'Stay Strong' Canvas Print by Laird Goulet, Métis

Viewed through the kaleidoscope of shapes and colors, the bear looks longingly at his ultimate goal, the salmon leaping in the waves. The artist, Laird Goulet, is a Canadian First Nations Metis artist, from Opaskawayak Cree Nation raised in The Pas, Manitoba. He works primarily in acrylics on canvas, and tries to capture what it's like to live as a First Nations person in Canada. From his early childhood to the present, Laird has re-imagined and chose the healing path that has led to an appreciation of who he is and what he has experienced, with a focus on the human ties to the land. His unique and vibrant painting style reflects the spiritual and artistic imprints that have been inherently transferred to him by his grandmothers. Laird's paintings pay homage to the subsistence lifestyle of his Cree Moshums (Grandfathers and Grandmother's). These images are inspired largely by childhood memories on the trap-line and fishing grounds.