b'ARTIST PROFILEDREAMING BIGCree artist Betty Albert built a successful careerBy Rick Garrickdoing what she loves most, paintbrush in hand I t is not easy earning a decent living as an artist, with only a fraction of aspiring painters in Canada able to make a decent livelihood from their art. Cree artist Betty Albert belongs to that privileged group, defying the odds. Conduct a quick search of her name on Google Images, and you will catch a glimpse into her prolific body of work and her extraordinary talent. How did Albert manage to achieve what for many remains a distant dream? She credits her late fathers encouragement, combined with her decision to paint her own spiritual journey as well as that of other Indigenous women, for her successful, 30-plus year career as an artist.My topics have always been women, cere-mony and family, so that was my theme and Ive never veered from that, says Albert, whose initial inspiration came to her in a dream. That first image I did of women came through a dream. Im a real early riser so I have naps in the afternoon. I dreamt of this image, got up and drew it, and my father said: Yeah, thats it. But I said, What do I do with that? And he said, Make her move. It feels like Ive been making her move for the last 30 years. Albert, who was adopted when she was just three months old and raised by French Canadian parents in northern Ontario, only met her birth parents in her late 20s after searching for her baptismal certificate to apply to university. Her birth father, Lindberg (Lindy) Louttit, was a legendary Northern Ontario flying entrepreneur. We started doing lithographs in 1991, Albert says, noting that her father began selling her artwork after retiring from his business in his 40s. (Albert also went on to have an art busi-ness with her father called Wabimeguil Art Studio.) I would paint, and he would sell. At the time, I was working at the Wabun Tribal Council in Timmins and I had a contract. I finished my contract and since then have been living from doing art.38Fall/Winter 2022'