During November, Native American Heritage Month, I had the opportunity to paint with Derek No-Sun Brown. Derek is an artist who expresses and carries on ancestry from Shoshone-Bannock, Klamath, and Ojibwe people through his artwork.
We met with Derek over WebEx. Before we got to painting, he explained and went into detail about how he was raised, how he came to the decision to create art and paintings for a living, and more on his Native American culture. I found that part of the night to be very interesting and informational. Derek was able to put his camera over the painting so we could see what he was doing and paint along with him. He was very thorough in how and what to do while we painted. The painting related to the traditional style of Native American art. Every time we moved on to a new part of the painting, Derek explained more things about his heritage. He was also very patient and descriptive, which made the enjoy experience more.
I think it was great getting to actually paint something that would be similar to Native American culture, during Native American Heritage Month. Now when I am looking at art, I might possibly be able to see Native American components to the style of artwork. I think that being able to learn about the “why” and the reasoning or beliefs that come with the style of painting is super important and it made the event much more personal, even as Derek wasn’t able to attend in person.
Samantha McDonald 