Bear Matted Art Card

David Brooks was Mi’kmaq First Nation, born and raised in Nova Scotia, Canada. He was from Indian Brook First Nation where he spent the majority of his life with his family.

Through his young adulthood he traveled and lived in various locations throughout Canada and the United States. In 1983, David began to paint when he met Phillip Young in Toronto; from Phillip he learned basic painting techniques.  David once shared “When I paint, I do it as much for other people as for myself. I hope that my paintings can be a sense of strength for our people. I try to reach into the distant past when we were strong people and I try to find ways to express that strength for people today. I don’t start a painting until I’ve felt what it will mean. If we can locate strength from the past we can overcome the problems of the present. I hope my paintings can suggest a path to the future.”