NWT Arts

We regret to advise readers that Ernest has passed away. His profile remains in his memory.

I make jewelry from stone, bone and do woodcarvings. My grandfather started teaching me at nine years old. I would ask my grandfather for money and he would give me a piece of stone and say make your money. I sold it for $175 – and ever since then I have been carving. Since then I have been learning from people around me and doing the best that I can.

I look at the rock and am inspired as to what I can make out of it – a sea animal, land animal or bird. Sometimes it depends on what kind of rock it is or the colour of the stone. I look for odd shapes and try to work with the whole block itself. I also love looking at the finished product and saying to myself, “Wow, I made that out of a piece of rock.”

I take pictures of the rock before I carve it so people know and see what I started with. If I see something in the rock before I carve it, I’ll tell people what I saw. Before it’s done, I know what it will look like and that always amazes me.