Feature artist for January 2025: Bill Roy

By Deborah Shatz

(ANNews) – The stunning image on the cover of the January 2025 Alberta Native News is entitled “Raven and the Moon” and it is a creation of contemporary artist William Roy who passed into the spirit world recently. He will be missed in our hearts and on the pages of the newspaper. Bill was one of the first illustrators to contribute drawings to Alberta Native News back in the 1990s and over the years we have come to appreciate his quiet sense of humour and his honour. Looking at the 30 years portfolio of his illustrations, which are now housed at Wakina Gallery, we get a warm sense of who he was, how he evolved and how he viewed the world.

Each month, Bill would bring pictures to our newspaper office which would most often reflect what he saw out his window or on his walks or in his imagination. Or how he was feeling on any given day. It was always a pleasure to see him.

Bill was a talented Saskatchewan-born, Métis artist whose art ranges from whimsical to dark and from simplistic to complex reflecting his many layers of emotions and experiences. Roy had a past to overcome and he worked hard to become centred to the point of being able to mentor young people.

He recently joined the Wakina Gallery staff at JP School in Edmonton for a large PD Day to commemorate National Indigenous Peoples Day. Bill sat at table and did what he does best – drew images representing traditional spirituality or animals. He loved to turn traces of his hands into family gatherings. He was at first quite shy and wasn’t comfortable being approached by the teachers but as he drew, delegates became enthralled with his process and he relaxed into a very warm give and take with them, describing a bit about his background and his art.

“I discovered my artistic ability with a crayola crayon and a clean kitchen wall when I was just five years old,” explained Bill, with a glint in his eye. “I guess I’ve pretty much had a pen or pencil or paintbrush in my hand ever since. I know that my work is appreciated in some circles and though some have said they find it a bit dark, there is the lighter side that keeps me prodding forward, seeking a path to a better way of life that includes my children, my culture and my freedom.”

Bill’s family, like so many other Indigenous families in Canada, was severely affected by the Indian Residential School era, and over the years he made a lot of bad choices. But he turned his life around and gained control over his demons; his art was a stabilizing factor. Whether he was creating a wall size mural or a small logo or over 30 years’ worth of cultural illustrations in Alberta Native News, Bill Roy let his imagination soar in his art.

At the Indigenous Night Market at River Cree Casino this summer, Wakina Gallery presented some of Bill’s illustrations for sale alongside soapstone carvings by Dene carver and paintings by Linus Woods. A stack of Alberta Native News was on the table and most everyone who walked by was happy to pick up a newspaper. One of the art vendors who walked by stopped and told us that he has been creating art now for 20 years. He said that he got his start by looking at the pages of Alberta Native News with his kookhum on his First Nation, admiring the art of Bill Roy. This was not the first time that we heard how much people appreciated his art on our pages but I’m glad I had the opportunity to tell Bill about this encounter. It made his spirit soar that he’d had such a positive impact.

A selection of Bill’s art can be viewed at WakinaGallery.com and is available for purchase. It includes an assortment of cultural greeting cards  and a wide variety of original illustrations.