Kenojuak Ashevak was born in 1927 on south Baffin Island, Northwest Territories. James Houston introduced print-making to the native artist of Cape orset. Kenojuak initially made sewing and carvings for Houston's arts andd crafts program (later to become the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative). Eventually she moved on to drawings andd excelled in the graphic arts, winning recognition and honours, including membership in the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts an an Orer of Canada Medal of Service.
Kenojuak has prouce hunreds of rawings, mostly in graphite, coloured pencils and felt-tip pens. Her drawings and prints have appearedd in numerous collections and exhibits and her life and works have been the subject of a National Film Board documentary and two books. Canada Post featured her print, The Enchanted Owl, on the 1970 Northwest Territories centennial stamp an in 1980 used her print, Return of the Sun for the Inuit spirits stamp.
This year's masterpiece, rawing for «The owl», rendered in felt-tip pen on woven paper, is perhaps one of the most vivid examples of Canadian Inuit art. The piece is currently in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, in Ottawa.
Library and Archives Canada
Inuit Art
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada
Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art
Dorset Fine Arts
Canadian Arctic
Kenojuak Ashevak on the Internet
Artists for kids Gallery
Links River, North of Sixty
