ART INSPIRED BY NORVAL MORRISEAU

NORVAL MORRISSEAU

Norval Morrisseau was born in the early 1930s on the Sandy Point Lake Reserve north of Thunder Bay in Ontario Canada.

He was raised by his Grandparents and through them learned traditional Ojibwa customs, values and beliefs. It was in his youth that he received - from his Grandfather - his "mission" to share through art, all of those things he was taught to respect about Ojibwa culture.

During the 1950s, Morrisseau was hospitalized with Tuberculosis. While in hospital, he began painting and drawing his visions on birch bark and brown paper bags... he painted visions which were uniquely his own. Later, in the 1960s he traveled widely to bush communities in Canada and visited some northern Minnesota reservations where he met with many who today are considered knowledgeable elders, both to learn from them and to teach. He taught by painting, as well as writing. 

A medicine man or shaman, Morrisseau developed a style which has since evolved and been used by many Native artists. The style is called the Eastern Woodland Style and can be seen in the works of Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray and Blake Debassige. (http://www.kinderart.com/multic/norval.shtml)

We found the following lesson plan to help guide us:

1. Norval Morrisseau used what is referred to as an X-Ray technique when he painted a work of art. Not only do you see the person or animal that has been painted, but you also see the energy within the animal or person.
2. Have your students choose a subject for their painting - a fish, a bird, a turtle, etc.
3. Students can then sketch the outline of their subject on their paper.
4. Next, students should think about the interior of their subject - the energy and emotion inside.
5. Students can then draw lines (using ink, crayons, oil sticks, oil pastels etc), colors (using paint, oil pastels, cut up paper etc.) and shapes inside the subject ... the more the better.
6. Let imagination take over as the paper is filled with paint.

Materials:

• Heavy paper or cardboard (about 12" x 14" per student)
• Thick water based paint. (Acrylic is wonderful but you can also use tempera or poster paint)
• Paintbrushes & water
• Examples of Morrisseau's art
• Images of animals for reference