Jared Tait, an Indigenous artist from Sachigo First Nations, held a week-long residency program at the Haliburton School of Art + Design Aug. 12-16.
The residency, called Bawaajigan, engaged the community in art to create 3D animals in the woodland style of painting.
Tait remembers starting painting in his 20s, but having grown up watching his dad work a brush.
“If I started too young, I would have lost interest pretty quickly. I think I’m more mature now. A lot of distractions are gone, because I used to struggle with alcohol and drugs… being young and Indigenous and not feeling like you belong anywhere.”
Tait says his life before art was using drugs, relapsing and falling back on his addictions.
“Once I started messing around with painting, it just kind of became my life pretty much.
“My father was an artist. Growing up, the walls would be covered with paintings. In his studio, I would help him paint a lot, I would go to art markets with him and shows. [Painting] was just something that my dad did that I thought I had no right to do.”
The residency took place in a tent just outside of the school. There were people painting inside the tent and Tait’s daughter was there too, painting on top of her dad’s works of art.
What inspires Tait is wanting to learn more about Indigenous culture and Indigenous art.
“I’m always learning something.” Many Indigenous artists draw on their ancestral connections, combining these with their Indigenous knowledge to create works of art.
Tait mixes his own colours and avoids using a lot of primary colours, which can be seen in the beautiful teal blues and off-colour yellows.
The three-dimensional woodland figures painted during the residency were unveiled inside the Haliburton Sculpture Forest Aug. 17.
