Joshua Pawis-Steckley
Born in Barrie Ontario, Joshua is a member of the Wasauksing First Nation. He is a woodland artist who is dedicated to restoring the arts and stories of the Ojibway.
Joshua learned to draw by doodling in his school notebooks and drawing for fun with his brother and mother. Most if his family is very creative, both his mother and Nokomis are talented quill box makers. He was never formally trained in acrylic painting and started practicing his craft in his early 20s. He graduated from the Graphic Design Program at NSCC in Halifax, NS in 2014 and has a passion for hand printed artwork. He now lives in Vancouver, BC where he works as a screen printer and paints at home.
Albert Betty
Betty Albert-Licenz was adopted and raised by French Canadian parents in Northern Ontario. She spent time on Vancouver Island where both of her interests in art and spirituality surfaced. During the next twenty years, she worked with pen and ink, and improved her artistic techniques.
Circumstances eventually brought her back to her Native American father, discovering her birthright as a Cree. Betty then began an art business with her father called “Wabimeguil Art Studio,” which distributes art throughout North America. Like many Cree people, dreams play an important part of her life and her work. She discovered that her dream people were faceless and this is evident in some of her work. Her art allows the viewer to experience tradition, action, and a deep spirituality. Her use of vibrant acrylic colors begs us to view creation in a new way. Through her painting, “Wabimeguil (White Feather),” she expresses not only her own growth in spirituality, but also encourages people to experience “The Peace,” that she represents in her art.
Maxine Noel
Maxine was born in Manitoba of Santee Oglala Sioux parents. She spent her early childhood on her mother’s reserve but at the age of six she left to attend an Indian residential school. Maxine’s early career as a legal secretary was soon overshadowed by her preoccupation with painting and drawing. She took a course in advanced design where a teacher noticed Maxine’s tendency toward linear expression and encouraged her in the use of shape and line to suggest movement. She learned those lessons well, as evidenced by much of her work today. Since those early days Maxine has mastered the skills of painting and drawing plus the processes of serigraphy, etching and stone lithography. Recently she has turned her talents to the creation of editions in cast paper and limited edition bronze castings.
Maxine has received excellent response to her work and is now able to devote herself full-time to the creation of art. Maxine Noel signs her artwork with her Sioux name IOYAN MANI, which translates as “Walk Beyond”.
