TULITA/FORT NORMAN
Well known NWT artist John Rombough travelled to Tulita last month to share with youth the same contemporary woodlands painting techniques he learned as a young adult.

Chief Albert Wright School students hold up the work they created during a painting class with artist John Rombough. The class adapted the woodlands-style in their paintings. - photo courtesy of John Rombough

The well-known Woodlands style painter visited Chief Albert Wright School in February, where he hosted two two-day workshops with some of the school's artistically inclined students.

"I showed them how to do the blending with colours and some of them did the warm colour backgrounds and some of them did the cooler colours and black supporting lines," Rombough explained. "They were really proud about it and took well to working with acyrlics."

Rombough had been visiting the community to paint a mural on the cultural centre where he depicted a myth about the Bear Rock, which he explained tells the story of a family of giant beavers that terrorize Great Bear Lake.

They are eventually slain by a hunter who lays their pelts on top of a hill called Bear Rock, which Rombough said can still be seen in the summer.

"I've seen some other artists in the community who were painting this landscape of the hill so I thought it was very important to keep that tradition," said Rombough. "I even had elders come over to the culture centre while I was painting and they were really happy to see that I chose that in the image of the mural."

Upon hearing of Rombough's visit, principal Lorraine Kuer invited him to extend his skills to students who were particularly interested in the arts.

During that time, he taught students about the style he works in, which was originally created by Ojibwe painter Norval Morrisseau.

The style is often identified as vibrant images of people and animals with thick black outlines.

Rombough considers Morrisseau an idol and even mentioned the 1950s painter had one of Rombough's works hanging in his house, before he died in 2007.

During Rombough's visit with the students, he taught them how to imitate the style by creating vibrant images with the same black lines.

What they came up with was quite impressive, said the professional artist.

"They were shy at first, but once I warmed up to them and was showing them a bit of my pieces I was travelling with, they had a lot of questions," he said. "They were really focused on their structures and the teacher was like, 'Wow they haven been this quiet (in a long time).'"

Rombough has been interested in art since childhood which was nurtured by his adoptive parents Carol and Lyall Rombough

While he later went to school for graphic design, Rombough realized he wanted to pursue painting instead, which was an endeavor his teachers supported.

Upon moving to Lutsel K'e as a young adult to discover his roots, his painting style changed to reflect his Dene culture and he soon began adopting the woodlands style Morrisseau had made so popular.

Since them, Rombough has exhibited across the country from Penticton, B.C. to Moncton, NB.