Northern Dreams

Northern Dreams / 24x48 / acrylic on canvas

This painting is a pictoral representation of how I feel about the north - incorporating stars and bronze metallic paint as a symbol of the dancing aurora borealis; dotted circles for the multitude of crisp, white snow; a family of birds for the abundance of wildlife; teepees scratched into pthalo blue for community and also the deep, blue waters of the lakes and rivers that surrounded us; and a group of girls to share the close bonds of the friendship of my childhood, those beautiful females who have grown into wonderful women.  The north isn't an easy place, filled with many of the same challenges of any community, but also compounded by isolation, by forest fires in summer and by killing cold in winter.  But it is where I feel 'normal', accepted, expected.  It is where I feel most Canadian.