Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Monday, August 20, 2007

ARVIAT - Art has become a tradition in Obed Anoee's family.

Anoee, a 37-year-old carver from Arviat, said he knew from the time he was a child that he would one day become an artist like his father, who specialized in oil paintings and carvings.

"Ever since I was a little boy he used to paint in his room and I'd go watch him paint. When I was growing up I told myself I would take up some form of art," he said.

Anoee didn't pick it up right away. It wasn't until nine years ago that he decided it was the right time. He saw his uncle and cousin's artwork and thought back to his childhood aspirations.

He said it was also during a period when he was feeling the stress of being a young father and grieving the loss of his own father and his brother that he began carving.

"Because I was going through some tough times, (I was) trying to find something to put my mind on," he said.

Initially, Anoee started carving abstract faces and animals from soapstone but later found that he preferred using caribou antlers.

This is not only because of his preference in the medium, but also because of the work he does gathering the material.

"The process of the actual looking for the antlers I enjoy," he said. "When I go out hunting if I don't get a caribou or something, and I'm going back home, I start looking for antlers."

When Anoee sees the antler, he will envision the image it will become and will carve it out. Sometimes, when he can't see an image, he will give the antlers away to other carvers or his family.

The finished product normally ends up being a drum dancing scene, he said. What he enjoys the most is carving the faces into the antlers.

"I love antlers - each one is different, each one is individual," he said, comparing antlers to human beings. "I like doing the actual face... each one is never the same."

Anoee does his carving in his spare time out in his shed. He said sometimes he works so late his family has to come out and get him.

"Sometimes I get so carried away when I start carving I carve pretty late," he said.

Nearly a decade after he began carving, he is still working in spurts and is selling some of his work.

He said there isn't much of a market in his hometown, but has found that his work sells online on Ebay - especially to Americans. Recently, he also made his first sale to someone in France.