Family Love by Simone McLeod Small Canvas

Dimensions: 7.5" x 9.5"

Cultural Background: Ojibway, Pasqua First Nation, SK

Simone McLeod, born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1962, belongs to the Name doodem (Sturgeon clan) of the ᓇᐦᑲᐌ (Nakawē-Ojibwe Anishinaabeg). She is a member of Pasqua First Nation in Saskatchewan. Simone, who feels a strong spiritual kinship with her mother’s people, the Azaadiwi ziibi Nitam, or Poplar River First Nation of Manitoba, is a versatile artist: not only does she paint; she is also a talented poet, writer, and photographer. Simone McLeod descends from a long line of Ojibwe Midewiwin healers on both parental sides. Her traditional Anishinaabe name is Aki-egwaniizid, or Ahki-ekwanîsit, which means Earth Blanket, or All That Covers the Earth.

When asked about her painting process, Simone said, “Painting was something that I often thought of when I was a small child, but I felt that it was not the right time. I believed that I had to wait until I could find something that had a lot of meaning to me. Each painting contains a piece of my soul. I have a strong faith in humankind and my paintings are silent prayers of hope for the future.”

Although she is considered a Medicine Painter working in the tradition of the Canadian Native School of Woodland Art, Simone definitely holds a unique place in the art heritage of her People.