Lise in Trinidad and St. Vincent with her five favorite men!

About Lise…

Lise Olson (nee; Gaboury) was born and raised in the Peace River country of Northern Alberta. Coming from French Canadian roots, she has an appreciation for the rich cultural and lingual diversity in Canada. Her mother, Jacqueline Lambert came west from Quebec while her father, Roland Gaboury came to Alberta from Manitoba. Lise has only recently become aware of her First Nations heritage ties that originate from both her mother and father. Her father was a descendent of Anne-Marie Gaboury, the first white woman to come west, and Louis Riel’s grandmother. While Lise was growing up, the family neither recognized nor celebrated these ancestral ties, as there was no appreciation of the language or culture of the native peoples by her family. Lise is currently researching these very important parts of her lineage but has found it a challenge, as her family has not maintained the information and many of the records were lost in a fire many years ago. 
Lise graduated from High School in Grande Prairie, Alberta where she met her husband Dwayne. She went to the Misericordia School of Nursing and graduated in the class of 1980. She worked as a nurse in Grande Prairie for a couple of years before starting a family. In 1988 they moved to North Battleford, Saskatchewan where they still reside today. Lise and Dwayne have four grown sons. After being a full time mom for several years, Lise changed careers and now works as a teacher’s assistant in the Battlefords. In 2004, to increase cultural awareness, the school contracted a First Nations carver, Darwin Atcheynum, to teach the students and interested community members soapstone carving. Lise found great joy and satisfaction in shaping her stone and was ‘hooked’ immediately. She has always enjoyed working with her hands and loves to take on new challenges. Many of her carvings have an obvious Metis or aboriginal theme, look and feel to them, satisfying a longing that she has long felt to express. Lise was not raised to recognize or honor this side of her ancestry, and as a result has never, until now, tried to explore her own feelings about her status as one whose Metis culture has long lain dormant.
Lise approaches her carving with enthusiasm, passion and dedication. These are qualities that she brings to everything she does. She has always enjoyed working with her hands through baking, sewing and crafting. Showing meticulous attention to detail, she experiences joy in seeing the finished piece. Stone carving has given her a ‘voice’ to express those things that she has long felt within. It is her pleasure to share her feelings through the voices of ‘Living Stones’.

CURRICULUM VITAE

Lise Olson
Living Stones Carvings
Box 878
North Battleford, SK
S9A 2Z3
Phone: (306) 445-1593 (h)
    (306) 445-3661 (w)
e-mail:  livingstones@sasktel.net Website www.livingstonescarvings.com

Education

1980    Misericordia School of Nursing—Registered Nurse

Professional Experience

1996 to Present    Educational Assistant—Living Sky School Division #202
            North Battleford, SK

1983-1980    Registered Nurse—Queen Elizabeth II Hospital
Grande Prairie, AB

Exhibition Record of Soapstone Sculpture

2007 Saskatchewan Wildlife Art Association "Reflections of Nature" show in Saskatoon
Rivals Beware wins "Best in Show" Intermediate Class

2's Better Than One wins "1st in Functional Scupture" Intermediate Class 2007 SWAA "Reflections of Nature" show

2006    OSAC Exhibition of Soapstone Sculpture (juried)
Chapel Gallery—North Battleford, SK
Holly Hildebrand, curator
Lee Baker and Devon Coles, adjudicators

2006 Intertwined Prairie Sculpters Association exhibition

Juried

2007 Juried by the Southern Alberta Art Gallery to participate in SAAG event "Holiday Artisans Market" held in Lethbridge, Alberta

2007-2008 Juried by Mackenzie Art Gallery to participate in "Bazaart" in Regina, SK

2005 Juried sucessfully by the Saskatchewan Craft Council in Saskatoon, SK to participate in SCC sponsored events

2005-2008    Juried by Sundog Arts & Entertainment Faire selection commitee to participate in the "Sundog Art and Entertainment Faire" in Saskatoon, SK

Publication to Note

"Living Stones Carvings," Sasktel Max Entertainment Ch 48 Max Local Feature Interview
"Creatures Emerge From Soapstones Core," Jayne Foster News Optimist (24/09/07)
“Art Chosen for Saskatchewan Tour,” Doug Collie, News Optimist (22/02/06)

Collector & Commission

2006-2007 Private collection includes Elegant, Bashful, Grizz

2005    Donna Zadvorny, private collection includes;  Basking, Call of the Wild, Salmon Run.

2005    Lauri Putland, commissioned Big Cats for private collection.

Artist Statement:

I have always enjoyed expressing myself artistically in a 3-D medium.  While working at a local school, I was able to participate in soapstone carving lessons given by world renown First Nations artist, Darwin Atchynum.  Although I was both inexperienced and unsure of the medium, I tried to read the stone and find the image locked within it.  I studied my first stone carefully, and I noticed the image of a young lady with her head resting on her knees.  I was able to express that vision in my first carving, and this experience launched the beginning of an exciting venture in art and expression.

I’ve learned that the images are present in the stone, and I need to use hand tools with skill to express the “inner voice.”  Soapstone has many possibilities for one to be creative and I find this exhilarating.  I use different techniques and textures to see how far the stone will let me push before it pushes back.

Before carving, I spend time looking at all the different possibilities or attributes the stone may present.  I also ask the Lord to reveal what he would like that carving to be.  Usually I am afforded a small glimpse of a subject and I will begin at that point, finish that area and have the next stage revealed until the entire carving is complete.  A flaw in the stone causes initial difficulty, but patience and faith often reveal a different outcome with greater strengths than originally imagined.  Intricacy and elaborate details are an integral feature of my carvings.

I am currently working on abstract carvings.  I am experimenting with smoothness, contrast, complexity and simplicity.  I am challenged to express my voice simply using often complex impressions and designs in the stone. Carving fills me with a sense of expectancy, an enthusiasm to see the finished product.

It is my hope that when others view my carvings they too can feel an exhilaration and affection for a sculpture that has moved them.  This experience is to have a complete appreciation for the art of soapstone carving.