Yellowknife (Aug 18/06) - Different but the Same, the name of a new art display at the Gallery of the Midnight Sun, proved to be a success for a Yellowknife artist.

Lori Thomas' show, which ran from July 30 to Aug. 5, is her first and she sold eight of the 13 drawings on display at the Old Town gallery.

She sold two before the show opened, and four within the first half hour.

Her inspiration started when she lived in Labrador, she said.

"There is a mix of many different cultures. But I wanted to focus on the elements that made us all the same.

"I made the sketches from photographs during my lunch hours," said Thomas, who also works at the gallery.

Thomas said she sketched her artwork from photographs taken in the 1950s and 1960s by photographer Richard Harrington.

Thomas said she comes from a mixed heritage, which helped her connect to the people she sketched in the photos.

"My great-grandmother was Montagnais," Thomas said.

"Montagnais is a native tribe that lives in Northern Quebec."

The Montagnais have given her some traditions which are very similar to many Inuit traditions.

Thomas said in Labrador, where she grew up, they lived off the land and the sea, hunted seal and whale and ate them both.

"This understanding assisted me in this series of Inuit drawings," Thomas said.

She also paints people from many different cultures, but she chose to focus on portraying the Inuit as she is now living in the North.

She is described by co-workers as being a very modest person and has a great ability to capture the feelings and emotions of her subject in her artwork.

"What I really like about her artwork is her attention to detail, and how you can really connect to the pieces," said Laurie-Ann Lines, Thomas' co-worker at the art gallery.

Thomas also paints, makes jewelry from sea glass, and has recently illustrated a children's book called A True Christmas Story.

She dreams of one day writing her own children's novel and doing all the drawings.