SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE- Prolific painter and graphic artist Inemesit Graham is in the midst of a myriad of playful projects this winter.

"I have lots of ideas but I have to focus on them one at a time," she said.

An image from the Fairy Bad Collection by Yellowknife artist Inemesit Graham. photo courtesy of Inemesit Graham

At the top of her to-do list is an emerging line of clothing she dubs her Fairy Bad Collection. Her copyrighted designs will embellish hoodies, tank tops and t-shirts later this year.

"They're all doing bad things," she said of the mischievous characters. "It's just a cute joke."

She plans to follow those designs with Fairy Naughty and Fairy Cheeky collections.

Her other graphic art celebrates cultural icons like Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe and John Lennon. She may inject Barack Obama into the mix some day, if he lives up to the hype.

"I'm waiting for him to serve a year as president to see if he does anything decent," she said. "He did a good job of getting elected but we don't know how he performs as president yet."

Graham also creates pop art portraits of local faces, capturing a likeness using four or five contrasting primary colours. She completed 11 such commissions last year.

The mainstay of Graham's artistic production, however, are her stylized, slightly abstract representations of Northern wildlife in acrylic on canvas.

She is in the middle of working on a series of bison depicted in different postures in different seasons. She said she is partial to the bison because it represents the region around Yellowknife and is one of the few animals that does not migrate or hibernate.

Graham also honours polar bears, caribou and ravens in her paintings. She is in the process of printing her work on postcards and greeting cards and is preparing a 2010 calendar featuring her Northern paintings.

Her paintings currently hang in After 8 Billiards and upstairs at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.