NWT Arts

I am a Dene beader. My grandmother first taught me flat stitch, but I now also incorporate brick stitch and peyote stitch in my designs. I make a few different styles but I mainly make fringe earrings with long brick-stitch beaded triangle at the top. With that model, I can play with different colour combinations and patterns. Turquoise and silver are my favourite colours to work with.

Once I start working on my own moose hides, I will start including that into my artwork as well. I am planning on making feather designs, beaded onto moose hide.

I adopted the feather symbol as a tribute to my late brother, Danny. I have always looked up to him as an artist. In one of his logos, he designed a beautiful feather, so I decided to mix his artwork with my own style to create the logo for “Silver Feather Designs”. To me, the silver feather represents spiritual connection and healing positive energies which is exactly what I want to represent.

I learned to bead through my grandmother, Mary Cazon, who was another important artist in my family. I spent a lot of time with my grandmother in the bush when I was little. I think that’s the reason why I have always felt so close to her. Out on the land, she showed me how to bead and to knit to keep myself busy. She encouraged me a lot and would often tell me if I made a mistake to take it apart and start over. I would one day love to make a tribute piece with some of her designs as well.

My grandmother mainly made traditional beaded flowers. When I was a teenager, I wanted to bead different things, not just flowers: I wanted to do happy faces and other designs trending at the time. But now, I understand the significance of carrying on the traditional flower art because it is central to our Dene culture. I want to showcase that part of my grandmother’s art in mine.

I also get a lot of inspiration from my mother, my cousin Leanna and my Auntie Mary Jane. They wear a lot of my earrings and give me great ideas. One day, my aunt told me she didn’t have any medicine wheel coloured earrings, so she inspired me to do more jewelry with this traditional colour combination.

I make art for the pure joy of it. Mixing different types of beads with other materials to create something new is really exciting to me. When I bead, I feel calm and at peace. Making art makes me feel complete, and it makes me feel even more amazing when I see people wear what I have created!