As I mentioned in a previous post (here), I had the chance to make a drum at this year's Great Northern Arts Festival. 

Last Saturday I took the "Gourd Ocean Drum" class - see description below.  We took a wide shallow canteen gourd, stretched a goat skin across it, and filled it with pellets.  The pellets create the sound of waves when you
roll them across the skin side.  You can also use a stick to make a traditional drum sound. 

We then had a choice about how to decorate it - either by painting it, using fur or hide, or using the wood burning technique, which is what I tried.

The class was taught by Elizabeth Gordon, who is originally from Nunavut but who now lives in Bowman, Ontario. She specializes in making art out of gourds - this is another one of her pieces that was on display at the festival.

In the photos below I have shown the step-by-step process.  It was a lot of fun and not nearly as hard as I thought
it would be!

Every year for the past 25 years, artists, musicians and performers have gathered in Inuvik in July along with hundreds of visitors and art collectors from all over the country and around the world to celebrate the beauty and diversity of northern art and culture.
 
This year was my second year attending the Arts Festival, and I could not resist buying some more art work for my walls, which I will show you in another post.  I also made a gourd drum, which I will tell you about later this
week (see here)!
 
For today I will show you some pictures of the gallery and some of the art on display.

You can read more on the website www.gnaf.org, but this year, the Great Northern Arts Festival celebrated its 25 year anniversary (it started in 1989). The artists are Inuit, Inuvialuit, Gwich'in, Dene, Métis and many of Canada's other First Nations, as well as non-Aboriginal artists.

The festival lasts 10 days, and includes concerts, dance performances, the gallery where the art is on display, a carving area where you can watch carvers at work, a fashion show, and my favourite - workshops to teach participants how to make pieces of art.  Last year I took a bead course with my Mum and a drawing class with my Dad.   And this year I made a drum, as mentioned. 
 
It’s definitely worth timing a visit to the North during the arts festival.  And now I will let the pieces of art speak for themselves.   Enjoy! 

There aren't a lot of shopping opportunities in Inuvik, as we have no malls and very few stores, so it's easy to avoid the temptation to spend money.  However, our downfall is that there are so many amazing handicrafts to buy- mukluks, carvings, muskox wool scarves, fur mitts (rabbit, seal, wolf, beaver), you name it.   And because these items are unique, hand-crafted, and use very expensive materials, you have to be prepared to dish out $hundreds or $thousands for a one-of-a-kind item.  Sticker shock is just part of the experience!

Case in point -- my new moccasins (generally just called "slippers" by the Inuit).  After a year of looking for the perfect pair, I was thrilled to see these beauties below in our craft shop for the bargain price of $250 including tax.   The reason they are not in the $300+ range is because the bottoms are cowhide rather than moosehide.  But as I will only use them indoors at the office most of the time, I didn't mind that they weren't made of moosehide.

The slippers are made of sealskin, trimmed with Arctic hare, with embroidered uppers.  They were made by Martha Kudlak of Sachs Harbour, a community of about 100 people in an area even more remote than Inuvik!

Today marks another anniversary.  It's hard to believe it's been three months since I arrived in Inuvik!  I have no deep words of wisdom today, except to say it's amazing how fast that living in the Arctic has felt like "normal life".  And I'm loving it!

I don't have much time for a meaningful post today, as I'm getting ready for a trip over the Easter weekend to Dawson City and Whitehorse (woo hoo!), but I felt it was fitting to post some pictures of the mukluk-making course I took the weekend before last, as it was a great way of learning a traditional handicraft and ending up with something really useful!  These mukluks can be worn outside in minus 40 degree weather.  Amazing!