Nigel Fox Artworks

I had a couple practice presentations at community futures this morning for the Best of the BEST competition in Vancouver this weekend. I will be going down to Vancouver for this competition. It should be a good time. I was critiqued by an audience of two people at Community Futures today, but I have to say that it was actually harder doing the presentation for my wife last night. She is a way harder critic.

Raven on a tree on the NWCC campus, Terrace Raven on a tree on the NWCC campus, Terrace

I caught the tail end of Harold Demetzer’s speech today and he was talking about galleries. Harold said that even the most prestigious artists use galleries. He described the variety of galleries that are in Vancouver and he made it clear as to what ones were more presentation oriented and what ones were more production oriented. I definitely want to go with a presentation oriented gallery if I have the choice. Stan Bevan told us that we need to make our own decisions as to who we feel comfortable doing business with.

In the afternoon, we resumed our projects. I am working on two bowls right now and I am almost finished my spoon.

Evan Aster and another afternoon carving

Todd Stephens working on paddle design commision

I did something today that I have been meaning to do for a while now, I visited Todd Stephens in his carving studio, Wilp Simgan (House of the Sacred Tree).  Todd is a very amiable person, who likes to brag that he has never been in a fight.  I dropped in on his studio this afternoon in order to catch up on things and work on my alder spoon for class.  Todd and I talked from any number of things from aliens to religion to business and we went our separate ways at closing time with more of an understanding of each other and our backgrounds.  Todd and I have very similar backgrounds, we both are from Prince Rupert, we both went to PRSS, we both know little about the family on our father’s side.

I know that my father is Ojibway from the Sagamok reserve near Massey, Ontario, I know that his mother’s name was/is Mary, I know that he was taken into custody by child services at infancy, I know that he had severe hypothermia at the time, I know that he was raised in the foster care program, but I know very little else.  Neglect seems to be a common theme among aboriginal people that I know, such as in my dad’s case.   And according to a 2003 Canadian Incidence Study put out by the Canadian government, neglect is the most common form of child abuse among first nations [1].  And although, I try to keep the subject matter of this blog art-related and on a positive note, I feel that I have to say something about this.  As a christian, I believe that God looks after those who have no fathers, the widows and the orphans.  And for exactly the reason that God values what man rejects, I went with a notion that God is among the first nations people, myself included, in a way that is unique and strong.  And I have seen him do great things on my behalf even in these past few months.  And as the book of Romans says, in the Bible, God works all things to the good for those who love him, who are called according to his purpose.

God has blessed me with a purpose, and I believe that God is the source of my aspirations and inspiration.

Kitimat Exhibit

Well, another busy week is over and the Kitimat show opening has come and gone, the exhibit goes on until March 26th.  It truly was an honor to show along side artists such as Sammy Robinson and Lyle Wilson.  I got to meet Summer Breeze-Kent for the first time as well.  I’m glad that I did.  We have similar backgrounds, in that we both have computer science degrees and it turns out that we both drew in our youth.  I told Summer that I drew my first comic book when I was twelve, she upped me on this and told me that she drew her first comic when she was twelve, too, plus she made a replica by hand.  She was in to color and I am in to color.  Ironically, as she left, she said “talk to you on the internet” to me, which is probably exactly what we will both do.  I even think that we have similar plans to expand our respective art businesses.  It was funny.

Anyways, the exhibit went good.  A lot of people commented on the high quality of the work being displayed.  A few people commented on the contemporary nature of the work that was there.  I think that they were right in some regards.  But as Dempsey always says, “the contemporary always has to come from the traditional.”  Because, “you can’t make something from nothing.  Something always has to come from something.”  I believe he meant that even the contemporary art forms have to have roots, but that is my own paraphrase.  It is so true.  I find more and more people saying that they buy the “traditional” art work, but what I think they mean is that they buy the work that has a sense of history.  It seems to give the work meaning.  Incidentally, we were also displaying our work beside museum pieces of old bent wood boxes, petroglyphs, and other artifacts.  They were so much more than artifacts in this context, though, and like the Terrace exhibit was a retrospective of the old, along side the emergence of the new; the Kitimat exhibit was a juxtaposition of ancient and fresh.  Sort of like combining the enthusiasm of the new with the temperance of the old.  It made for quite a powerful show in its own right.  The exhibit will be on until the 26th of March.

Gary Wyatt, a director from Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, came in to talk to the class today. He spoke on numerous topics in the west coast art world. His words varied to almost a poetic stance at times. One thing that stuck with me is that “formline is a language…formline is music.” Which is totally true. There is a certain creative formality to west coast native art that allows it to stand out in melody, rhythm and tone.

You could just feel Gary’s enthusiasm for the art, even after many years in the business. It was quite refreshing and very informative. Gary seemed to want to make the presentation fun, yet educational and throughout it all, he had integrity. He seems like the perfect gallery director for an artist to work with and I hope to do business with him in some point in the future.

Gary Wyatt and the FDS Teachers Walking Away in the Snow

Well, everything went quite well at Friday’s exhibit opening at the TAG.  Please check out the TAG exhibit for photos of opening night and directions to the Terrace Art Gallery. Now that this exhibit is under way, we have another exhibit at the Kitimat Museum and Archives, which also doubles as an art gallery, coming up this Friday, 11 February.

Click below to see images from Terrace Exhibit Opening:

Group photo, TAG Exhibit, 2011

The art exhibit opening at the Terrace Art Gallery was a huge success. We had what appeared to be about 200 people show up for the opening, with people from as far away as Hazelton showing up to meet the artists. I met people that I haven’t seen in years there, including a friend that I knew since I was ten years old that I haven’t seen in years and a lady whose portrait I drew in Gitsegeukla at a church meeting in 2007. I think that tonight has been a fulfillment of my best expectations, with an offer coming in to connect me up with a print maker in Victoria. Making reproductions is a key part of my business plan that I handed in on the aboriginal BEST entrepreneurship deadline today. It has been a very busy week that all came to a head this evening. My wife and I are going to watch a movie and go to bed. Stay tuned for more on the exhibit opening in a couple of days.

Opening Night at the Terrace Art Gallery, Feb 2011

Gary Wyatt, a director from Spirit Wrestler Gallery in Vancouver, is scheduled to come up next week. In keeping with Bill McLennan’s presentation, yet to my knowledge not collaborated, Gary will be talking about traditional and contemporary artwork. In addition to this, Gary will be speaking about where he sees the market going: traditional or contemporary. Perhaps these presentations are not as unconnected as I think, because they are part of the art history lesson for this year.

Spirit Wrestler is one of the biggest first nations art galleries in Vancouver, displaying works from artists such as Dempsey Bob, Robert Davidson, Stan Bevan and Ken McNeil. In addition to aboriginal artists on this continent, Spirit Wrestler also exhibits works from Maori artists.

Below is one of my newest works. It is an alder spoon that I am finishing right now before I paint it. I like alder because it is such a beautiful material, it is easy to work with and it doesn’t give off overbearing odors or unbearable dust.

My Alder Spoon