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Who is Ben Pearson?
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I was born in Yellowknife, NWT on a cold night in november of 1978. Being of mixed blood I didn't have much tradition growing up but for a strong christian upbringing which I later shed in light of a Higher Truth. Hereditarily a mix of British, Ojibway, Scottish, and Ukranian, I didn't have much of it taught to me in my childhood. So as an adult I've taken it upon myself to learn some of my history and artistic culture, thus being capable of multicultural works.
Growing up I experimented with various art forms. It started when I was three or so and I needed streets and buildings for my micro-machines, so I took some tape and cereal boxes and after a few hours had a city built on my livingroom floor I could play on. Unfortunately when my father got home it didn't last long. I continued with drawing and coloring, progressing to painting and poetry, and by the time I was 12 I was learning to play the guitar, and sculpt modelling clay.
I could do it all averagely, but none of it spoke to my heart as a calling, and I didn't see anything special in any of it. But I continued with my guitar playing, poetry writing, and occassional clay painting through my teenaged years until I was 19.
One summer day in 1998 a friend of mine came over to my house with a 3kg chunk of brazilian soapstone and told me to do something with it. I said, "Ok..." The next day I cut a small block out of it and started to work carving myself a much needed pipe. Using only a swiss army knife, I carved out the chamber, bowl, and did some cool abstract shaping to it. After two hours I was satisfied with this rough abstract piece and tried it out. It worked, and I was happy until a friend came over. He said, "Hey, I like your pipe!" I said, "Thanx, I just carved it... Wanna try?" |  |
So we tried it out. He really liked it, impressed with the smooth draw and cool design and asked me if he could buy it off me. I was having a difficult time believing him, but after a moments thought I said I would for $20. With that he took 20 out and handed it to me, and I sold my first piece.
After he left I realized I didn't have a pipe to smoke with anymore, so I carved another one that night. This one was a nice erganomic design that fit well in the hand. The next day another friend came over, and the same thing happened again, and I sold the second pipe I had made for another $20. Well, I had learned my lesson by the third time. This pipe you see in the picture to the right is the third pipe I ever carved. I still have it to this day. A couple of the braids have broken due to accidents over time, but you can see at 2.5" long, it's pretty intricate for a starter piece. I enjoyed the creativity, and others seemed to appreciate it from the start as well. |  |
 | So I decided to take it to the next level. I got my first small exacto-blade wood carving set and studied a month online learning techniques others were willing to share. By the end of it, I felt ready to try my first animal figure. This poor thing is the outcome. You can see its a seal on a chopping block with no head. The reality of the piece is meant to stir disgust, and remind people that this happens up north all the time for no good reason. The honest truth is that I started carving at the tail and by the time I got to the head, there wasn't even enough room to do a walrus head... So I decided to improvise an activist message into it, calling it, "Just a Joke" |
I carved for another year, testing my talents, pushing my skills, testing the stone and finishes and so on until I carved this Cougar (below) in 2000. By 2001, I had carved my first full female nude (also below) I called "My Ideal Woman".
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After that there was no stopping me. I started taking orders and tried turning it into a home based business over the next few years while I carved and sculpted many pieces from simple pipes to a life sized sea otter, until it came to the point I felt I had enough business to get a loan and get professionally set up. Unfortunately, when I did the market research, I realized that Vancouver Island wasn't a large enough market to keep my business afloat. So in the summer of 2003 I moved to Vancouver. I started out as an artist, but soon met with the reality of living in the city and needing a day job. From then it was a struggle to get anything done because I was too caught up in the city life, later having a son and the life that went with it, until 2008 when my life changed. I kinda had a forced "Wake Up" experience that reminded me who I was and what I was doing in the city of Vancouver in the first place.
Since then I have devoted my life to my Stone Artwork and making a full time career from it. It started out as a struggle, having to work small jobs here and there in order to not starved at times, but I've gotten to a point now where I'm starting to pay the bills and gain a bit of recognition in the arts community.
Thanx for taking an interest in me. Please feel free to peruse my website, and contact me if you have any ideas :)
