
Rose Bonnetrouge
Histoire de l'artiste
Most mornings I follow the same routine; I wake up, eat breakfast or drink a glass of water, and then I sit down and sort moose hair for tufting. It takes a long time, as they have to be sorted one by one. But it’s worth it, because then I can create moose hair tuftings on things like slippers and mittens. I also tan moose hides in the spring.
I didn’t really learn the traditional arts until around 1980, when I was home visiting my sister in Fort Providence. I watched her work, went home, and then practiced on my own. It took a little while, but after I had it figured out I just kept on making pieces. I learned the traditional designs, like flowers for tufting, but then started to try other ideas like wildlife and scenery.
I make a lot of my own patterns; beavers, ptarmigan, swans, other northern wildlife too, and a lot of scenery mixed in to the background of the images. I really like making scenes instead of the same small flower designs all the time. With tufting, the images have to be done in a certain order, usually starting from the inside and working outward. Sometimes I get frustrated, but at those times I just have to slow down and figure it out. It’s a good life lesson really.
Rose Bonnetrouge was born in Fort Providence, NT. She describes herself as an established artist. She was inspired by her mother and her aunts but taught herself to be an artist. Some of Rose's accomplishments include travelling to Santa Fe and Mexico in the early 90's to exhibit her art. Rose's art can be viewed at Down to Earth in Yellowknife. She also takes orders for slippers and mitts.