Nature Artist John Bruguier

Bronze, Watercolor, and Tile Artwork Inspired From Rich Heritage and Many Experiences

Born in Billings, Montana, I was adopted by my Native American father and welcomed into the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes, where I lived my entire childhood on Fort Peck Indian Reservation in “Wolf Point” Montana.

As I hunted and fished on the reservation, I took in its every sense to sculpt and paint pheasants, mallards, Canadian geese, choke cherries, buffalo berries, trees … and brought the color, texture, and soul of the land to life in my art. I was passionate about being a nature artist at an early age.

I started more seriously sculpting and painting in 1978 in high school, where my art teachers immediated recognized my “natural talent" for painting and sculpting as nature artist. My paintings caught the attention of many organizations, and was among the art commissioned for auction by the local Ducks Unlimited chapter.

My art teacher literally cried when I graduated and chose to enter the Navy. There, I worked first on the USS Dixon sub-tender (San Diego, CA) in a foundry pouring bronze and molten steel to make parts for subs and plaques; and then on the USS Midway as a helmsman, a fabricator in the ship’s canvas shop, and as one of the bridge watch team.

After many years in the Navy, I worked in aluminum manufacturing for the Brunswick Corporation (contracted under the A & S Tribal Industries) and then for Looking Eagle as a general manager over cut and sew fabrication until I started my own business called, “The Canvas Shop.”

As my own craftsman and entrepreneur in canvas, I shipped canvas tarps, tents, and awnings all over the United States. When I was invited by the tribal chief himself to attend a “Sundance” ceremony, I learned to make beautiful, authentic teepees that were structurally sound. Within just a few years, my canvas teepees were commissioned from coast to coast – from the Department of Anthropology in Florida to Pronghorn Golf Resort in Central Oregon and an art gallery in New York. Even the actor Jack Nicholson bought one of my teepees! As successful as I was in canvas, I still kept painting and sculpting art for myself and others.

I married my high school sweetheart, Julene, also from the reservation, and we now live in Oregon with our
five children, where I sculpt and paint as much as possible.