Daphne Odjig

Today for our "Family Day" outing we went to the National Gallery to see the Daphne Odjig exhibit. Stevie loved running around and attempting to scare the guards by getting a little too close to some of the paintings. It was such a nice time though. I can't help but feel like we are fostering a love of art for her by taking to see these things so early on. I feel like it worked on me since my parent's did the same thing.

Anyway, back to Daphne. She was born and raise in the village of Wikwemikong, on Manitoulin Island. Her works are a very abstract take on the human form but you can see she is obviously heavily influenced by her native roots. The colours in her painting are so strong and bright. She is often referred to as "Picasso's grandmother". Stevie was pretty mesmerised by a number of them. So we're Darrell and I actually. That's what I love about the Gallery, you can go in not knowing anything about the artist and come out a fan. Daphne is still alive today, I believe she is around 90 years old. Still painting I hope.

Here is some of her work:

These photos don't do them justice though and there are so many great ones that I haven't shown here. Get to the National Gallery of Canada by January 3rd to check them out yourself.