#qwalsius

Herons

Grey Wolf Butterfly

Qwalsius/Shaun Peterson

from the website: A Tribute to George David

When I was doubtful of and feeling guilty that I was making work in the style of his influences, he reminded me that he intended to share. This is an aim to reflect the sentiment of something not broken, taken, or stolen. Should I keep on with this work? He reminded me that I had time ahead of me.

My fascination with discovering nuances in the design language of the Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth artwork is elemental to my foundations, before I had enough time to understand my roots.

“Don’t be a consumable popstar, be an artist, be Tom Waits, and so…”

A Weight Lifting Anomaly

Qwalsius/Shaun Peterson

from the website: Peterson acknowledges that this work does not adhere strictly to a traditional Coast Salish style or story. Instead, as the title suggests, it emerges from a long-held and largely unspoken emotional weight, one that gradually came into focus through time, loss, and reflection.

Peterson’s training is well documented. His early practice was grounded in formline, a common foundation at the outset of his career, and he received extensive mentorship from Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth artists. Among his most formative teachers were Art Thompson (Tsa Qwa Supp) and Loren White, whose guidance and ideas held significant weight for Peterson.

Peterson recalls a conversation with a mentor who spoke of missing Art Thompson, emphasizing the responsibility artists carry to remind viewers that a love of art can transcend time, place, and physical presence; a responsibility that became especially personal for Peterson. His devotion to his mentors is clear, and the year Loren White passed he was overcome by an unfamiliar grief, feeling anger toward time itself and the future works that his mentors would never see.

Dreamer

Northern Whales

Shaun Peterson/Qwalsius

from the website: This print is created in the style of the Tlingit Nation of Southeast Alaskan tradition. It is a tribute to those whom I have spent time learning aside and from. It’s sentiment carries forward memory of the late master weaver, Clarissa Rizal. It also shares homage to the design system I had studied early on under guidance of my first mentor, Steven C. Brown. Amongst the many tribes we are in the Pacific Northwest there are differences and overlapping themes. We are a diverse people with a rich understanding of our nuances with a surviving culture that endures. There are times few and far between where I am struck to complete a design I have genuine inspiration to create. This is one of those such examples. In years of admiring masterful works of studies in both museums and potlatches and gatherings. “I have gratitude for the families and individuals alike who have shared with me a window into culture that continues.” In this there are my own nuances as an individual that have become signature of my home. As a Puyallup a story exists where a great flood occurred and two whales were trapped that in the receding waters. The longing to be with their families pushed them to carved their way back to the ocean. This is one origin story of how the our river was made. This is perhaps that interpretation within that style.

Salmon Passage

The Positive and the Negative

Shaun Peterson/Qwalsius

from the website:

A Tribute to Duane Pasco and Bill Holm

my regret stands

in the shadow of a sorrow

that I was not able to show 

Holm and Pasco.

my ability informed by the

efforts and the place.

an ancient language 

two men held in their 

devotion to life…

I saw a world in light

and dark

No tertiary 

of fine line can

be the shoes I cannot

be in place of void

a passage in time

becomes a journey

I know, the form

is in good hands

by time of what I can 

let go.

Nothing Compares to You

By Chris Cornell

Stevie Ray Vaughn

Lost and Found

Qwalsius/Shawn Peterson

from the website: The book that helped me find my own vision

In my own writings 

“If I become a person with art, reflect all known of my time with

The arms that make me a known person.”

People and places I have to let go now.

The time that is far from me holding so hard a place I cannot be, 

a dream where Becky is telling me how I should make changes.

At the waiting room on return home.

My moon was at the table and she bumped the table, 

and they were all over the floor.

This sketch I’d forgotten she kept is now realizing.

This idea stems from though we are in the PNW, 

we are not on time align, but in art we love one another.

In time a bond is not broken.

Picking up the beads gave me time to appreciate Courtney 

and all that time takes.

All beads picking up what I can with my hands

Know that sketch that fell over looked back at me 

and my son’s dog next to me

What is not dead can never die.

George David said once, he was upset that the publishing of

Joe’s drum made the color look the wrong shade.