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Thunder and Lightning

Smaller size available for $400 | Measures 16″h x 24″ w

“I am releasing some works that are rooted in design traditions that are not Coast Salish. In this piece I am recognizing the heavy influences of Nuu-chah-nulth and Makah mentorship from my early training. I have written before over the years about spending time in Neah Bay with Greg Colfax (Makah) and George David (Nuu-chah-nulth). This work has tribute to them as well as the influence of other artists of that region and how it has remained a powerful design language for which I have great admiration to this day.

This is a depiction of Thunderbird and serpent where faint elements of clouds with rain and small waves are included framed in by geometric elements characteristic of the design tradition. In the late 1970’s and early 80’s, artists like the late Tsa-qwa-supp, Art Thompson (Nuu-chah-nulth) were using geometric elements that not many in the general public were familiar with. Over time with some exploration and body of work, those works have become part of different museum collections and available for study.

In much of my work, I have depicted a moon as it is prominent in our mythology of Puget Sound. However, in this piece I wanted to focus on a design element that could represent a celestial being embodied as a symbol, an understanding that even in dark days a storm comes and goes, there are days ahead. In some ways it is my way of expressing one of my prints that sheltered my youth from my grandmothers aunt, The Moon is Always Full.

As some mentors have passed in recent years, some I have been privilege to study with and work beside, some I have admired from time and distance. This is part of work that has been one of few that have stayed with me in the back of my mind and it is now out in the world as a reflection of my gratitude for the days I have time to appreciate overcast days on the shores and feel the breeze and think about what brought me to the place I had to be and know, it is not my design language or ancestry, but it’s one that moved me to learn from and continue the sentiment.”

– Qwalsius-Shaun Peterson