 Doing a really, really great carving is the most important thing for a lot of carvers. And while I do believe in that, I felt like the concept for me was also just as important. That's really where the current practice began. My name is Luke Parnell. I'm from Prince Hubert, B.C. I am a Northwest Coast artist. I did my undergrad at Ontario College of Art and Design where I studied sculpture installation. When I left OCAD, I was doing conceptual art, which meant, of course, I couldn't build anything. I couldn't make any objects. I had no training. Eventually, I began apprenticing with a master carver, Henry Green, and that was when I left Toronto and came back home. The reason I decided to come and do my masters degree at Emily Carr is because I needed to learn how to do the academic side of the art world. I felt like it was important to be in an artistic environment. When you're in a class and you get an assignment, and so you do the assignment and you think, oh, right on. I did it perfectly. It's great. I did it in class and it's done 30 different ways and are all awesome. It's because everybody's so creative. I just think that's just really an amazing environment to be in. Before I came to Emily Carr, I had a couple of goals. One of them was to learn how to do research, and another one was to explore my practice. Since I left Emily Carr, I've been working on some commissions for private clients. Also working on this public art piece for the Aboriginal Gathering Place, State of Grace, the piece I did for my graduating show here is at the Harbor Front Center in Toronto and a brief history of Northwest Coast design is at the Windsor Gallery. I've also in the research stage for two projects that I'll start in September. So I'm pretty busy for the next year.