Ignition Show
About the Show
Dear reader,
Welcome to my exhibit at Ignition Eatery! I’m thrilled you’re here! While I’m not from here originally, the Soo has become a very meaningful place for me.
It was the BIG city, when I moved here from Red Lake in 2006! I moved here for university, only to find I couldn’t actually get in, lol and back pedalled over to Sault College. I realized that dead-ends can sometimes lead you to where you’re actually supposed to be. I’m so grateful for my time at the college, and for those years growing up in my 20’s here. Here is where I caught my stride and learned the skills that have propelled me in to the career that I’ve built for myself in the 13 years I’ve been away.
This collection of work is a celebration of my work over those last 13 years! Many of these pieces have become paintings, designs for apparel, or social awareness campaigns raising money for charities. Some of these pieces are very intricate, and have significant meaning. While some were made just for the sheer joy of creating, but still have a cute story to accompany them. Scan then QR code with your phone and I’ll take you to my website so you can read more about it.
All of my work begin as sketches. When I’m creating, I like to imagine what the spirit of my subject would look like if we could see it. I try to capture and illustrate their energy, vibe, life force, or spirit. There’s a lot to love about my Ojibwe heritage, but what’s always stuck with me is that everything on Earth has spirit, and deserves our respect and care.
One of the things I love about being an artist is observing those spirits here on Earth and putting them through my creative process to share with folks like you. As I’m entering my 36th year on this planet I’m really starting to notice all of the things that are so worthy of a painting, from the tallest tree to the smallest little seed.
Enjoy the show!
(And the delicious food!)
XO
The following pieces will be on display at the Ignition Eatery in Sault Ste. Marie for a limited time from late August until early October.
To purchase a piece, email Patrick. E-transfer, cash, or credit card are all accepted payment methods.
Large prints
About Red Rising
“Red Rising” is about paying homage to all of the Indigenous artists, social workers, entrepreneurs, teachers, comedians, authors, musicians, actors, lawyers, students, and activists that are moving the culture forward.
Jeremy Dutcher said it best in his Polaris Prize winning speech:
“You are in the midst of an Indigenous renaissance. Are you ready for the truth that needs to be told? Are you ready to see the things that need to be seen?”
It’s true. This renaissance is quite an amazing thing to be a part of. Seeing friends of mine and people I haven’t even met yet have amazing success through the creation of their own content has been SUCH GOOD MEDICINE!
Hats off to everyone who’s doing well and trying to get well! We are our ancestors' wildest dreams, and this one’s for you!
About Woman & Grandmother Moon
An Anishinaabe-kwe woman figure with an Eagle feather offers her thanks to Grandmother Moon. In Anishinaabe culture, the full moon is when women are at their most powerful, because like the Creator, they too are able to create life.
About Great Thanks
This piece is about gratitude energy. Deep within our diversity as people is our common humanity. Getting along is not always easy, but it's fundamental to our continued existence. I’m grateful for this moment in time where I can look around me, or scroll through my newsfeed and see hundreds of BIPOC, LGTQ2S+ people sharing, and raising positive frequencies. I am grateful in knowing that there are thousands more too. In this piece I’m raising my arms with my palms open to emit good energy and receive the positive vibes around me. We all need to do that from time to time.
Holographic foil prints
About Wolf Clan
This one was created because for my love of wolves. An illustrated story about wolves has been on my to-do list for a few years now, and slowly but surely I make progress. However, because I’m so slow I had released a few of the illustrations to the public because they’re just too good not to share :)
I love wolves for their dedication to their families and their pack structure. There’s a fantastic book called “Never Cry Wolf”, by Farley Mowat that everyone should read that inspired my deeper appreciation for them.
About Owl Clan
This piece I had designed initally as a graphic for a film about the Northwest Territories. It was on my “to do” list to paint for 2016 which I had avoided doing for a few years. I had avoided it because in Anishinaabe culture the owl, when spotted, is a messenger and lets you know that someone has passed on.
I’ve come to realize though that death is not necessarily a bad thing, it can also be a celebration of life! I believe that the owl can also represent passing through different phases of life and coming out on top through the challenges that each person faces on their journey. In that regard, I think that spotting an owl is a great thing, and that you’re on the right path.
About Maple Leaf
For hundreds of years people have come to Canada to seek out a better life for themselves and their families. The Maple Leaf has become a symbol for Canada, a world that invokes feelings of peace, prosperity and safety.
Canada is not perfect, even though that might be what is projected. There’s a long history of immoral acts towards minority groups that predates Canada herself. But a government does not always reflect the complete values of all of its people.
What I’ve come to realize is that it is relationships with people that you love, and the positive relationships with your neighbours that make Canada great. I designed this Maple Leaf to appear that it’s in motion. The lines representing past, present and future generations coexisting, forming new relationships and phasing out old ideas because Canada isn’t one flat colour anymore.
It’s dynamic, organically growing, and on track to right old wrongs. Still, after 500 years, it’s a place where people from around the world want to come and have been welcomed with open arms.
About I Love U Mother Nature
Originally a tattoo design for a woman in Kenora, Ontario, this design spent 6 months living in my sketchbook. I came across it again and couldn't ignore its demands to become a painting. The original now resides with the woman who initially commissioned me for the tattoo.
About Happy Flowers
I had reached a very low point in the early year of 2014. What seemed like the darkest time in my life is also where one of the greatest lessons of my life was learned.
Kahil Gilbran says that, “The deeper that sorrow carves its way into your being, the more joy you can contain”. That is what this piece is about. Even though things may get dark, love, joy and happiness will soon shine through.
The oringal stands 18”x24” and is enjoyed by the Weber family in Maple, Ontario.
About Provincial Florals
I think it’s so sweet that in this society that seems annoyingly patriarchal at times that we also have cutesy as heck things like provincial flowers. I love flowers so much, and can’t wait to have gardens teeming with them so I don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars a year buying them for my spaces.
A painting of mine called “Canadian Woodland” was where I first illustrated all of the provincial flowers, and I suspect that this won’t be the last time you see a cluster of them by me.
About Eagle Clan
Eagles in Anishinaabe culture represent greatness and humility. The Eagle flys the highest of all the birds and is the one that carries the prayers of the people on Turtle Island to the Creator. Next time you see one, try and remember to thank him for the great service he does for us — we need it.
About Dreamcatcher
I created this piece to pay homage to one of the most iconic things in Indigenous culture. When placed in the window of where you sleep, the webbing only allows the good dreams to come through and holds the bad ones.
About Chickadee / Spring
Created in March 2014, “Spring” came about because at the time it seemed like winter would not loosen her choke-hold on Toronto. I had done the sketch of my mothers favourite bird, which is the chick-a-dee, as a birthday gift for her the previous year. Brightness was needed in my life in hopes that warmth would return and decided it was time for the sketch to become a painting.
About Blue Jay
Like the Eagle, the Bird Clan is known to be closest to the Creator as they are part of the sky world and can access his/her wisdom. The Bird Clan are the keepers of knowledge and responsible for spreading the seeds of knowledge to the people.
