ᓴᓇᙳᐊᒐᖅ - sanannguagaq - carving

Nunavut has the highest number of artists per capita in the world. Carving, sewing, painting and drawing are full time careers that the Inuit cherish and pursue. The Arctic College has courses in carving, fur making and other traditional art practices to train the younger generations. 

Inuit art is internationally renowned. We consider it a privilege to be able to meet the artists and see a wide variety of art on a daily basis. Eating out at any of the resturants in town is also a way to meet artists and view their work. The artists come around to each table, humbly presenting their work in hopes of a sale. Buying direct from the artist is much more affordable than buying from a gallery. Meeting the artist gives us an insight as to how much work went into the art and where the stone/antler/bone/baleen is from. One of my favorite things to buy is little boots and mitts. They can be used as wall hangings, zipper pulls, Christmas tree ornaments ect. Josh just laughs whenever I come home with another one, but they're so cute and unique. The following pictures are samples of the art we've bought as well as other types of art around Iqaluit.

Caribou antler - Walrus

Watercolor by Jolly (from Pang)

Polar bear and seal - soapstone

Broken glass, found on the beach, that has been smoothed by the ocean - can still read "Pepsi-Cola"

Inukshuk

Print given to RNs during nursing week - "Nightingale's Qulliq"

Sealskin mitts

Little booties made by an elderly patient (who had one eye)

Love these little boots

Stencil print made by Gyta and sold to us by salesman "Smiley"

Beautiful mural by Johnny (an ex-gangster who turned his life around)

Two narwhals - soapstone

A real inukshuk out on the tundra

Outdoor carving of two beluga whales

Mom showing off beaver (left) and seal (right) mitts

Large polar bear

ᓂᒃᓯᒃ - niksik - fishing hook

We were advised that the next two weeks is prime fishing due to some kind of change with the tide. In fact, we were practically guaranteed that we'd catch a fish. Since our last two attempts at fishing left us hookless and emptyhanded, we were eager to try again. 

We went near the causeway, where the tide was rising quite quickly. The dry rocks that we initially stood on soon became submerged under the icy, crystal clear water. A stiff cool breeze made us wish we'd worn toques and gloves, but who really wants to put those on in August?! A beautiful sunset accompanied our efforts and we were soon rewarded with two small char.

Charolette showing us good fishing fashion and form!

She caught the first fish - an itty bitty Arctic char

Josh and Char trying to pull out that barbed hook ... ouch

The sunset begins around 9 pm these days

Beautiful nature

Josh and his catch - which he insists is bigger than Charolette's fish

ᐅᖅᑰᕖᑦ? - uqquuviit? - Are you hot?

Hot sunny day = head to the beach! Our definition of hot has changed. It's a good thing we're not coming back to Edmonton until late fall because we may melt if we have sit under the sun at 20 degrees Celsius! Pretty amazing how quickly the body adapts to a new climate. We have enjoyed several warm, clear, sunny days. When I look back to our pictures from March, I find it hard to believe what a difference I see from the frozen ice to crystal blue water.

High tide at the "parking lot"

Dwarf fireweed abounds here

Air travel is an essential part of life in Nunavut

Raven

Little girl fishing

Love it here!

The disc from a sea animal's spinal column...we found the vertebrae farther down the beach

Sculpin: the ugliest fish we've ever seen...found it lying on some rocks

Josh enjoying some fishing...still have yet to catch a fish though

Sled dog puppies fighting over a caribou skull

The friendliest and dirtiest dogs you've ever met

ᓄᓇᕋᐃᑦ - nunarait - flowers

Flowers are everywhere! They're tiny and resolute, determined to bloom beautiful as long as the weather is warm. Apparently, there are hundreds of different flowers, lichen, berries, moss and even a ground loving "tree" in Nunavut. When the snow first melted, everything was brown and dusty. The transformation from white to brown to green has been breathtaking. These little flowers are everywhere; the side of a rocky hill, muddy puddles behind old buildings, rolling across the tundra's vast distance, poking out beside the river, squeezing between cracked cement. It's a short lived season, but one that does not go unnoticed. The berry plants are starting to grow lime green berries that will soon turn into arctic versions of blue/black/cranberries. I'm not exactly sure how long these little plants will be around, but we'll enjoy them as long as we can! I was going to figure out what each flower was called for the blog....but google is not very forthcoming regarding arctic flora. Feel free to make up your own names for the ones I don't know.

Berries from the summer of 2010

Mountain Aven - these buttercream colored flowers like to grow on hillsides

If you sit real still, you can quickly find all sorts of insect life crawling around

Arctic poppy - is heliotropic, which means it follows the sun across the sky

Arctic cinquefoil

Arctic willow - it spreads out across the ground but counts as a tree since it makes wood

Little caterpillar trucking along in the sun

Arctic cotton - these delightful balls of fluff are everywhere

These are my favorite and I have no idea what they're called

Moss campion - little clumps of these flowers are scattered in drier areas

Labrador Tea - is actually used to make tea

Arctic poppy - the tiny details on these flowers are beautiful

These little guys are the arctic version of a daisy

Dwarf fireweed - this plant tastes like spinach and can be eaten raw, boiled or steeped