Diamond Witney

Available at the Alberta Craft Gallery - Edmonton

Diamond Witney is a Métis-Ukrainian artisan. She resides in Edmonton/amiskwaciwâskahikan and is claimed by the Metis Nation of Alberta.

Her Métis family name is Bourke, and also includes the Paquette, Decoine and Chalifoux family lines. Her paternal family is from Ukraine, and immigrated to Canada following WW1.

She is passionate about creating beadwork that invokes elements of traditional motifs in contemporary patterns and color combinations. She is often inspired by nature, incorporating floral patterns into many of her designs.

She hand sketches her patterns and transfers them to the raw materials she is using to create her garments and jewelry. She uses leather, wool, canvas, and cotton to make moccasins, mittens, earrings and other accessories.

She is motivated to use as many natural raw materials as possible, partly to honor the traditional elements of her work, and also to reduce the environmental impact of her crafts. Environmental stewardship and sustainability are passions of hers and practices she continues to learn about and aspire to incorporate in as many ways as possible.

She utilizes the 2 needle beading technique and hand sews her garments. For some garments she is able to utilize a sewing machine and indicates that on the finished product. A pair of beaded moccasins, from the design stage to the finished product averages anywhere from 20-30 hours, sometimes even more if the beadwork is more extensive.