Inuvik (Aug 21/06) - A move to the North was just what the doctor ordered for a southern artist. "I haven't painted for about eight years," said Maryanne Wettlaufer, as she worked on a watercolour piece during this year's Great Northern Arts Festival.

Maryanne Wettlaufer works on a watercolour painting during the Great Northern Arts Festival in Inuvik. The artist has been exploring the North for the last several months since moving up from Vancouver. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

"This is my launch back into painting."

Wettlaufer was one of nearly 60 artists who showed their wares and their techniques at the 18th-annual event, which included painters, illustrators, jewellers and artisans from around the North and beyond.

"It's so dramatically different than any art show I've ever worked with," she said of the event. "There's such a sense of sharing."

Wettlaufer's displayed works included oil, watercolour and acrylic paintings, often inspired by her photography of landscapes, people and objects - which recently have been from the North.

"I'm so inspired by travel," she said.

Previously, Wettlaufer worked as a product photographer and graphic designer in Vancouver, but she saw living in the North as a new beginning.

"Ultimately, I could still do illustration and graphic design up here," she said. "I really wanted to challenge myself. "I don't want to be handcuffed to any one style.

Wettlaufer said it was a trip to Rankin Inlet with her partner that sparked her interest in the North, leading to a more permanent move to Inuvik.

"I knew I had to see more. It was the tip of the iceberg, literally."

It was Wettlaufer's first time at the festival, so she was unfazed by the smaller number of artists involved (more than 150 artists have come out in the past).

"Maybe it's better that it's a little more intimate," she said. "You certainly wouldn't meet all of the artists (if it was bigger)."