Dear Diane: The repaired soapstone Eskimo priest arrived safely today and he looks wonderful. Your "corrective" craftsmanship has been excellent. I wish, as a surgeon, that all of my operations turned out as well!!! Thank you once again for the restoration. You might wonder why this piece means so much to me.  9 years ago I was a delegate at an Anglican Synod that brought together 300 members of the Church from across Canada ... including all of the hierarchy dressed in their finery. Of the 10 days that we met together, the most important and lasting memory that I have of that event was being in a small group that met each morning for half an hour. The humblest and apparently least significant member of that group was an Inuit man from Baker Lake. He was dressed in jeans, a heavy flannel shirt and boots that still had dirt on them from his garden. In the brevity of his remarks and the clarity of his faith, he had a far greater impact on me than anyone else at that congress. Two years ago my wife and I were browsing through an Inuit art shop in Ottawa and came across this piece of a priest holding up a white bone cross.  The artist was from Baker Lake.  That coincidence was simply too much and I had to have him as a very poignant reminder of the encounter that I had had with a Baker Lake compatriot of the artist.  Thank you, again, for restoring this inanimate bit of rock to its prized place of importance in our home.  --- John. Back To References

Repairing soapstone sculptures since 1999.