Yvonne Jobin has been creative all of her life, but when she finished school, she ended up in the corporate world of finance. However, it wasn’t long before her roots began to tug. “Being aboriginal, I started to have this feeling of wanting to keep our culture alive,” she says. She took a 10-month course at the Alberta Vocational Centre. “Before it was finished, I was offered a job teaching it, because it just came naturally,” says Yvonne. She’s been teaching classes ever since in subjects such as beadwork, drum making, porcupine quillwork, cultural teachings and more. She opened Moonstone Creation with her daughter Amy in 2009.
The gallery sells traditionally-made native clothing, bags, drums and rattles, and also carries sculptures and art by Western Canadian native artists. Yvonne’s work is also for sale. “People recognize my work as very unique,” she says. “I’m a forward thinker, although I’m traditional.” This combination has let her use traditional native techniques and materials – like smoke tan hide – to create modern items like cell phone cases and business card holders. Her work is an amalgamation of old and new.
