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Germaine was born in Igloolik, North West Territories, now Nunavut, in 1946. She is one of the few Inuit artists with formal training in art.
Since she was a child, art was the path she was intended for as it came naturally for her. When Germaine was nine she sent to the residential school in Chesterfield Inlet where she met a nun who gave her lessons. Since then she has participated in a variety of courses including one year at the University of Manitoba in the Fine Arts program and the Pembroke Campus of Algonquin College in Ottawa taking commercial art. While in Ottawa she illustrated children's books for Northern and Indian Affairs. After deciding the commercial art program was not for her she moved to Frobisher Bay, now called Iqaluit, and worked at the Frobisher Bay Arts and Crafts Centre. While in Iqaluit she received a call from El Al Airline in Israel inviting her to come and design a poster for the airline. Germaine has traveled extensively throughout Canada as well as Sweden and Greenland. After attending a yearlong arts and crafts course in Algonquin College in Pembroke again, she moved to Yellowknife where she worked for the government again. For five years she worked on different illustrating projects for the Department of Education. She took Fine Arts at the University of Manitoba and since then has shared her talent with many people as well as taking the time to learn more about art from such places as Algonquin College, Ontario. Germaine has lived and worked at her craft Yellowknife and in British Columbia. While in Yellowknife she worked for the government, illustrating children's books and has also illustrated children's books in Ottawa. Her travels have taken her to Israel to do a poster for El Al Airline, to Greenland and Sweden to exchange art and to Washington DC as a part of a Canadian delegation to demonstrate Canadian craft. Germaine had a successful show in Montreal and while there worked for the National Film Board designing a stage and puppets for the Inuk Legend "The Owl and the Lemming" with Co Hodeman. Germaine devotes her energies to her art full time now that she is on her own and her family has grown. She produces amazing images, which translate onto paper with a sense of tradition and magic. Art has always been a very important part of Germaine's life. |
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