Carly G. Bear Season
Much of her inspiration is drawn from her experiences as a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe — the powwows she attended as a child and the dances she participates in to this day. Carly also majored in graphic design and photography in college. Today she uses her knowledge and experience to create original artworks, hand-embellished art prints, and handcrafted notecards, which have become exceedingly popular at Birchbark Books & Native Arts. By translating her work into the notecard format, Bear Season has brought her work to a larger audience. “The smaller medium was filling something that people needed. They needed to see imagery of Native people that wasn’t romanticized. I knew then that my voice was being heard.” She has even made her voice known to travelers through work commissioned by hotels. No matter where or how one sees Bear Season’s work, there is a palpable sense of her hand at work, of a human body in motion.
by Will Fraser, Birchbark Books and Native Arts
by Carly G. Bear Season (Ojibwe)
The series of photos which make up this print were taken September 2017 at a powwow in Mankato, MN where Bear Season dances annually to celebrate the life of her father, Ininishib.
Photo print size 12” x 18”
Reinforced with acid-free backing board
Enclosed in a protective sleeve.
by Carly G. Bear Season (Ojibwe)
One 5” x 7” handmade blank note card using high quality art papers. This card features a photograph, which was taken by the artist in September 2017 at a powwow in Mankato, MN where Bear Season dances annually to celebrate the life of her father, Ininishib. Envelope included.
You can purchase this series of photos as a 12" x 18" art print called Powwow Dancers Photo Series.
by Carly G. Bear Season (Ojibwe)
This art print tells the story behind Carly Bear Season’s turtle image that many of her fans are familiar with.
In Anishinaabe creation stories, Turtle is significant because after a great flood, Muskrat dove down into the depths of the water to retrieve a handful of Mother Earth, and Turtle offered their shell upon which the soil could be placed. In doing so, a new land called Turtle Island, was created. The Anishinaabe also follow a lunar calendar, which Turtle's shell reflects. There are 13 larger scutes, which represent the 13 lunar cycles in a year, and there are 28 smaller scutes, which represent the number of days in 1 lunar cycle.
*Definition of scute: a thickened bony plate on a turtle's shell
Hand-embellished inkjet print on cotton paper.
Dimensions: 11” x 17” paper size.
Enclosed in a protective sleeve. Reinforced with acid-free backing board.