Much of Carly Bear Season’s inspiration is drawn from her experiences as a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe — the powwows she attended as a child and the dances she participates in to this day. Carly also majored in graphic design and photography in college. Today she uses her knowledge and experience to create original artworks, hand-embellished art prints, and handcrafted notecards, which have become exceedingly popular at Birchbark Books & Native Arts. By translating her work into the notecard format, Bear Season has brought her work to a larger audience. “The smaller medium was filling something that people needed. They needed to see imagery of Native people that wasn’t romanticized. I knew then that my voice was being heard.” She has even made her voice known to travelers through work commissioned by hotels. No matter where or how one sees Bear Season’s work, there is a palpable sense of her hand at work, of a human body in motion.

by Will Fraser, Birchbark Books and Native Arts