Red Lake Woodland Arts Festival: A Tribute to Norval Morrisseau and the Woodland Artists in 25 DAYS!

July 4th-6th, 2008
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Honouring Roy Thomas (1949 - 2004)
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"Thunderbird Island", © Roy Thomas
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Foreword: ROY THOMAS - "The Spirit of Ahnishnabae Art" - A Gallery Edition
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In the sixth decade of twentieth century Canada a number of Aboriginal artists emerged from the forests, reserves and isolated villages. Long oppressed and marginalized by the values and inaccurate perceptions held in western culture this vanguard of artists made their way into the mainstream and the hearts of a wide range of art patrons in the nation. For most of these native artists this cross-cultural journey from forest life would be confusing, difficult and too often tragic. The treacherous path between the Aboriginal world and an industrial one was filled with danger. From an aboriginal culture that was a sharing one, set in a timeless world and full of intimate relationships with animals and the mother earth, these young men and women made their way. Roy Thomas, born in the boreal forest east of Longlac, in northern Ontario is one artistic treasure that made this journey.
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The shocking price Roy Thomas and his family members have paid on this journey to a modern industrial world is disclosed in the following pages. But Thomas has brought with him incredible beauty with his paintings and their inherent spiritual force for understanding the Turtle Island that we all share as living space. As attractive as the Thomas imagery is, The Spirit of Ahnisnabae Art is more than a promotional art book.
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Here we have the story of an Ojibway youth born on a trap line, sent to a boarding school and orphaned as a teen but filled with a dream that he should display the cultural dynamics of his people through vision inspired paintings. Against formidable odds Roy Thomas would be successful. He would become along with Norval Morrisseau, one of only two native painters that the late and renowned Jack Pollock would show in his Toronto gallery. These were heady days for a young Roy Thomas. With money and fame Roy and his pals literally partied themselves across the country from one amusing scenario to another until the inevitability of despair emerged. Roy knew he was not following the teachings of his father Michael, and grandfather Paul, but how could he find his way again. Both his father and grandfather were gone. With assistance and guidance of the elders Thomas eventually made his way to sobriety, a renewed fatherhood, and artistic accomplishment. He is today pre-eminent among the Woodland artists in North America.
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James R. Stevens
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Others about Roy Thomas:
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"When I saw Roy Thomas paintings for the first time I was moved and amazed by the colours Roy uses and the stories he tells and paints. There is no difference between the telling and the painting. Both are vivid and warm. People in Europe enjoy his paintings and are attracted to the stories Roy tells with his paintbrush. The paintings have the power to give pleasure to the soul."
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Beatrix van Huystee, Mikinook Tribal Art, The Netherlands
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"Thomas paintings are extremely profound especially in dramatic contrast to this age of fast moving technology. People coming into our galleries change expression to warmth, humility and tenderness when they see his paintings. His images stand in contrast to people who are losing balance in their lives. They need to see these paintings and hear the stories and many express profound appreciation how this experience has changed their lives."
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Jan Sivertson, Sivertson Galleries, Duluth & Grand Marais, Minnesota
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"With this book. Roy Thomas, the painter of stories is telling the story of his own life. It is part of the larger history of northwestern Ontario, the Woodland Art School and the heady days of the renaissance of native art in the 1970s. It is a story that needs to be told."
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Janet Clark, The Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
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"Roy Thomas is one of those rare people who has known he had to forever keep in very close touch with his Inner Sage, his soul, part of the great Spirit Himself. That is why someone like Roy has an uncanny artistic power, which he very humbly respects and shares with all of us, his brothers ans sisters of the whole Circle of Life. Aboriginal artists, philosophers and spiritualists stand out and deserve the place and the status of national treasures in this great country of ours, Canada. Roy Thomas is one such person, for he is not merely an artist: his art and thought richly feed into the deep Aboriginal soul of this country."
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Dr. Georges Sioui, Author and Educator, Vancouver, British Columbia
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Source:
Text: ROY THOMAS - "The Spirit of Ahnishnabae Art" - A Gallery Edition /www.ahnisnabae-art.com/ by James R. Stevens, ISBN: 0-9688345-0-7 /Used with permission/; Image: Courtesy of www.bearclawgallery.com.
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For more information about the Red Lake Woodland Arts Festival go to: www.redlakemuseum.com.
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* The painting in this posting: "Thunderbird Island", 24"x20", © c. 2000 Roy Thomas /Private Collection/