Six artists from across the Northwest Territories will have their art featured at this weekend’s Toronto Outdoor Art Fair in Nathan Phillips Square.
This year’s NWT participants are Darrell Chocolate, James Wedzin, Jen Walden, Isabel Orlias, Jessi Johnson and Kerri McPherson. Chocolate also attended last year’s fair.
McPherson is a self-taught artist from Tulita. Five of her paintings will be for sale.
McPherson has been painting since childhood. “I always tell everyone my first drawings were on the walls, and everyone yelling at me,” she said.
As she developed her skills and began drawing on paper, those pleas to stop became encouragement to continue. Eventually, she enrolled in fine arts at MacEwan University in Edmonton.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
But McPherson came to find she didn’t like how rigid the program was. After taking an elective in Indigenous history, she declared a major in history and a minor in psychology, which she plans to complete this fall. The switch inspired McPherson to paint historical landscapes, cultural items and traditional accessories.
These days, McPherson turns to the internet for painting tips. After finishing her final semester, McPherson plans to “do more paintings of traditional life.”
One of McPherson’s paintings for sale at the fair is Grandma’s Mitts. It features a depiction of traditional mittens made of rabbit fur and moose hide with decorative beading. It’s a replica of a pair that McPherson’s late grandma once made for her, and painting the mittens helped McPherson feel connected to her.
McPherson believes her paintings stand out among other northern works through their content.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
“A lot of pieces are landscapes – the northern lights, the beautiful winter, the cabins – but I noticed that not a lot of people are doing a screenshot of traditional life, what used to go on years ago,” McPherson said.
Her goal at the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair is to learn from others.
“I still consider myself a small-time artist,” she said. “I’m in a world of the big-times and I’m just like, ‘Can I learn from you?’”
Even if she doesn’t sell anything, she added, she’ll be grateful for the experience of attending.
According to McPherson, her friends and family are rooting for her but also “hope I don’t sell anything so that when I come back, I can make reprints of the originals, so they can have a few there.”
The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair runs from 10am-7pm on Friday and Saturday, then 10am-5pm on Sunday.
The NWT artists at the fair can be found in booths 221 to 225, on the Queen St side of the plaza. There’s a map available on the fair’s website.
Correction: July 15, 2024 – 10:15 MT. This article originally stated McPherson was studying for a minor in philosophy. It’s actually psychology. The pair of mittens wasn’t owned by McPherson’s grandma, as we originally stated – the mittens were made by McPherson’s grandma for her.
