Ojibwa artist, Don Ningewance, was born on June 24, 1948, on the Lac
Seul First Nation in Northwestern
Ontario, Canada.
His early years were spent in much the same way as most remote native youths in
the 1950s who learned their traditional ways, and spent much of their time
outdoors fishing, hunting, and trapping. He was Band Administrator for the Lac
Seul First Nation from 1970 until 1982, at which time he left that job to paint
full-time.
Don is a very versatile artist. While he
has no formal education in art, he seems to possess an uncanny ability to paint
what he sees in great detail. Although he uses oils and watercolours on
occasion, his preferred medium is acrylic on canvas as it dries quickly,
allowing him to apply thin layers of paint to create different effects with his
colours and textures. Don is primarily a realist artist, but he has also done
paintings of the legends of his people. His sensitive eye for colour, light and
texture can be readily seen in his beautiful renditions of landscapes
highlighting the nuances of the changing seasons and his lifelike wildlife
amidst the rugged beauty of the Canadian Shield
with its boreal forests and many water systems. Don has a style that is
uniquely his own like so many of the Woodlands artists living in the area
around the Great Lakes.
In addition to selling his originals and
limited edition prints, Don has designed placemats for Alex Wilson Coldstream which
have been distributed worldwide. In the 1980s, he exhibited his art through the
Sidebottom Galleries in Winnipeg,
Manitoba. In the mid-1980s, Ducks
Unlimited commissioned him to do two paintings of waterfowl which they made
into prints. In 1992, he was commissioned to do a series of six plates
featuring wolves for the Bradford Exchange. As well, he has done covers for magazines,
such as “Sioux Lookout A Northern Experience,” “Tawow” a native magazine once published
by the Department of Indian and Northern Affaires, and for several Annual
Reports for Metalore Resources Limited. He has had showings in Victoria,
British Columbia, Calgary,
Alberta, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, and Thunder Bay, Ontario.
He also participates in Trade Shows and Art Festivals around the region. His
work can be seen on the YessyArtGallery
website. His paintings are very desirable due to their subject matter, and can
be found in many private and corporate collections throughout Canada and abroad.
EXHIBITIONS
1981 – Native Canadian Centre, Toronto, Ontario
(group show)
Artists Bios 
