Aaron Paquette Journal

War Paint - New Works by Aaron Paquette

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:22:00 +0000

War Paint

An exhibition of new works by

Aaron Paquette

Opening Reception on Saturday, October 1, 2011

with the artist in attendance

from 2pm - 4pm

Exhibition continues to October 13

How long have we been at war? How long have we been trying to build these bridges between us? Between cultures, economies, sorrows? How long have we painted masks on our faces, bright colours belying dangerous times? Too, too long. Come stand with me. I live where the war is over. I have painted it. I have painted it so we can see the future. I have painted the beautiful places where we can live instead of dying on the terrible fields of where we have been. Come lay down your burdens and stay awhile, here where you don’t have to be anyone but your self. Take off your masks. It’s safe here, and you are loved. My War Paint is off.

Thunderbird Woman

36" x 48"

Mixed Media on Canvas

We hear the Thunderbird in the spring time, calling to us from across the plains, telling us it's time to begin anew. Things we've set aside or neglected, relationships gone stale with hurt silence, or dropping the ball in caring for ourselves or for our community. The things that make us human and give us the chance to become great, these are the things Thunderbird calls out to remind us of. "Rise up! Stand! Speak and do! The time for sleeping is over!" This past spring and summer the nights were filled the call - insistent, refusing to be ignored. Put away the keyboards and screens, resist the call of apathy and strike that lightning inside of ourselves, let the spark of action fill us. Though it always burns right at first it soon becomes a cherished flame. One day we will wake up and it will be our last day on earth. Before then, let's heed the reminder and live larger than we dreamed before. Let's listen to the Thunderbird Woman.

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Come out to meet award nominated First Nations Metis Artist - Aaron Paquette

www.bearclawgallery.com

www.aaronpaquette.net

Bearclaw Gallery is located at:

10403 - 124st

Edmonton, AB

780.482.1204

info@bearclawgallery.com

I'm Going to Quit This Blog - and a surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 09:24:00 +0000

Hello my friend!

You've followed me at this blog and I'm grateful for it, but it's time for me to hang up my hat, or at least slow down here somewhat.

All my archives will remain, but don't worry! I'm not going to stop creating, posting, sharing...in fact I'll be doing it even more and I really hope you'll join me on the ride!

I have a new website up (finally!) at: aaronpaquette.net

There may be a few kinks & quirks here and there but it seems to work pretty good.

Did you think that was the surprise?

Because there's more!

The surprise is that I've been working away at a novel called Lightfinder. It should be finished by mid May and I'll need your help to figure a couple things out (but I'll get back to you when we get to that point).

In the meantime, check out my new site and if you click on the big link for the book you'll see a little hidden Easter Egg. I know, I know... Easter isn't for a little while yet, but it's the right month, anyway.

:)

Please feel free to leave me your comments, let me know what you think and what you'd like to see more of at the site. I'll have the comments open on my facebook page:

AaronPaquetteArt

So join in on the discussion.

In the meantime, browse around, buy a print, a t-shirt, or follow the links for an original art piece. I know I'd appreciate it, and I hope you'll love whatever you choose!

Yours, after a week of 18 hour days,

Aaron

ps. for those interested, I'll be sharing more "behind the scenes" stuff on art creation, creativity in general, and so on, so make sure to bookmark the site and I'll do my best to share some of the things I've learned these past few decades. Also, always let me know what you'd like to know more of. I really want to help and the best way to do that is to know what it is you need. :)

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iPad 2 - Creation Tool

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 23:36:00 +0000

Well, I finally did it. I broke down and got the iPad 2. It's amazing. I've seen it in stores, I've clicked the little icons, but something about owning one, customizing it, making it your very own.

That's powerful.

So of course, one of the first things I did was draw.

Here it is:

What I've found is that contrary to what I've been hearing, I'm actually not that interested in watching movies or YouTube, I'm just right in there wanting to create, create, create! The sketch above was rendered in SketchBook Pro.

More to come.

Gretel Parker - Her First Book!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:13:00 +0000

I have an online artist friend named Gretel Parker. We ran into each other (digitally, at least) many years ago and have been supportive fans of each other the whole time. I am so very proud of her as she has just released her first book, "Mrs. Mouse's Cupcakes, a Puddletown Tale".

If you are not familiar with Gretel Parker's artwork, prepare yourself for whimsy and delight. Her work has never failed to make me smile.

And I think you'll smile, too!

Congratulations, Gretel and here's to more and more Puddletown Tales to come until we are all sick of just how cute and sweet and funny it all is! Until then, go buy her book!!

All You Amazing People!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:18:00 +0000

I want to ask you something.

Over the years I've been asked to give personal art lessons. Instead I've been going to schools, doing workshops, and using my art as both a teaching tool and as a way to promote cooperation in communities. For me art has not just been about painting a picture, but something I feel is far more important.

Art has been my path to reach a deeper understanding of what it takes to be successful both professionally and personally.

I've had my highs and lows and learned A LOT along the way and nothing gets me more excited and to feel more in purpose with my life than to share these things.

My question is simple:

Would this be something you'd be interested in hearing about? Would it be of value if I were to put together the most important things I've learned about art and provide them to you?

I'm talking about people with no skills who are just starting out.

I'm also talking about artists who are further along and want to learn the final keys that I believe would work for anyone to take their work to the next level.

And even more important I'm talking about learning powerful ways of thinking about life and creativity that let you leave your troubles behind and open up to all the wayyy more awesome things in store for you!

Basically, I'm talking about a few simple steps that will improve your art, your career and your life.

I have decades of experience and feel like I really want to share it on a larger stage than I have been.

So what would you like to learn? What would be the biggest questions you have and the most important things you've always wanted to get a handle on or get better at? Please leave a comment below to let me know. I want to create something special that will really help people.

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you.

Aaron

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Creative Secrets - Episode 1 - Test Episode

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 08:11:00 +0000

Well, here it is, my experimental first attempt at a vlog. Bear with me as I'm learning the ropes, but please do share this with friends, click the old 'thumbs up' icon under the video on the YouTube page and throw it around in Facebook while you're at it!

If this generates enough interest, I'll go ahead with planning out more episodes.

One thing I've learned: Maybe not so much the filming under yellow light.

And remember: Feedback would be awesome and appreciated!

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Northern Pastoral

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:22:00 +0000

Home
16" x 24"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

This is a painting for my wife's sister. Included are her husband, their little baby and their even littler pup. She is beckoning from the distance and above it all is the spirit of their grandfather, a happy man in life, and even more satisfied now seeing how amazing his grandchildren have become. There is sweetgrass burning at the bottom of the painting in constant thanks, prayer and purification.

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Sci Fi Friday

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 19:38:00 +0000

Somehow I've Always Known
9" x 12"
Mixed Media
on Watercolour Paper
2011

I grew up in the 80's.

That means that my chances of being a kid completely obsessed with Star Wars was pretty good. And obsessed I was.

My older brother had an 8mm camera and he and his friend used to make stop motion movies recreating the battle scenes on Hoth, strafing missions, etc.

My younger brother had all the toys. All of Them.

For me, the mythology, the archetypes...they got mixed in with every other belief system I was exposed to.

And so we have this painting. I've always wanted to do my own interpretation of classic Star Wars characters but there just didn't seem to be the time. I'm glad I finally got around to it.

Here we see the Princess Leia. She is clothed in green and rather than the young virginal damsel in distress, I have chosen to portray her as someone more wise, more in keeping with a woman born with the genetic disposition to feel the energy of all living things. She is in the midst of a waking dream which she will not remember on a conscious level, but will instead become an instinctive knowing. As events unfold, they will seem destined, as though she had been there before.

Instead of the brassy, 70's child Carrie Fisher portrayed, I have given her a wisdom borne of life under an autocratic thumb, always living with one face in public, but concealing a deep, rich inner life filled with her own thoughts and aspirations, bearing the fate of millions upon her skill at navigating between two worlds.

One day in the future she will receive news that will change the course of an already tumultuous life and rather than balk at it or attempt to explain it away she will state quietly and simply, "I know. Somehow I've always known."

However, let's keep in mind she will also utter such nuggets as, "I'd just as soon kiss a Wookie," but I digress.

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Sketchy!

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:19:00 +0000

Mama - In Progress
Ink and Graphite on Paper

Today I thought I'd share with you a work in progress. I draw, but rarely consider the drawings a finished work of art. I'm trying to overcome that self imposed bias. I'm thinking about adding a few washes of colour to this piece once the inking is complete.

In working on a few pieces like this lately Ive found I've had to let go of the crutch of colour and paint (which it really can become!) and rely on the concept, the learned skill of a steady hand and deliberate mark making. I've had to allow my idea to be stripped bare of it's multi-hued clothing and stand on it's own.

Creating art tends to draw my focus inward and I inevitably begin asking what other crutches I'm using in life, what other ways am I "dressing things up" so that I don't have to look at the stark truth.

Am I being honest enough? Am I being open enough?

It's in the the places we feel most vulnerable that we have the opportunity for the most growth so I welcome the questions. And, just like getting down to work on a drawing, I can get down to work on being more loving, supportive and giving to those around me, but even more importantly, to myself.

That's right! All the good qualities you want to share with other people, just heap them onto yourself. Give yourself patience, time, love, motivation and ALL that awesome good stuff.

If you're selfish with yourself, how can you be generous with others? Well, let's be honest- it all starts with you. Be healthy, happy, joyful and super cool. Then spread it around like Nutella.

Can you dig it?

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Mist on the Mountainside

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 20:10:00 +0000

Mist on the Mountainside
Digital (iPhone + Brushes App)
2010

Here's a quick piece I created on my iPhone using the Brushes App. I'm actually a closet watercolourist but still working on my skills. I found the interface easy to use but the screen 'real estate' far too small. This is what would prompt me toward an iPad, creating quick sketches in full colour any time any place.

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I love the mountains. When I was younger I would get an overpowering urge to return. We lived hours away on the plains and I would squint at the clouds on the horizon, imagining them to be a wall of stone and valley. As I grew older I was able to make my way there on my own, even to the extent of making the choice of living under their shadow, training as a goldsmith in the Waterton Valley.

I saw the many and sudden changes in the weather, the shifts from rain to sunshine and then to snow, all in a day.

I walked seldom used trails, scaling higher and higher until there were no more trees, just me, the wind, and the eagle.

I explored the valley depths, the secret pools and whispering streams. Clean, cold water flowing silkily over moss covered rocks.

I spoke with the animals, with a distant wolf, the bear, a cougar up in a tree who considered me for lunch but for reasons unknown changed menu plans. The birds were my constant companions and the fragile forest floor was home to the most exquisite, delicate flowers.

In the years that have passed, I see now that the mountains were my cure for a deep and aching pain that left untreated would have lead to insanity. They took my anxiety, fears and hurt away from me and gave me in turn a solid place to return to in my life, my thoughts, and my dreams.

I still return for short periods of time at least once a year. Where others see recreation, I see the place where I was wild, the place where I left behind the world and became a child of the forest. I see my place of healing and the fields of my awakening.

I learned that I can control nothing, manage nothing, save for myself. I learned I have a choice and that life is nothing but choices. I learned about laziness, excuses, blindness. I learned that the poison of one life can be passed to new, innocent lives and that this poison really can be drawn out of us.

We are all poisoned before we have a chance to choose, just as our parents were and their parents were. This poison can cause us to behave in irrational, desperate ways. Until we accept this we'll live by the will of the poison, and not by our own will.

Accept it and the healing already starts to happen.

The Rocky Mountains drew out my poison and gave me the gift of thinking on my own, of making decisions that were healthy, and giving me patience in the face of other people's poison.

We can all heal. And then we can heal all.

The Mist on the Mountainside is an expression of my gratitude and humility before nature. It represents where I was, where I went and where I am going. Those mountains clad and caressed by the ethereal clouds are the safeguards of my soul.

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More from the archives

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 21:54:00 +0000

Life Seeks It's Reflection
Mixed Media on Canvas
2008

Here is a little more from my conversation with my sons and wife.

In talking about miracles - and life in the universe - the question came up as it always will: Why? What's it all for? Is God a guy with a beard?

Well, I can't answer these questions for anyone. The search for the answers is what can come to define the shape of your life, so I leave that entirely up to you. All I know is what I know.

In my own meditations and dreaming I have found that it is all a beautiful, timeless weave, everything touches everything eventually. We are a fabric, a song.

We are life's longing for itself, the universe seeking it's own reflection. I look at you and I see the spark of the divine in you. I see that you are not only a part of creation, you are creation fulfilled. You are the dreaming creator. So am I. So is everyone and everything. Behind the mask of our physical forms lies the underlying and awesome truth: we are all the same.

When you look down past molecules, past electrons, past quarks, and so on, you come to it. The place where there is nothing. A vast emptiness. It is neither cold, nor warm. Neither dark nor light. It is the place where the dream of existence originates.

There is no dichotomy or good or evil or right or wrong. All is one with no judgments.

Where do our prayers go? Where does our meditation take us? Could it be that place where nothing is written, where all things are possible?

Could there have been nothing and so at the same time everything?

Could it be that we are the mind of the universe? That we are it's senses? That if that is so, then perhaps one day we will know the slow burning thoughts of a star, the great song of a galaxy and witness the dance of a trillion souls in endless variety, played out against this cosmic playground.

But for now it's enough to look at a leaf, breathe in the air, feel the beating of your own heart. For now, listen to the silence, for it too is a song. Watch a mote of dust spinning through the air, pushed by nothing but the warmth of the sun through a windowpane. You are watching an entire reality float by in the late afternoon light.

For now breathe and let love be your truth. It's enough. Indeed, it's all there is.

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From the Archives

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 04:30:00 +0000

The Old Saint
Mixed Media on Canvas
2009

I painted this last year for a friend who really loves art, collects art and is just a good all round guy.

It's an old spiritual man, a saint, listening to the whisperings of the spirits of the land. In Old Europe, Christianity was pretty much the only option for spiritual expression, so I really respect these old saints who tried to do what good they were able in their time. They were deep thinkers, clear writers, and really did their best to peer past the world we take for granted to understand the wonder that connects it all.

In front of him lies an illuminated manuscript. As Stephen King has said, telepathy exists and we call it books. We can literally read the minds of those who wrote their thoughts out for us.

I believe everyone has something to offer. The problem is we think we have to be experts or create the Most Amazing Thing Ever! If everyone who put themselves out there thought that, we'd live in a truly desolate creative landscape.

Whatever you have to give, give it now. There's no better day to offer your gift than today, and whether the audience is great or small doesn't matter. The truth is, whatever you do will pass through the years, through the generations and one day just might be the thing that changes someone's life. We can never know what it will be or when it will happen.

So just create!

Offer what you can.

And let it go.

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Miracles

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 22:43:00 +0000

Moon Song
9" x 6"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

Go into the wild. Don't let yourself be trapped by city lights like a deer in the middle of the road. Get out, get away, get free.

If we are separated from the land for too long we start to lose our true, wild selves in gray and steel. We lose our connection to the earth. That means that we lose our connection to nature and each other.

My sons asked if miracles happen.

We are surrounded by miracles!

In this endless universe we are the only conscious life we have ever known. This planet is a rare and precious thing, the only living planet we have seen! With telescopes we cast farther and farther, looking for a duplicate, a sister, to this Mother Earth.

There is none that we know of.

Every breath we take, every seed that grows, every new life - all are miracles.

Never doubt that you are special. Because we are each of us a part of billions we forget it. We forget because no one reminds us. I will remind you.

I will remind you that you are worth everything that has happened. Billions of years of stars and dust, lives lived, children born, all to make you. You are a gift.

You are a gift and have been given a gift so precious it only exists here on earth: life!

Life that knows it's alive!

We are the children of the universe, you and I. We are all connected.

Go into the wild. Press your bare feet against the soil and feel the heartbeat of your loving mother who provided such a special place for you to live. Remember how beautiful it all is. Forget dogma, forget hate, forget tribe and nation. Return to the wild and remember that we are a family and this is our home.

The lone wolf will return to it's pack. You have been alone too long. Come back to your family.

Come back.

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Revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:39:00 +0000

By Fire and Storm Transformed
18" x 36"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

This piece is a commission for the Eagle Feather Gallery in Victoria, BC. It's from a personal story of someone who was touched by lightning. I thought about this painting for a very long time, hoping to find the right balance between the drama such an event would hold with the aftereffect it would have on someone's life.

I hope they enjoy it as much as I loved creating it.

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Sneak Peek

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:28:00 +0000

Here's a sneak peek of a piece I'm shipping off to the Eagle Feather Gallery in Victoria (I have a link for them on the sidebar). I don't normally go in for commissions as they tend to take me a very long time. This has to do with the fact that I'm not an art churning machine. Most of my work is a months long process. Add to that the desire to "get it right" and this can stretch out to half a year or even longer.

The only time it doesn't apply is when it's for a dear friend or family member and all the pressure is off.

But I'm very proud of this one and I hope whoever it's going to loves it as much as I do.

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You can't hit a target you can't see

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 21:05:00 +0000

Buffalo Woman
16" x 20"
Mixed Media on Art Board
2010

Sometimes I work with schools and kids and the message I try to leave is to have actual achievable goals. After you have a few achievable short term goals, then dream bigger than big. Dream ridiculously impossible stuff.

If you aim for the impossible, what you determine to be achievable changes and magnifies exponentially. You get way more out of life than you ever thought possible. If you look for average or normal, if you try to fit in with everyone else your life will be, well, normal. And that's not such a bad thing if it makes you happy. What I would suggest is that your life can be something truly special. You can think different, think larger, more encompassing. Make travel, adventure, service, and pure joy your every day experience. We have one shot at it, so why not go all the way?

Apply the miracle of your mind and the beauty of your heart to your life and see what the Creator can make happen.

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For My Wife When We're Apart -part2

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 05:12:00 +0000

Gateway of the Sun
9" x 12"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

I will fly to that star
Wings fall apart in the distance
Falling
Through to you
My gateway of the sun

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For My Wife When We're Apart -part1

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:24:00 +0000

Star Traveller
9" x 12"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

Travel to me through the stars
Send only your love
So you may find me
My heart is in a wide blue ocean
Waiting for your return

A Gift to Honor Survivors. All Surviviors

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 04:58:00 +0000

Returning Home
30" x 40"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

I'm allowing free full sized download of this image. For those who need it you are welcome to it. Click here.

If you like any of my other work to purchase, it would be appreciated but is absolutely not necessary. This is my gift and now it's yours. Here's why:

This was painted for the survivors of the Canadian Residential School experience. For those who don't know, it was government policy to "kill the Indian" in children by taking them forcibly from their homes and transporting them to far away schools. These Schools were run primarily by religious organizations and many of the children were physically and sexually abused. They were forbidden to speak their own language and at the end of their experience were broken people with many unresolved emotional scars. My grandmother was one of them. This policy ended in the 1990's. Not the 1890's. The 1990's.

Every First Nations (Native) family has someone who was subjected to this purposeful abuse and the long ranging results are alcoholism, drug abuse, perpetuation of the abuse they suffered on the next generation, mental illness and so on.

Sometimes white society in Canada gets frustrated at the repetition of these facts. I guess it's a sort of "blame the victim" mentality and they wish Aboriginal people would just get over it. Of course, it is my most sincere wish that one day First Nations people heal and do get over the abuse.

But something that took hundreds of years to mess up probably won't be fixed overnight. It will take generations, and that's just the simple, unvarnished truth. White society should be outraged at their government. Locking someone in a room and allowing them to be molested by a man or woman of god for ten years might take more than an apology to make all right.

Anyway, it's kind of depressing information, I agree, so I'll leave you with the write up I created for this work.

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The idea for this painting was to communicate safety, security, a return to tradition and traditional teachings. In essence, it was to be about healing. I considered the challenge it represented and in an instant this image appeared to me. A tipi lit from within, offering sanctuary against winter’s chill. The warmth is so overpowering that it spills out through the skin, much like the glow of a person who has found a truth and lives by it, their own personal light shining out into the world offering hope to everyone. And better yet, there is a community here. No one is alone. In every home is a family, laughing, playing, dancing or praying. This is a good place to be.

Above the still and silent night hangs a full moon, lighting the way for travelers who are still out in the hills, showing them the way back to hearth and comfort. They carry burdens but will be able to put them down when their lonely journey ends. Watching over it all are the Aurora Borealis, our Northern Lights. Swaying, shining, the light of those who have gone before - our grandmothers and grandfathers - are holding hands, keeping the beat of the Round Dance. We watch this beautiful dance and are reminded of the old ways, the old teachings. We are reminded of our connection to heaven and earth, past and future. We are reminded to live here and now, in each other’s hearts.

Though the journey seems far, we are never alone. The spirits of the land surround us, the spirits of the sky watch over us, and the Great Spirit, our Creator, leads us to our greatest happiness. It’s hard to believe it when we are alone in the wilderness, but come home, be safe, be warm. Come home and rest. Come home at last, and heal.

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With thanks to Honor Walk: Residential School Healing

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From the Collection of the Artist

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:28:00 +0000

Caleoni
14" x 18"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

This was painted half in Hawaii and half in Canada. It was my first time being overseas and the experience of Oahu really touched me. My time there was very special for me and I came to understand something amazing. When I first arrived, I was struck by the sheer humidity of the air, the gentle feeling on my skin. As the days passed and I walked in the valleys and along the beaches, as I swam and soaked in the sun, I began to see the spirit of the land, the energy. I saw the underlying currents of the winds, the water, the rock and soil. The entire island came alive under my feet!

I couldn't delay. I bought paints, canvasses, supplies and sat in the hotel room every evening, painting away, the song of the island birds coming in through the vast windows.

I felt like a Black feathered Corvid out of my element and yet completely at home. A stranger in a strange and welcoming land.

My wife and I were talking about children, the possibility of a daughter. In that place of renewal and peace I imagined the child of our dreams, perhaps not this physical form represented, but I hope it captured the spiritual essence of what that child might be.

Since that time we have settled in at home and we are expecting a son. Perhaps that daughter is in the future, but for now, just knowing that a new little life is on it's way, feeling him dance and kick in her belly, fills me with a wonderful joy.

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Dull drums decline

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 03:39:00 +0000

Fleur-ish
Chalk Pastel on Paper
12"x 16"
2011

I know spring is months away, but I feel like I'm waking up a little early. I've been laying fallow for the past six weeks or so, seemingly unable to do anything art related. Create, ship, whatever. This week has seen a rejuvenation. I'm ready again.

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A New World Awakens

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 22:19:00 +0000

Seventh Fire
12" x 16"
Oil Pastel, Gold Leaf
on Paper
2011

Endless fields of snow. Cold with no relief. A darkness that weighs heavy and long. There are times in our lives when it feels as though everything we touch turns to dust and there is nothing good that is lasting and true. W all have our times of despair, where hope can find no foothold.

Then for no reason we can ever truly explain something changes. A spark lights up inside and re-ignites the fire of our vision, the heat that fuels our heart. We find that not only are we alive but we are strong. We are bright. We are perfect beings and the beauty of our souls light up the night like the sun.

We are the Seventh Fire and we are strong.

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A Prayer

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 06:54:00 +0000

Thunderherd
28" x 22"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

Where are my brothers?
Where is the thunder?
Where is the passing storm
that leaves destruction and new life
in it's wake?

They are gone
They are gone
Into the bosom of the Mother
Into the Mountain
They are gone

They will return

Snow Snow Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:24:00 +0000

Boreal Morning
12" x 16"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

Life in the North is a different kind of thing. Where I am, we are just on the verge of the Great White Expanse. In my journeys up to the Northwest Territories and throughout Northern Alberta there is one thing I've come to understand and appreciate.

They make them different up here. Like a Raven we'll caw and complain but in the end, we get to work. We live through the mountains of snow and ice, we help dig out our neighbours, we still do our jobs and take care of our families.

Sometimes we'll get that far away look, that thousand yard stare, and everyone who lives here knows what it's like to get that need to go, to leave to walk away into the wilderness and never come back. I think it's the balance we have to strike between our animal nature and the demands of a modern life.

Yes, it's cold, people die of exposure, tips of ears or fingers can freeze away if you get caught in it, but it's also our blessing. We don't flood, we don't shake, we just freeze. And the spring always comes. Is it possible that one day, after we've wrecked it enough that it will all change? Of course. Maybe one year it will freeze and it will stay frozen. It's happened before to this earth of ours, and it can happen again.

So we do what we must. We recycle, we eat less, we waste less. or at least we try. Will it be enough?

This vast wilderness is our home, and looking out at the mountains of snow I feel a soft calm. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I know without a doubt that everything will be fine. We may have our long dark night, but out of the dawn we'll see the distance, the puff of breath in the cold air, and at last the sunrise.

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They Will Return

noreply@blogger.com (Aaron Paquette) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:17:00 +0000

Sleeping Buffalo (Tunnel Mountain)
12" x 16"
Mixed Media on Canvas
2010

This mountain can be found in Banff National Park - Alberta, Canada.

It's mostly known by another name: Tunnel Mountain

The story goes that when the buffalo where decimated by the newcomers, Mother Earth had compassion on the once great herds and took the remaining free buffalo and led them to the mountains. There she opened a way for them, allowing them to pass through into safety, and there they sleep, waiting for the day when they can roam free once again.

The mountain itself looks like a buffalo at rest and legend has it that when the mountain starts to move, the mighty herds will return to spread their thunder once again.

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