gallery by Michael Bussière
ABOVE: Village Party, 36” x 66” Acrylic on unstretched canvas
Patrick Paul
EXPLORES THE WONDERS OF WOODLANDS ART
P
atrick Paul is an Ojibwe artist who paints in the tradition of the Woodlands school of art, as introduced to the world by Norval Morrisseau, whose father Potan, a respected Shaman and elder, pioneered the style. It draws inspiration from rock pictography and sacred birch bark scrolls to express concepts found in Indigenous spirituality. The Woodlands style translates this knowledge using a distinctive visual vocabulary of boldlycoloured figurative forms and shapes on a single plane articulated by thick black outlines. Woodlands art is a representation of a culture whose myths are rooted in the Canadian Shield, where rugged forests, erratic boulders, and glistening waters welcomed the first human inhabitants following the recession of the glaciers eons ago. There is no art more deeply centred in this vast and ancient land.
14 OTTAWALIFE WINTER/SPRING 2022
Patrick Paul was born in Winnipeg and currently lives with his family in Dauphin, located in Treaty 2 territory. He never imagined taking up a paint brush until last April when creativity and a desire to explore his heritage captured his imagination. Patrick’s imagery depicts animals, community across the generations, and the landscapes, traditions, and legends that filled his heart while growing up in Thunder Bay
and northwestern Ontario, where his extended family calls home. “A lot of the cultural roots and my understanding of them came from the Ojibwe teachings I received at Whitesand First Nation in Ontario (3 hours north of Thunder Bay) where I went to elementary school for two years,” Patrick recalls. “I learned the principles of the seven sacred teachings, and to speak the Ojibwe language. My dad’s auntie was the teacher and a lot of the lessons she shared are still with me today.” Those lessons and memories are central to Patrick’s art, and are reflected in three of his favourite creations. “‘Familiar Lands’ is heavily influenced by a Norval Morrisseau piece called ‘In the Land of the Giants’. I wanted LEFT: Patrick Paul with his family.
