Black Sheep Fine Art Print

The latest work from Louie Gong (Nooksack), Black Sheep Fine Art Print is about drawing power from past experiences— even traumas. “It’s about self-care,” says Louie.

“I’ve been thinking about the term baggage, and it’s all wrong,” says Louie. “When we think about our past experiences as something we can just put down, we can’t actually heal. The real pathway to becoming stronger and more confident versions of ourselves is to learn to live in symbiosis with our past experiences.”  

The Black Sheep’s body is composed of Louie’s signature wolf-mouth motif, which he uses here to symbolize negative past experiences. It is painted loosely to indicate the frequent movement of and the idea that our past experiences are living parts of us that we can’t simply set down as if they were “baggage.” 

By contrast, the Black Sheep’s face is composed of highly structured Coast Salish design elements to indicate the self-confidence drawn from the understanding that past experiences make us better equipped to manage whatever lies ahead.  A few understated sprouts indicate constant growth regardless of what we are experiencing. 

This archival print of Louie’s original painting is printed right here in our Seattle studio on acid-free paper.  Like Louie's style? Shop his other work in Louie's "shop by artist" section. 

Our Native-designed fine art prints are created in our studio on archival paper. This is one more example of our Native business taking back production so we can further invest in our artists and community!

Known as giclée prints (pronounced "zhe-clay"), our fine art prints are distinguished from mass-produced prints due to their quality, longevity, and value. We print using a state-of-the-art, large-format fine art printer in our Seattle-based art studio. Because they're printed on acid-free paper, our prints won't degrade over time, and when displayed out of direct sunlight will maintain their color saturation and fine detail for decades.

• Giclée fine art print (unframed)
• Open edition; made by Eighth Generation
• 20" x 16" artwork size (w/ 1" border on the top and sides and a 2.5" border on the bottom: total print size including margins = 22" x 19.5".)
• Canson Aquarelle Rag 310 gsm paper meets the highest archival standards
• Professionally packaged and shipped flat
• Hand signed by the artist
• Eighth Generation’s fine art prints include "AC" for "Artist Centered." This unique denotation references our purposeful effort to align business practices with artist interests rather than collector interests.
• Original work is mixed media: watercolor, acrylic, coffee, ink, spray paint

Thank you for supporting Inspired Natives®, not "Native-inspired."