Jennifer Trefiak
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Aaniin (hello) and welcome!

If you'd rather listen than read, here's my radio interview recorded in June 2021 on Northumberland 89.7 with David Newland where we discuss the AGN Spotlight Series 3, my Alderville First Nations heritage, the Canadian "Residential School" discoveries and awareness, and how art can influence and impact society. 

​Before I paint I have to go out onto the land. 

​This is a feeling that overcomes me every spring as the earth begins to wake up from winter. It’s a need inside of me that I can’t ignore. I’m a conduit for the land to channel through me in my art making.

The rocks quite literally ground me, the trees whisper their secrets, and the lakes either gently caress my face or shout at me with their turbulent waves. 
The air smells green and there is a scent to water. You wouldn’t think there is a scent to water but there is. A fresh and clean ozone scent. The woods smell sweetly like cotton candy from the berries, flowers and roots and I always take time to taste a sun warmed wild strawberry or blueberry while thanking Mother Earth for her glorious gifts.

​There is an earthy pungency to cedar trees and pine needles underfoot as I hike trails looking for the perfect spot to take a rest and listen to my breath and the messages that the earth is giving to me.
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​I feel both small and large here and time slows down.

I am small compared to this landscape but I’m part of a larger system. Somehow that makes me feel peaceful and when my life becomes busy or overwhelming I can bring myself back to that feeling by painting these places that I have visited.

I want you to feel that too. That you are important and loved but also temporary on this planet. I want you to feel the cool mist of water on your face and remember who you are. I want you to breathe in rhythm with the waves. I want you to turn your face to the sun like a sunflower, close your eyes and bask in the loving warmth. I want you to put your bare feet onto the earth and feel the texture of childhood memories. I want you to walk by the light of the moon and remember your ancestors and thank them for being here. I want you to place your hands on the rough bark of a tree and let it remind you that all that is important is right here and right now. Nature gives. Allow yourself to receive.​

​​My art will transport you to the feelings that nature provides and give you moments of reflection, remembrance and gratitude in your whirlwind life.

​I want you to connect to yourself through your love of nature. Let the trees sing you their lullabies while the gentle lake waves rock you to sleep. Let the turbulent crashing waves shake you up to recognize your quiet, shining spirit that can change the world.

​My relationship with the land began early.

I rode my bicycle everywhere and I would visit Lake Ontario which was just around the corner and tell her my sorrows. I would tell her when I was sad or not fitting into school and I would sing to her out loud. I was a weird kid with a loving family but I had a sick mother and an Ojibwe father and I never felt like I fit in with other kids. But with nature I did. I was one of them. I was one with the trees and water.

I ran around barefoot and climbed trees. I looked for wildlife in the wetlands and forests near my home. I spent endless summers at the beach. Here’s why I think the land speaks to me: we are all creatures of the earth. And because of humans now is a time that nature doesn’t “fit in”. Nature is in man’s way and man is destroying her. I think it’s my turn to give back to the land what she gave to me when I was a skinny, scraped kneed, weirdo kid.
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That's me on the right.
My parents took us camping through our childhood and camping was a lot different then than now. There were no Rv’s. No stores. No internet or cell service. You used a paper map folded into a rectangle. Our tent was heavy canvas and we slept on the ground in sleeping bags. I still try to camp in a more basic way (with perks for comfort and age now) so that I can really hear what the land is telling me. You cannot do that while you’re on a cell phone.

You need silence.

You need to hear branches squeaking as they rub against each other, birds singing, leaves rustling like raindrops. You need to be quiet to see the hare that slowly lops across your campsite chewing on daisy’s, ears turning with every sound it hears, getting almost close enough to touch.

Inner stillness.

​In a world that is too loud, too bright, too connected and too fake - nature gives you the roots of your being. Because as much as we destroy nature we are still part of it - we’ve just forgotten. But we can remember. We are born from water. Women and the calendar are ruled by the moon. The sun grows our food and times our day and seasons and lives. We are buried in the earth or turned to dust in the wind. Nature resets our minds and souls to remember that we are part of everything and everything is a part of us.

We Anishinaabe say “All my relations” to describe that.
​

​I take those feelings of the place I am at, and make paintings that will make YOU remember who you are and why you are here.


Jennifer Trefiak is a multidisciplinary Indigenous artist who paints what she describes as “intuitive landscapes”. She has been making art in some form since her very early childhood. 

​
Her art explores underlying themes such as climate change, the sacred feminine, and the meaning of 'place' to First Nations people. In all of her work, Jennifer tries to reveal the spirit of the land of her ancestors and our human connectedness to Mother Earth.

​Jennifer is a self-taught visual artist and a trained musician. She is a member of the arts group The Spirit of the Hills and her work has been shown in the Art Gallery of Northumberland & the Colborne Art Gallery. Jennifer is a trumpeter with the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir.

She 
lives and works in Colborne (Cramahe), Ontario, Canada and is a member of Alderville First Nation. Her art has been collected throughout Canada, the USA and the UK. Jennifer's studio and gallery are open by appointment.
Picture

CV Resume


Collections

Anishinabek Nation, North Bay, ON, Canada


Selected Exhibition Work

2022 - Susan Aglukark Concert, Solo Pop Up Art Show, Port Hope, ON, Canada

2021 - “Spotlight Series 3”, Art Gallery Of Northumberland, Port Hope, ON, Canada

2021 - “Small Exhibitions 1”, Northumberland Arts Gallery & Shop, Port Hope, ON, Canada

2020 - “Art in the Time of a Pandemic”, presented by Spirit of the Hills, virtual art show

2019 - “41st Annual Juried Show”, Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg, ON, Canada

2019 -”7th Annual Juried Exhibition”, Colborne Art Gallery, Colborne, ON, Canada

2018 - “Second Self Art Show” 2 person exhibition, Campbellford, ON, Canada

2018 - “6th Annual Juried Exhibition”, Colborne Art Gallery, Colborne, ON, Canada

2017 - “5th Annual Juried Exhibition”, Colborne Art Gallery, Colborne, ON, Canada

Media and Publications

Devour: Art & Lit Canada 
Issue 013, summer 2022, published July 11, 2022
Cover art; “Celebrating Resilience” pg 10 & 11, bio by Felicia Massey pg 21. Wet Ink Books.
https://issuu.com/richardgrove1/docs/devour_-_summer_issue_july_2022

“18 ideas that’ll inspire your creativity on the go” 
Mont Marte Art (Australia) November 22, 2022: list item #10. Blog.
www.montmarte.com/blogs/inspo/18-ideas-that-ll-inspire-your-creativity-on-the-go

Art Gallery of Northumberland Spotlight Series 3, 2021
Personally conducted interview: minute 15:57. Mini Documentary film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRzzPP475s4

“Celebrating Resilience”
Northumberland Festival of the Arts, December 10, 2021: Guest blog used in media package.
https://festivalofthearts.ca/celebrating-resilience-by-jennifer-trefiak/


“Connect and Create” 
Hummingbird Podcast Season 2 Episode 10, November 8, 2021. Podcast.
https://thehummingbirdpodcast.com/2021/11/08/s2-e10-book-club-learning-by-heart-connect-and-create/

“Northumberland Art Lovers: Jennifer Trefiak”
Northumberland Festival of the Arts, August 25, 2021: interview by Marie Prins. Article.
https://festivalofthearts.ca/northumberland-art-lovers-jennifer-trefiak/

Maestro's Pick 89.7FM
2021: Interview with John Kraus (conductor of the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir). Radio.

“Expressive Landscape Artist Jennifer Trefiak”
Cramahe Now, June 21, 2021: interview by Bill Hornbostel. Print.
https://www.cramahenow.com/?p=17288

Northumberland 89.7FM Morning Show
June 8, 2021: live interview with David Newland. Radio & Podcast.
https://northumberland897.ca/morning-show/2021/6/14/morning-show-june-8-jennifer-trefiak-in-conversation-with-david-newland

“AGN Spotlight Series 3”
Cobourg Now, May 17, 2021: article by Bill Hornbostel. Print.
http://www.cobourgnow.com/?p=18825

“Explore Creative Spaces (Apple Route Studio Tour)”
The Link Magazine 2019: art image published. Print.
"We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children." ​

- Indigenous Wisdom

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Jennifer Trefiak Fine Art, Copyright 2023
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop Art
    • Soul Shine 2021/2022
    • Oil Sketches
    • Hiraeth
    • Home Series
    • Vast Lands Series
    • Earth & Sky
  • Blog
  • Contact
    • FAQ's