Halina Stopyra & Jay Bell Redbird – Artistic Collaboration
The late artists Halina Stopyra and Jay Bell Redbird shared both their lives and their creative work. Jay, an Ojibway artist, and Halina developed a personal and creative partnership that resulted in a distinctive body of collaborative work.
This page presents a selection of paintings created through their artistic collaboration and preserved within the Friends United collection.
The Artists Behind the Collaboration
Before looking at the works they created together, here is a brief introduction to the two artists behind this collaboration.
Halina Stopyra
Halina Stopyra was an artist and physiotherapist whose creative work was influenced by folk tales, myths, stories and the relationship between people and nature. She painted alongside her partner Jay Bell Redbird in Toronto and Cape Breton and collaborated with him on a number of works centred on Indigenous subjects and storytelling.
Jay Bell Redbird
Jay Bell Redbird was an Ojibway artist whose work was shaped by family, traditional teachings, stories and the influence of artists including Norval Morrisseau, Leland Bell and his father, Duke Redbird. His paintings are known for vivid colour, storytelling and symbolic imagery.
Collaborative Paintings
The collaborative paintings by Halina Stopyra and Jay Bell Redbird bring together their distinct artistic approaches. Halina’s work is characterized by the fluid, layered qualities of watercolour, while Jay worked primarily with acrylics and bold, strongly defined forms. In their shared paintings, detailed portraiture appears alongside stylized birds, animals and flowing symbolic imagery, creating compositions that connect portrait, story and spiritual symbolism. Together, the works reflect the visual dialogue that developed through their shared creative process.
Collaboration and Legacy
The collaboration between Halina Stopyra and Jay Bell Redbird represents a personal and artistic partnership expressed through shared paintings and storytelling. Their shared works are particularly distinctive for the meeting of Halina’s watercolour-based approach with Jay’s bold acrylic style. Together, these collaborative works form a distinct part of the art connected with Friends United.
Explore the individual work and stories of Halina Stopyra and Jay Bell Redbird, or discover other collaborations between artists connected with Friends United.
Related Video
Jay Bell Redbird & Halina Stopyra on Art, Collaboration and Friends United
In this conversation with Nancy Regan, Jay Bell Redbird and Halina Stopyra talk about art, their creative partnership and their connection with Friends United. The interview offers additional insight into the relationship behind the collaborative works featured on this page.
Watch the interview with Jay Bell Redbird and Halina Stopyra