Ohito Ashoona spent his formative years living a traditional Inuit lifestyle, subsisting entirely off the land while learning carving skills from his grandmother, Pitseolak Ashoona, a soapstone carver who helped pioneer this evocative art form.  His style consistently has a relationship with nature; whether it is a bear sneaking up on a seal basking in the sun, a mother bear walking with her cub, a bear on an ice floe, or two bears playing on the snow, each tells a story.  In this course students will carve more complex forms.  Student projects for this course draw inspiration from animistic symbols of the Arctic, the polar bear and seal, to accentuate 'movement' in sculpture.  Your materials fee covers on large 10-12lb piece of asbestos-free soapstone and one smaller 4-5lb piece to carve on.  Opportunities for working with hand-harvested serpentine, the preferred stone of Inuit artists, may also exist for this course.

Ohito’s hands-on soapstone carving workshops (see separate course description for Inuit Soapstone Carving Traditions) complement Sivertson Art Gallery's Inuit Art Premiere, an annual weekend event that features a variety of Inuit art and cultural traditions and activities (traditional throat singing, Inuit film, demonstrations, etc.) – visit www.sivertson.com for event details.

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