About The Barking Red Wolf

The Barking Red Wolf is centered around making works about Mother Earth, culture, and heritage.

I, Waya, am a formline, glass, and beadwork artist from the Pacific Northwest who centers around making pieces that resonate with and connect to others.

I make pieces about nature, culture, heritage, and expressing and loving all of ones self.


I started making stained glass pieces when I was around 12-13, learning from my father who learned from my grandpa, who learned while he served in the military. I loved the medium very much, however, had to drop it shortly after learning due to the fact my father could no longer afford to indulge in the hobby.

I wouldn't touch glass again until 2020, using my stimulus check to get stained glass supplies and using all the freetime I now had to get back into it.

Beadwork and formline are art forms I have only just recently learned and picked up; I picked up both very quickly after learning where my father came from, and felt intense pulls to do them.

Using the earrings my great great grandma made and the help of some YouTube videos by fellow Native folks, I made my first pair of earrings.

Meant to symbolize the wolf, I then decided to work on a whole series of earrings based around animals, called the "Heritage" series, and it is about expressing and loving every part and piece of yourself, and never being ashamed of who you are and where you come from.

Formline was something I had always been drawn to. Living in the PNW, you kind of see it everywhere. From a young age my mother would simply say "that's not for you".
My uncle, who has since passed, showed me some of his favorite works when I was around the age of 10 and I was even more in love with the artform.
My grandpa would also show me some of his work when I was around the age of 8, although he was more secretive about his work, the pieces he did decide to show me leave me in awe to think about to this very day; His bold use of colors and Ani'-Yun'Wiya shapes are what inspired my style, that and the works of Joe Wilson-Sxwaset.

I started doing formline about a month after beadwork, and learned by heavily studying on my own and using the memory of my grandpa and uncles artwork to help inspire me.And with that, I made my first formline piece ever.

It may be rough, but at the time, I was very proud of myself for even trying and getting as far as I did.

I have since recently redone this piece, and my style is more defined and close to what I am looking for.

It's crazy what a year and consistent work can do.

I create for others.

For someone to see one of my pieces and go "HEY - I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!".

I create to remind the world we are still here.

I create for those longing to be heard and remembered.

I hear you, I remember you.

F.A.Q.

Do you take Commissions/custom orders?

Yes I do! If you check out the "Custom Orders" tab, you can see all the services I offer and about how much you should have minimum!

What do you use for your artwork?

A whole lot of things to tell you the truth! But here's the general gist;

Digital art: Clip Studio Paint, iPad and Huion Kamvas Pro 24

Traditional: Alcohol markers, watercolor, Tooli-Art Acrylic paint pens, Gelly roll gel pens

Stained glass: 60/40 and Lead Free solder

Beadwork: Delica, Tohos, and Preciosa beads

Where did you study?

Nowhere!; I did not attend any type of college and am for the most part completely self taught!

My only forms of college education are the Art and Animation and Character Design courses I took for a few weeks under DigiPen in Renton.

Are you Native American?

Yes; I am mixed Native and white and detribalized reconnecting.

I am Ani'-Yun'Wiya and Potawatomi; my grandpas family ran and assimilated into "white life", eventually serving in the military to find their sense of pride again, while my grandmas was the victim of genocide and was forced into "white life".

I found out in December of 2023, and have been ever learning and studying since.