Inspired by artists in his family and seeing how few people in his community made the kind of art he wanted to make, Gjoa Haven-based Robert Porter decided to spend his time drawing and coming up with ideas to draw. He uses thick, premium paper and special ink, Faber-Castell, to create his masterpieces and he’s been making his drawings for four years now. He doesn’t have a name for his style but the process takes a long time and a lot of focus. When he wants to get more details, he moves his face even closer into the paper. 

Porter decided to draw professionally because in his home community there are a lot of artists including seamstresses and carvers but not many people who draw. Eight years ago, he started thinking about drawing, working the night shift doing security at the health centre with little to do. He started to draw to pass the time and alleviate his boredom, drawing a few pictures at first and then adding backstories to his art. 

One of the barriers Porter faces as an artist in the North is around lack of supplies that are available locally. When he runs out of ink or paper, he has to order it in or pick more up when he’s travelling down South. Getting more art supplies can take weeks when he runs out. The cost of shipping can be very high as well, costing twenty or thirty dollars for something small. 

When it comes to balancing his mental health, Porter likes to go for a ride on his ATV on the land and go hunting. Unfortunately, his ATV is out of service, in need of repair, and he’s working on fixing it but he needs certain tools to get the timing working again. He also reaches out to a helpline called Healing by Talking which helps Inuit who are struggling with their mental health. Porter recommends talking to a therapist if you are struggling with your mental health. 

Porter knows some young Inuit believe that therapy is only for crazy people but he reassures that’s not the case, that it’s helpful for whatever issues a person is dealing with. He reinforces that the services are confidential and don’t make a person crazy or a bad person. He’s found it helpful to alleviate his stress, anxiety and the things he’s been going through. Healing by Talking can be reached at 867-975-5367.

Porter’s advice for aspiring artists is, “Get into drawing. Pay close attention to all the details that you're looking at through the artwork, and think about how much you want to do this, and think about what are you? What are your ideas for coming up with drawings?” There are so many different styles that can be adapted into drawing and Porter himself has been inspired by Inuit tattoos, adding his own style to them. 

“Take it slowly, and it's going to develop over time. Once you get into it, and once you start feeling like you've got a certain style that you want to present, you can just let that ball keep rolling and keep learning, keep asking questions about whatever it is that you think might be helpful in your journey to becoming an artist,” he continues. 

“Find all the inspiration that you can. Ask any artists if they're willing to give you advice on what kind of artwork you would like to get into… There's so many different styles that you can study with or experiment with, and just take as many as you can, and whichever one you feel a better connection with, you can stick with that style and just keep learning. And there's such a rich, rich history of artwork with Indigenous people so there's a lot of inspiration out there that you can look online too… Whichever one you feel most connected to, you can draw inspiration from that style and sort of create your own and modernize it…” he concludes.

When it comes to inspiration, Porter looks to his grandfather who was a successful carver. He would watch his grandfather carve and admired the process and the earnings he made. His grandmother was a seamstress and he has also been inspired by time spent watching her sew traditional clothing and making wall hangings. His grandparents inspired him to get into artwork. 

If he could give a message to his younger self, Porter would say, “You don't have to rely on anybody to get a better future. This is your life. These are your choices. Don't wait for any of your friends or family to go south for a better education. Your future all depends on you, and nobody else can make that choice for you but you.”

With few people in his community drawing and with the inspiration of the artists in his family, Robert Porter decided to spend his time drawing and coming up with ideas to draw. Working the night shift at the health centre, his mind wandered and his imagination brought creative ideas to life, with art based off of Inuit tattoos. Using a process that takes time and focus, he creates work he’s proud of every day.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.