Rankin Inlet (July 07/04) - The work of Rankin Inlet carver Patrick Kabluitok will soon be on display on three separate continents.

CIBC Rankin Inlet branch manager Stan Anderson says Kabluitok had his first carving commissioned by CIBC World Markets when it opened an office in Sydney, Australia, a little more than a year ago.

The company is opening a new office in Shanghai, China, and was quick to give the go-ahead for another of Kabluitok's carvings to be commissioned for that location.

"The company wanted to have its Canadian roots prominently displayed in Australia, which is what originally started the process in motion that reached all the way to Rankin Inlet," says Anderson.

"The carving he produced for Australia was so well liked, the company came back to Kabluitok again when it decided to go ahead with its China office."

Kabluitok has been carving for more than two decades.

He says he became interested in the craft while watching his parents as a boy. "I would describe myself as self-taught, but, after school, I always used to watch my father, Jacques, carve for the arts and craft shop, which is now the Kivalliq Arctic Foods building," says Kabluitok.

"I also watched my mother, Eugenie, quite a bit.

"She was an Inuktitut instructor, but, to help make ends meet, she'd do small pieces from time to time."

Kabluitok says he was overjoyed when Anderson approached him to do the carving for the Shanghai office.

"I got really excited, big time, when Stan asked. I couldn't help but feel like I was really on a roll with my work."

Kabluitok says the piece he's crafted for Shanghai is similar to the one he made for Sydney, but much larger.

A full-time truck driver for the hamlet, he put in two or three hours every evening for the past few weeks on the piece.

"If I were able to work on it full time, it would probably take me four or five days to complete.

"I'm proud to have my work being shown in so many countries now, and who knows where it will go from here? The sky's the limit."