students' work, held tutorials, helped students achieve the level of skills they desired.
- Contributed to staff meetings and course curriculum.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024
After Dinner Mints, Walterdale Theatre. Edmonton, Alberta
Four Voices - Edmonton Urban Parkland, la cite Francophone, Edmonton, Alberta
Art on the Block, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
2023
Art on the Block, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
Valley of the Dogs, Yorath House, Edmonton, Alberta
Shadows of the Neutral, Metro Cinema, Edmonton, Alberta
Pastels, Leduc Arts Foundry, Leduc, Alberta
2022
Spotlight on David Shkolny, Riverlands Artist Studio & Gallery, Red Deer, Alberta
Senses, Great Western Saddlery Building, Edmonton, Alberta
2021
Past and Future, Alberta Council for the Ukrainian Arts, Edmonton, Alberta
Smalls, Blue Sky Lofts, Edmonton, Alberta
2019
It All Started Here, Alberta Lottery Fund Gallery, Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta
Confluence, Alberta Branded, Legislature of Alberta Visitor Centre, Alberta
2018 - 2020
Plate Tectonics, TREX program (travelling), various institutions, Northern Alberta
2018
You Are Here, Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, Massachusetts
2017
Art at The Renaissance, Renaissance Hotel, Edmonton International Airport, Alberta
An Inspired Approach, Midtowne Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
2016
Land & Figure, Midtowne Gallery, Calgary, Alberta
2014
point of departure (solo), McMullen Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
point of departure (solo), Prairie Star Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
SELECTED COMMISSIONS
2017
Glenn's Canola, commissioned by Kaye Edmonton Clinic NAUC and CJ Woods Prostate Clinic Donor Recognition, Edmonton, Alberta
2013
Open Road, commissioned by Fort Saskatchewan City Hall, For Saskatchewan, Alberta
2011
Two Prairie Skies, commissioned by Friends of University Hospitals for The Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, Edmonton, Alberta
2010
The Four Elements, commissioned by The Places, Edmonton, Alberta
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2023
Yorath House, Edmonton, Alberta