Vicki Fawcett is a self-taught artist, as well as professional graphic designer, illustrator and cartoonist.

Vicki’s inspiration came from Victor Francis Pelletier an Anishinabe from Serpent River First Nation, Ontario, who spent his life promoting important aboriginal issues. Fawcett credits him with instilling in her an appreciation of native culture that to this day informs her work.

Painting from black and white photos, most often the work of renowned American Photographer Edward S Curtis, Fawcett captures in brush strokes the mood and feeling the photographer captured on film.

What Fawcett feels most about the source of her greatest inspiration is respect – for the people she paints and the ancient culture they represent. In fact, Fawcett donates 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of her work to the Minwaashin Lodge, an aboriginal women’s support center in Ottawa.

“It’s the circle of things” said Fawcett, explaining why she would choose to make a financial commitment. “You get and you give. And doing this gives my work purpose. It gives it meaning.”

Working with author Pauline Doupe and Photographer Brenda Belair, Fawcett has recently completed creating and illustrating the characters as well as designing the first in a childrens book series called ‘My Arctic Circle of Friends’, a story, written in both Inuit and English.

Vicki is part of a committed group of artists living in and around the scenic village of Spencerville who recently combined their efforts and opened a Gallery they call ArtScene Spencerville. The artists have a wealth of experience and involvement in the community. They wanted to not only have a place to showcase their own work on a continuing basis, but also to enrich the artistic awareness of this historic hamlet. The old Spencerville Hotel, which has been converted to apartments and retail space, is the location for this lively group. For more information on Artscene, visit the blog at http://www.artscenespencerville.blogspot.com/

If you wish to contact Vicki you can email her at vicsart@aol.com