My Name is Nikolai Deleff, I was born and raised in Yellowknife, NWT. Ever since I was a kid I would draw and colour, creating new worlds from both life and imagination. In 2022, I was hospitalized and diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC). As I was isolated from the outside world, drawing on the hospital's whiteboard was the gateway into my inner world. This experience gave me profound gratitude, and a renewed sense of purpose that formed the foundation for my Bear and Ivory Picture book.

Since then, I seek to share how art can empower us with the necessary resilience to weather life's toughest storms.