Native Portraits
Young Girl With Fan
8 x 10 oil on linen
$900
A sense of cultural pride and spirituality starts at a young age in all Native American cultures. Feather fans are imbued with great spiritual significance. They are regarded as sacred objects in prayer and healing ceremonies.
In generations past, prayer fans were used solely as instruments of physical healing. Today, they are thought to help heal a spiritually ailing heart and soul as well.
The Fox
11 x 14 oil on linen
$1400
My model, Kelly, is an Anishinaabe woman, born in northern Wisconsin. In a special naming ceremony, she received her Annishinabe name, “Bih-Mih- Say-Kway,” which means Spirit Bird Flying Woman.
I Know the Way, and No One Will See Us
11 x 14 oil on linen
$1400
As I painted this girl, I thought of the Meskwaki. The French called the Meskwaki "Les Renards" (The Fox).
The French wanted full access to the waterways that lead from Green Bay to the Mississippi. Two wars with
the French decimated the people, many women and children were killed, and land hungry Americans drove
the Fox out of the woods to the tall prairies. The Sioux referred to them as "lost people".
"The Gift"
16 x 20 oil on linen
$2400
Apsáalooke (Crow) and other Plains Native American women historically served as the spiritual keepers and caretakers of war shields. While warriors made and used the functional battle gear, women held the sacred stories, songs, and responsibilities associated with the shields.
Tell Me Everything, But This Time,
Start At The Beginning
11 x14 oil on linen
$1400
"Where have you been and what do you know?"
Woman of the Great Plains
8 x 10 oil on linen
$900
Painting this portrait reminded me of
Connie Dover who sings;
"I am going to the west
And when sun gives way to moon
And silver starlight fills the sky
In the arms of these last hills
Is where I'm bound to lie
Wind my blanket, earth my bed
My canopy a tree
Willows by the riverside
Will whisper me to sleep
I am going to the west."