Native
American Indian art in the American southwest is
dominated by the magnificent pottery and jewelry
in the region. When it comes to the Pacific Northwest
region which covers the states of Oregon, Washington,
British Columbia (Canada) and the southern part
of Alaska, the Native American art here is mostly
wood carvings. This is not surprising since unlike
the southwest desert, the Pacific Northwest is abundant
with forests which have provided the wood as raw
material for the region’s Native American Indian
art.
The
wood carvings of the Pacific Northwest Native American
art come in many different forms. The huge totem
poles which are carved on entire tree trunks are
probably the most famous. Certainly the most common
form of contemporary Pacific Northwest Native American
art is the plaque wood carving. The entire range
of Pacific Northwest Native American Indian art
subjects including eagles, ravens, thunderbirds,
bears, killer whales and salmons are carved as plaques
to be hung on the wall. A more complex project and
usually higher priced would be the masks which are
also carved out of wood. The Pacific Northwest Native
American artists make some of the most striking
aboriginal masks in the world.
Creative
artists and carvers from this region have also used
wood to carve out bowls, paddles, rattles and boxes
which are all expertly decorated with Pacific Northwest
Native American Indian designs. Some carvers have
even carved more day to day objects such as letter
openers out of wood again decorated with the region’s
Native motifs. Although not restricting themselves
to just wood, the Pacific Northwest Native American
artists also do art prints, paintings and precious
metal jewelry but overall wood is still the most
common material used in their artwork.
The
Pacific Northwest style of Native American Indian
art is still unknown to many parts of North America
and the rest of the world but this will definitely
change as the 2010 winter Olympics in British Columbia
approaches. The world will see British Columbia
and as visitors to this Canadian province have already
noticed, there are fine examples of Pacific Northwest
Native American Indian art everywhere one goes in
the west coast of Canada.
By:
Clint Leung
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Clint
Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca
, an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo
and Northwest Native American art including carvings,
sculpture and prints. Also numerous information
resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit
art and Native American Indian art.
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