Featured Artist - Angela Werstine

I see life as a journey not a destination. My journey started at a young age, when I decided that I wanted to be an artist. Since then I have found passion within art, I have experimented with many different types of techniques, and always end up doing what I love best; abstract.
Abstract to me is powerful, graceful, serene and different every time you look at it. It constantly changes, develops and grows, as we all do. For the audience, they see something different than you as the artist did not see, it is seeing the expression and power in the simple things, or they may see what you were intending. Abstract to me is an emotion, it reflects my moods, feelings, beliefs, and the way I see things.

I have created two major bodies of work entitled "Christianity, One Belief" and "Truth and Honor". Both bodies of work represent my passion, philosophy and my vision of two different worlds with the same conclusion, to love the earth, to live for freedom and without judgment, to love one another and to make a difference. Even the smallest person can make the biggest impact.

I wish to enlighten people with my view on history, culture, religion and seeing between the lines of simplicity. I find that simplicity can make a piece all the more powerful, I use my own form of line movement to create figures with the least amount of detail, it is very smooth and flowing, so that your eyes can wander across the page and to help you recognize the emotion, I pick out the most important piece of detail and create an image around it. I express my history and Christian beliefs through my drawings by putting stories behind my pieces that help to explain the meaning behind the figure.

I was born in Yarmouth Nova Scotia, to a Mi'qmaq father, and a Scottish- heritage mother. I never knew growing up about my Native ancestry; my Grandparents were ashamed of their roots and the conditions that their people endured on the East Coast. My family researched our background and discovered our deep roots and I joined the Eastern Woodland Métis Nation in 2005. I have strived to learn as much as I can about my Mi'qmaq history, but I have been faced with much difficulty having to adapt to being a Métis, being accepted fully in neither culture. I use my Mi'qmaq heritage and my Christian background to create art by using Ink. Learning about my own Mi'qmaq/Algonquin heritage is difficult in Ontario. I feel the more that I do learn about the Mi'qmaq people, history and culture the more I can bring the knowledge of the Mi'qmaq people here.

My future may hold many things, but the one constant is my passion for drawing. I will continue my spiritual journey with hopes that it could make a difference even in the smallest way.

My medium is ink on paper and said to be "new and refreshing". I have created many pieces of art that depict history, including my Native American history (Mi'qmaq) and Christianity. My love for history and desire to show the community my style is represented in my artwork. I am devoted to creating artwork that glorifies Native history and Christianity. The reason for this devotion, apart from my background, is that an artist needs an epic subject to create epic art. I have been honoured to have done many exhibits for Galleries, Parishes, Festivals and Museums throughout Ontario, Canada.