Another independent Inuit artist is Annie Michael from Iqaluit, Nunavut, now living in Quebec City. She exhibited a few paintings in the group show "Urban Inuit" in 2000 at the Indian and Inuit Art Gallery. The subject matter of Annie Michael's watercolour paintings ranged from Inukshuit to sheep. Michael s biggest challenge in the south was being accepted as a watercolour artist. It was also harder for her to promote her work in the south as an independent artist. .    When her artwork was featured in a solo exhibition "Reflections: Paintings by Annie Michael" in 2003, at the Indian and Inuit Art Gallery, she had abandoned non-Inuit subject matter. Michael s work in this exhibition portrayed memories of her childhood. She expressed concern that she could not afford to bring her children to the north; therefore she brought the north to them through her paintings. Her paintings are a tool to educate the general public about the Inuit. She expressed interest in depicting the colours, people and places of the arctic as the techniques and the colours of the south were different from the north. Michael also felt that it was important for the public to understand and respect traditional Inuit culture so that they could understand the modern Inuit. -----------Painter Annie Michael has a similar view. She has received formal training as a watercolourist. Her artwork is inspired by her memories of the north, and her experiences in the south. Annie's subject matter ranges from Inukshuks to sheep. Her approach seems torn between traditional Inuit art aesthetic and formal contemporary training. She stresses the barriers and challenges of working in the south in nontraditional media:The biggest challenge [working down here] was showing my work to galleries and being accepted as a watercolour artist....because I am an urban Inuit now it is harder for me to promote my work...I think that there are all kinds of Inuit art today and I think it's very important for inuit to try something else culturally and beyond what they can do with their artwork.

Exhibitions

• Collectable Sculpture 1987, Webster Galleries
• Mother and Child: Sculpture and Prints, Albers Gallery
• Reflections of Lake Harbour: Contemporary Sculpture of the Michael Family, Arctic Artistry
• Sculpture from Lake Harbour, Canadian Guild of Crafts Quebec
• The Michael Family, Gallery Indigena
• [Inuit Art Exhibition], Orca Aart, presented at Neiman Marcus

Collections

• Amway Environmental Foundation Collection, Ada
• Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon
• National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
• Red Deer and District Museum and Archives, Red Deer