At Moonstone Creation, we work with more than 60 Indigenous artists and love celebrating their work. Here are a few of our featured artists whose work you can find in the gallery and in our online store.
Michael Lonechild
Michael Lonechild is a Cree, Native-Canadian painter best known for his brightly coloured depictions of historical and present-day Cree culture. His oeuvre contains images of hunting buffalo and customary preparations for campfires on winter days. Using acrylics, Lonechild builds up many layers of paint to produce a glowing and textural quality to his works.
"My technique is what people like to call the 'overlapping style',” the artist has said of his process. “I continue to paint over and over the same area in order to build up the mood."
Born in October of 1955 on the White Bear Reservation in Saskatchewan, Canada, Lonechild is self-taught, learning all he knows from books and observing other artists’ work. Lonechild lives and works between Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Leo Arcand
Leo Arcand is a Woodland Cree sculptor from the Alexander First Nations reserve in Northern Alberta. Leo has sketched since he was a young boy, but in 1991 he was introduced to stone carving, and this became his medium of choice.
He works mainly in soapstone, drawing his inspiration from his deep spirituality and the keen belief that there must be a balance in all things.
“I do not produce art, nor do I create it. I discover the spirit of each stone and together we decide its’ message.”
Leo’s deep spirituality draws him into close contact with the Elders and the traditions they maintain. The drums, songs, ceremonies, and the Aboriginal peoples' natural affinity with Mother Earth are some of the themes reflected in his work.
Keegan Starlight
Keegan Starlight is an Indigenous artist from the Tsuut’ina Nation in Southern Alberta. Starlight started practicing art 18 years ago and has always been his passion, but he formally started his career during his time at ACAD. Starlight has since gained skills in animation, design, 2D studio art, and art instruction. He owns a freelance art company with his wife, Amanda Fox-Starlight. The Starlights’ two children, Tiernan (age 6), and Brielle (age 1), are their biggest inspiration and the reason behind their success. The Starlights’ practices are multidisciplinary, working in painting, drawing (charcoal, pencil, pen, and ink), jewellery (beaded, assembling, silversmithing, goldsmithing), as well as in fashion and design.
Gordon Wesley
Gordon Wesley is a proud Nakoda Stoney from the Bighorn Reserve. As a child growing up on the reserve and being outdoors, he watched the wildlife in the Rockies. His passion for nature, his memories and experiences is where he gets the inspiration to capture the spirit of the wild and create life on canvas.
“Most of my artistic vision is based on our homeland, where we live along the mountains,” said Wesley. “Growing up, I fell in love with the landscape and the wildlife.”
Simone McLeod
Simone is a Cree - Ojibway artist born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1962. She is a member of the James Smith Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Her Ojibway name is “Earth Blanket” – all that covers the earth such as grass, flowers, and trees.
Simone has been artistically motivated since the age of thirteen. She began by experimenting with various mediums, such as pencil, ink, charcoal, and pastels. At that time, her subjects mainly consisted of human portraits and some wildlife. She did not pursue painting until much later in her life.
Simone's work has been appreciated by international collectors from the Netherlands, Wales, Austria, France, Greece, South Africa, India, New Zealand, Japan as well as by local private and corporate collectors.
Jerry Tony
Jerry Tony was born in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, and is Salteaux from Yellow Quill First Nation. He started painting in his early twenties, and is completely self taught. After doing Sundance, Jerry began having visions in his dream time. He keeps a sketchbook nearby his bed, so he can capture his vision and bring it to life. All of Jerry’s paintings reflect what he sees in his visions. His art has been included in private collections across the globe.