About Me - A Biography of Sorts

Hi everyone! Just wanted to post a bit about myself. Feel free to ask questions, too.

I am an Ojibwe or Ahnishnaabe artist living in Edmonton, Alberta. Having grown up in northern Manitoba, I gained an appreciation of nature and spent much of my free time drawing and experimenting with various media. In my early adulthood I began to explore painting, and eventually developed my own style of Woodlands artwork. I enjoy the freedom of the abstract style and creating images with sharply contrasting colors or smooth blends. I have also been inspired by Inuit soapstone sculpture and folklore. I'm actually inspired by a lot of stuff, but mostly nature.

Northern Canada inspires much of my work. As a child, my family often went on fishing excursions, woodcutting, and explorations of Canada's pristine wilderness. I self-studied animals in great detail by reading every book I could find at the local library as a child, and have a great love for birds. In recent years and thanks to COVID, I've gotten into hiking and camping with my husband. We really enjoy checking out new places and being in nature instead of just skimming the surface as one often ends up doing when just driving or traveling. I still love traveling though, and seeing new places and learning about the history and culture of the people living there.

I have painted for over 20 years now, and sold artwork to locations across the globe and have participated in various art shows in Alberta and Manitoba. I prefer to sell my art individually so I can enjoy meet the people and hear about what they like about my art, but I enjoy the virtual modes as well.

I live with my husband, Lyndon, and my black cat, Maho, in Edmonton, Alberta.

It's Been a While - Growing as an Artist

It's been a while since I last blogged, but I have some things I'd like to share with those people who may not be visiting my other internet presences.

I just updated my official website: www.ojibwe-art.ca and added a couple of paintings in the Bears section. I created some new paintings in 2012.

I'm also at odds with perhaps adding to my website and adding an Asian/Other styles page, and maybe fostering on the lands-and-skies (my husband's domain). I worry it may distract from my Aboriginal pages.

Anyway, some new works for 2013 that I'm particularly pleased with: http://fav.me/d5xcgx1 on my DeviantArt page. It's a painting of Japanese yokai, or demons, in a nightparade (see the link for a larger image). In the middle is a little man with a giant squash shaped head who sneaks into your house and drinks your tea.

Various household objects gain spirits when they reach their 100th birthday, so a sake jar (who contains unending amounts of sake), grass sandal and tea pot dance about as a biwa and shamisen (cut off from the scan) play music.

A line of sparrows dance, whose hats I tried to model after Awa Odori dancers. Around the gathering, a two-tailed cat, mountain wolf, giant rooster who breathes foxfire, and foxes watch on.

Another painting I created recently was Transcendence. http://taibossigai.deviantart.com/art/Transcendence-Wonder-of-the-Night-Sky-350454594 (also on DeviantArt)

This was my first real attempt at painting a realistic person, and I was quite pleased with the result.

For those who are interested in my artwork, I have pieces available as prints here: http://taibossigai.imagekind.com/

So, until my next update (hopefully it will be a little more frequent), enjoy the art! :)

New Shop Banner!

The other day I had a new banner made for me by naiveglow on Etsy. I was really pleased with the results, she took images from a few of my items and mixed them together to make a banner.

Her shop is here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/naiveglow?ref=pr_shop_more

She also provides a variety of other services: business cards, invitations, as well as makes cute keychains & charms.

Spring Sale and movie watching, works-in-progress photos

Happy Family everyone in Alberta! Spending a relaxing day at home on the computer. :P

Watched a very interesting Japanese movie last night, called "Departures". Its about a man whose dream it was to play in an orchestra finds himself out of work. He returns home to look for a job, to come across an ad for a job as an "encoffiner", which isn't a highly respected job by his fellow citizens, much less wife. Basically he prepares bodies for funerals.

As the movie progresses, he gains an appreciation for assisting people on their departure from life. It was a really lovely movie and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys watching foreign films.

In celebration of spring I decided to have a sale on Etsy. Until March 31 everything will be 15% off, using the coupon code SpringSale.

2021 update: Just added some images. They don't really have anything to do with the above story, but I wanted to share a sketch and some work-in-progress photos I took that I made of a bus stop on an early spring day. The people waiting for the bus were mostly students, but nicely line up. It was raining, and the road was shiny and reflective of the light sources from the street lamps and I could see the reflections of the people on the road.

What really struck me about the image was the pigeons that were perched on the overhead wires. With the people huddling in the cold and wet, it was a eerily beautiful but stark image of city life.

The last image is still a work-in-progress photo. I looked through my archives but couldn't find a photo of the final image with the pigeons added in.
 

Friday afternoon - clumsiness and damaging paintings - how to fix a painting

Spending a quiet day at home. Haven't been up to too much art-wise, but I ended up in a BNR on Etsy today: http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d473a58e1416d91ce37690b/open-open-open-bnr-round-2-no-minimum-1#4d558da368de8eef1dc8a783

Was a little frustrated that I poked a hole in one of my paintings while adding picture wire a couple of days ago. Can't believe I was so clumsy. Hopefully I can either fix it, or use the remaining painting in some sort of collage or something.

Update 2021: I'm not sure what a BNR is anymore so please don't ask. 😅 I think it might have been some sort of promotional group activity where we post items and then check it out. The whole idea was to generate sales.

As for the painting with the damage, I managed to repair it decently, and it's currently hanging in a community centre in northern Edmonton. I'll probably forget it there if we move.

It was another learning experience to fix it. I patched it with a small piece of scrap canvas, glued it in place I think with just white glue, and then matched the paint on the other side to hide the hole and make it look natural.

You can kind of see the little raised area in the wing. I was pleased with the final colour matching.

Been a while... And Cat Art!

Been a while since I've last blogged. What have I been up to? Not much, been working, and enjoying the drive out to Wetaskiwin every day, even in spite of the winter road conditions & loads of snow that seems to fall every week. I am glad to see the sun slowly coming back.

So lately I've been delving into watercolour pencil crayons. After some experiments last summer that didn't really work out, I think I've finally figured out how to use these and get some nice results.

Not really aboriginal artwork, but they're cute. I added two kitties to my Etsy page, the grateful kitty is here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/66345763/grateful-kitty-original

And my pink kitty is here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/67075943/pink-cat-purple-bow-original

I plan to list more, & am thinking of turning them into small cards.

Update 2021: I still have these paintings. If you are interested, they are available. They also led to a few commissions of people's pet cats, so if you'd like to have me create a piece for you, send me a note.

July - branching out - Unicorn Painting

Ah, the rainy skies have cleared for a little while. Went for a refreshing bike ride this morning, and rode around the neighbourhood, particularly the Blackmud Creek & ravine area in Edmonton. The wild roses are still blooming, which was nice to see.

Haven't been doing much painting recently, although I did finish one piece that was inspired by some stained glass, of a palamino coloured unicorn.   http://www.etsy.com/listing/51559981/palamino-unicorn-8x10-inch-acrylic

It's a simple painting, but it was still a fun one to paint. I have an urge to paint more horses, so I may do that tomorrow morning.

Paintings as Magnets

So I recently took a couple of small paintings I had just made and attached magnets on the back. I think they look pretty neat. Both are listed on Etsy.

I wasn't too happy with the photos, as the weather lately hasn't been cooperative for taking good photos using natural light, so I made do with some fluorescent light in the kitchen.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49707143/sunset-memories-magnet-15x2-inch

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49706268/eagle-magnet-15x3inch-native-canadian

Lately I've been enjoying the roses in the backyard. They're starting to bloom, as are the irises in the front yard. The pea plants are starting to grow well, too.

Update 2021: Both magnets have sold, but I still make small paintings as magnets. You can always send me a note and ask me to paint something for you, or I might have something in my collection.

Day after the Snowstorm & the University of Alberta farms

So yesterday I decided to ride my bike to work, in spite of the huge snowstorm outside. The wind was horrible, and whipped the snow into my eyes. I was quite proud of myself for making it to work, pretty much on time.

By the time I got there snow had frozen in large chunks in my hair and my snowpants were soaked. Halfway through the ride I was rewarded with a gorgeous view of some snow-covered budding branches overhanging a path. It was beautiful.

Just relisted one painting "Into the Fields" on Etsy. It's one of my favorite scenes of the University of Alberta farms, with the distant city buildings removed.

This tree is beside a small field where I used to practice tai chi on sunny afternoons in summer. It can be viewed here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/37899836/into-the-fields-5x5-inch-chinese-ink

Nov 24, 2020 update: Ah, very sorry, it looks like the spot where I had the listing got updated to a different commissioned piece I had painted for someone. I still remember the painting and I have it somewhere in my collections. If you're interested, I can post an image. Oh, and if you like the cat painting I still paint commissions, so feel free to ask.

2021 update: I added an image. I also made a video about the University of Alberta farms and I reminisce about the days that I used to trek across it to school.

In the video I included the pieces of art I created that were inspired by various views of the farms. I also learned about the history of one of my favourite buildings, the Horse Barn.

Day Off - Cycling & Painting plans

Having a "relaxing" day off at home. This week I am fortunate to be working at home (i.e. in Edmonton) and am able to ride my old klunker of a bike to work. I find bike-riding so therapeutic, you get to work refreshed and by the time I get home I feel relaxed, in spite of having just got my exercise done for the day.

Here's an old video I made of winter cycling. It's not so difficult, you just need to dress warmly and watch out for icy spots.

Today I am busy planning some new art projects. I would like to do a series of paintings with an Alberta theme - views of the different places I've seen over the years. It's going to be a long-term project, especially since I don't paint very fast. ^^;

New Blog! A blog about being an Ojibwe artist

So I have started my very first blog. I have been meaning to start one for quite a while, and have wanted to write about my artwork, as well as the things that inspire me in life.

Currently my profession allows me to travel to various areas of Alberta, some places which I would never visit normally, so I would like to share some of my thoughts about these places.

I am an aboriginal artist based in Edmonton, Alberta. I am Ojibwe, and was born in Thompson, Manitoba, so I have a great fondness for northern Canada: boggy places, skinny trees, sunsets, and ravens. I started painting almost 10 years ago now, and enjoy it immensely as it is a good way to relax.

I love the abstract element of the Ojibwe or Woodlands style, as when I painted in a "realistic" manner I found I could never get things absolutely perfect.

I sell my artwork on my website, http://www.ojibwe-art.ca and on Etsy: http://www.taibossigai.etsy.com and the profits from my artwork is donated to various causes that I believe in - mostly The Nature Conservancy and Edmonton Humane Society, but also other organizations too.