Rick Rivet Animal Paintings

Métis artist, Rick Rivet is known for his striking, colourful and imaginative imagery that offers a spiritual and historically relevant view of Indigenous cultures. This expressive ...

Drawing from his own rich history and that of indigenous peoples worldwide, Metis artist Rick Rivet has created colourful, dynamic contemporary paintings...

The snowy white face of a powerful animal is captured in this contemporary portrait by Rick Rivet. The Metis artist is known for his colourful and expressive paintings that recall ma...

A powerful and noble ‘beast’, this colourful portrait of a walrus was created by Rick Rivet. The Metis artist is known for marrying the rich imagery, traditions, Shamanic rituals and...

Spirit animals belong to the Shamanistic conception of the animal familiar that is able to travel to other worlds and bring back valuable information for people of the earth world. Shamans will often adopt an animal familiar to empower their Shamanistic journeys. Bears are seen as powerful and wholesomely connected with the earth. The flecks of rain dashing across the face of a stylize all-knowing brown bear indicate its interconnectedness with the land and all of the elements. The light blue of the bottom half of the background meeting dark blue of the top half symbolize the ability of the bear to bridge worlds and parallel universes. Richard James Rivet was born in the remote area of Aklavik in the Northwest Territories of Canada in 1949, though he has recently moved to Belleville, ON. His early years were spent growing up in the delta in a Metis family which made their living by trapping, hunting and fishing. Of Metis background, Rivet's Indigenous roots, and his experience in growing up in Canada's North, have been important factors in his development as an artist. Since 1989, Rivet has worked fulltime on his artwork, mainly concentrating in acrylic painting, mixed media and collage on canvas, with some drawing. Influences in his artwork are varied and derive from Shamanistic imagery of ancient peoples the world over (North American Indian, Inuit, Australian Aborigine, Norse, Oceanic, Siberian). Equally influential are Western and contemporary influences from various artists and art movements (such as: Edvard Munch, German Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism, Antoni Tapies, and Paterson Ewen...

This series by Rick Rivet explores the Shamanistic conception of animals as guides to the other world. The sky-world, earth-world, and under-world are metaphysically interconnected through animal spirit guides. They are the conduit between the profane and the sacred, the physical world and the dream world. Certain animals, like the bear, raven, and fox are akin to the Jungian universal archetypes collapsing the dream-world and earth-world distinctions. The raven is an important trickster, powerful wanderer, and all-seeing guide. Richard James Rivet was born in the remote area of Aklavik in the Northwest Territories of Canada in 1949, though he has recently moved to Belleville, ON. His early years were spent growing up in the delta in a Metis family which made their living by trapping, hunting and fishing. Of Metis background, Rivet's Indigenous roots, and his experience in growing up in Canada's North, have been important factors in his development as an artist. Since 1989, Rivet has worked fulltime on his artwork, mainly concentrating in acrylic painting, mixed media and collage on canvas, with some drawing. Influences in his artwork are varied and derive from Shamanistic imagery of ancient peoples the world over (North American Indian, Inuit, Australian Aborigine, Norse, Oceanic, Siberian). Equally influential are Western and contemporary influences from various artists and art movements (such as: Edvard Munch, German Expressionism, Abstract Expressionism, Antoni Tapies, and Paterson Ewen...