My favorite so far.  I was commissioned for a fundraiser quilt for the Native American Finance Officers Association.  It was supposed to be a 3' x 5' wallhanging.  My creativity got a lot bigger.  Commission your next work and set me free!  We will both be very pleasantly surprised.

This one sold to the Eiteljorg.  I use quilt tops as canvases to create my drawings.  This one was the first one I did on a long arm quilting machine.  Since I was renting at $25 an hour, I finished this free motion work in a record 12 hours.  Being a long time pow wow dancer, I didn't draw this out first.  Just great memories coming to life!

This was a commissioned piece for the Fort Erie Friendship Center fundraiser.  Part of the Creation Story mixed with dancers to show we are still here giving thanks.

This was an honoring piece for a highly regarded woman in our community who suffered a tragic loss.  

She is in the center of the circle with 7 women (seven generations) surrounding her as support.  She gathers medicines and the stitching from her hands to the forest represents her doing that.  The central flower image with her in the middle is the heart of our environment fulfilling its duties to the creator for caring for us humans. 

This is an example of the very special wallhangings I make occasionally for veterans.  It is approximately 3 feet wide by 18 inches tall.  This one shows a Huey, Purple Heart and two soldiers helping their buddy.

These are emotional for me to make.  I ask questions of the customer to truly personalize the imagery.  I don't draw them out first.  I see it.  I can make the colors match the campaign.

Contact for pricing.

This piece took First Place at the Eiteljorg Indian Art Market a few years ago.  It is in a private collection.  "Fire" depicts the event of a forest fire.  The ribbon at lower left is the flame that unwinds/destroys then becomes whole and emerges as a flower at the top with a hummingbird.  The border shows the animals fleeing on the left to saftey along the top.  The lower border shows the burned tree stumps that eventually regrow as the forest becomes healed.  Not all made it as the center "fire/star quilt" has footprints and a deer skull.

SNAKE DANCE SERIES

These are made to depict a special pow wow dance.  We line up according to dance style and dance single file, sometimes outside the circle, and end the loooonng song with a part where we dance across the arena in groups.  Each of these in the series show one group of dancers starting on the left and another group that finished crossing on the right.  The piecing depicts the winding snake and a drum group is in the center of the square.

Price: $550 Size approx. 28" x 40"  Design and colors vary.  Contact to order.

CONSTRUCTED INDIAN.  This piece was awarded Best Of Show last year at the Lewiston Art Festival.  It is also published in a Museum of Modern Art book when it travelled for a couple years with one of their exhibits.  

It shows the stereotypical imagery that many people believe is "Indian".  There are over 500 different nations, with different languages, governments, motifs, religions, etc.  Yet, the common practice to lump imagery together and call it "indian" or "native american" prevails.  Included in this piece are the often racist words associated with native peoples: squaw, redskin, etc.  The outline is the Indian Head Nickel.  The back clearly shows the imagery"constructed" "indian", which is why I used the rough zigzag stitching piecing the images and fabrics together, much like Frankenstein.   The words are in the busy fabrics on the front and on the solid fabric on the back but backwards.  Both ways represent the unseen racism of these constructed views.

It is a two-sided piece and will be framed with glass on both sides.  Square with matting to make the piece sit in a circle, ala the nickel.

Available: $18,000  Contact for purchase.

IT DARTS   Available: $450  Size approximately 24" x 32" framed.

The hummingbird was created with chopped ribbon appliqued.  The puckers help depict the flight.  The ribbons show how hummingbirds fly straight past you or how they 'dart' back and forth.  The raised matte represents the flowers they love.

Contact for purchase.