Sharan Nikkel – Medicine Bags

I am a Métis woman born in Portage la Prairie Manitoba. My grandfather Joseph Ducharme is well known for his Ducharme Decoys and has an exhibit in the Manitoba Museum Métis Section along with my uncle Duncan Ducharme decoys. I believe my passion and talent came from my grandfather after spending most of my youth in the village of St. Ambroise watching my grandfather and uncle carve and paint their decoys by the woodpile. I started painting when I obtained 14 Scared Stones from the First Nations Grand Chief Assembly where the sacred fire burnt. I have not stopped painting sacred stones. All my work is smudged and most of the time I can see an image on the stone of a bird, flower or animal, then I paint it with acrylic. That same year I was diagnosed with Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration at age 61. I want to continue painting because I believe I was given this gift from the Creator after I lost sight in my left eye. My Sacred Stones are in South Africa, Halifax to Vancouver, United States, New Glascow and though out Manitoba. My sticks are made from driftwood I pick from Lake Manitoba and Lake Winnipeg. I dry them, clean them and sand them keeping the shape and paint them the way Mother Earth laid them on the ground. I live in Winnipeg and paint in my home.