ART NOTES: A Package of 10 letter-size Art Notes with envelopes. 2 each of 5 designs

SACRED COLOURS: In this painting, you see a man drumming sacred songs. To the Ojibwe, the sound of the drum symbolizes the heartbeat of Mother Earth. The symbols that appear to be floating in the sky are symbols from the sacred rock paintings on Mazinaw Lake in Eastern Ontario. the rock paintings are painted on the side of a cliff-face that rises up from the water’s edge. The viewpoint that I chose to depict is from within the cliff looking outwards. It’s as if the rockface was made of glass and the images were painted onto the glass. The Little Feathers People live inside rock and are spirits so the view is a spirit’s eye view. We leave offerings of tobacco for those spirits that live at there.
SNOW LAIDEN: A heavy snow has fallen on the branches in the early morning. The blues of the snow play with the colours of the morning sunrise. Winter is the time for sharing legends. It is the dreamtime for the spirits and we can share stories while they sleep.
HEARTS: A dancing pair are shown as a gossamer line penned by the wind.
POLICE CHASE: Ravens are mischief by their very nature. The “Bad Guys”. In this painting, the “Law” is the Red Wing Blackbird. You can imagine that as it flaps it’s wings, the red patches flash like the cherry lights on the top of a police car.
STAR FLOWER: Long ago, A Star Spirit looked down upon the earth and saw an orange glow in a clearing beside a lake. Curious, the Star dropped lower for a closer look. The Star could now see that the glow was a fire and that there were people gathered around it. The Star moved closer still and she realized that some of people were telling stories, some were dancing, and others were singing. The Star watched for a long while because she loved the feeling radiating from around the fire. She longed to stay and listen to the laughter and music but also knew that she must return to her home in the sky. As she began to climb skyward, she glanced down for one more look. Directly below in the lake was another star! Perhaps stars can live in the water, she wondered. Quickly, she descended towards the lake. She didn’t realize that the other star was her own reflection in the water. When she moved to embrace the other star, she touched the water and was instantly transformed into a beautiful star-shaped flower. This was the first water lily. The water lily always grows close to shores where it can enjoy the sounds of laughter and music that surround campfires.