Bio
David Shanklin is an artist based in Portland who brings a sense of calm to a chaotic world. His art is a balm for those facing the daily grind of spiritual fatigue, offering a much-needed respite from the ugliness that can surround us. When it comes to his message, Shanklin is clear: his art is all about promoting peace. In a world full of noise, he aims to be a voice of stillness, helping others find the tranquility they need to face the challenges of everyday life.
Born in Tucson, Arizona in 1984, David grew up in the Sonoran Desert in the shadow of the Santa Rita mountains. He began drawing and sculpting at a very early age, inspired by his artist parents and Westerns on TV. As a teen, David took an artist apprenticeship with the Tucson-Pima Arts Council. This was his introduction to the design process, and most important tube watercolors.
Convinced by his working-class upbringing that art was no way to make a living, he moved to Seattle when he was eighteen to study graphic design. During this time, David also studied figure painting from William Cumming of the Northwest School fame. In 2006, he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and began many fertile years of creative work for corporate clients such as Nike, adidas, and KEEN.
His artwork transmutes nostalgic feelings of a Xennial childhood spent exploring the desert and playing the Oregon Trail. Coming from marginal city scenes and intrinsic multi-culturalism, his blending of deep love for the character and curves of humanity and Earth have likewise made him work in the realm of painting as an expressive original, shown by his passionate commitment to bending, shaping, and layering the joy of light.
Q&A
You say you were a Western movie fan, David. Was there a particular movie’s set or cinematography that caught your mind as a child, that drew you to creating yourself?
I’m still a huge western fan! (laughs). One scene that stuck with me is opening of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade". The shots of Arches natural park were wild to me at 5 years old. The tiny figures on horseback juxtaposed against giant rock formations grabbed my imagination. Spielberg captured the vastness of the wild spaces we have in the States.
Do you have a milieu in Portland in which you feel you belong?
What's a milieu? (looks confused and asks Siri) Oh, you mean my scene? I don't know if I belong in Portland these days. I used to be involved in the bike punk and doom metal scenes. Yet, the partying and incestuous aspects of a small community wore thin on me. Pre-Covid you'd be more likely to find me sitting down at a table at a jazz show than in a mosh pit. The city has changed a lot since I moved here in 2009. So have I for that matter. I'm still trying to find my place in the new scheme of things.
Do you miss the desert? Do you dream about it more than the Pacific Northwest?
(Cues up Everything but the Girl)
As much as it rains where I live there is no substitute for the smell of a desert monsoon and being able to see a million stars on any given night.
Who are the kinds of people who buy your paintings? Does that sometimes surprise you?
All sorts of people have been buying my my work lately. The diversity of the audience is surprising. People from all walks of life. The two common threads have been that they all share a love the outdoors, and none of them have been art collectors. The later makes me happy. My work should be brightening up somebodies space, not locked away in a vault as an investment.
What would be your ideal gallery showing, with artists not necessarily contemporaneous?
I don't know if I'd deserve to stand with these giants but I'd love to do a show with Ed Mell, Don Weller, and Mark Maggiorri. Since we're going "pie-in-the-sky" why not have it at the Autry in Los Angeles?
Which three musical artists or bands would you most like to ask you to do their twelve inch LP cover artwork?
Kamasi Washington, Colter Wall, or Heart.
Would you ever want to do cinematography for films yourself? Who would be the director you’d want to pick first?
I don't know about being the cinematographer. I'd love to do the opening credits for a film as Saul Bass is a huge influence on me. I'd love to open up a movie by either Ari Aster or the Cohen Brothers.
What sort of showings are you considering once things have settled down a bit and art becomes more of a social sharing scene again?
I'd like to get a showing out at the Oregon coast. Perhaps Yachats or Cannon beach. I think the laidback vibe out there fits the work nicely.