KUGLUKTUK/COPPERMINE - Kugluktuk sketch artist Philip Toasi found a gallery in his community to hang his prints in - the local Co-op grocery store.

"It's an exciting time for me," he said. "My drawing is getting out there again. It's a start."

Philip Toasi, right, and former Co-op manager Warren Burles stand in front of Toasi's prints hanging in the Kugluktuk Co-op. - photo courtesy of Philip Toasi

Three examples of his prints hang alongside prints from Holman just to the left of the store entrance. Toasi also posted a photo of his house, located just across the street, so that visitors know where to stop in to buy his work.

"The community here is really great," he said. "People help me with ideas and encourage me."

The prints are copies of Toasi's intricate pencil and ink drawings. The themes he explores in his art include children, dog sleds, elders and hunters and other abstract expressions of Inuit culture.

Toasi's art requires a lot of patience. Toasi uses his wrist to move his pen as he creates his dotting effects. He describes it as similar to the movements used by a tattoo artist. The process takes a lot of time and energy, but the result is an image with three-dimensional qualities. Some works take a full day or more to complete.

Toasi is gathering information about producing art cards and other merchandise decorated with prints of his art. He hopes some day to make his art into a business.

"People have been telling me that I should have a small business going," he said. "They've been telling me that for years. I think they're right."

In addition to the commercial potential of his work, Toasi said he appreciates the reactions he gets from his audience. He fondly remembers an occasion when Annie Egotik wiped away tears when she viewed a large pencil drawing of a mother holding an infant to her chest. Titled Nana's Lullaby, the drawing included blue-dotted images that circled both figures to represent the story the elder is singing to the sleeping baby.

"It makes me feel good that I can make artwork that makes people feel emotional," he said. "That's why I like doing what I do."

Toasi is available in his home to sell his artwork from noon to 1 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week, he said.