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Tobias Watts, or Bear, was born in Port Alberni in spring of 1977. He attended Haa-huu-payak school, an aborigional elementary school, which emphasised native culture through language, traditional singing, dance and art work. It was there that he realised his intrest in traditional West Coast native designs and art.
In 1994 Tobias challenged himself to try carving. He stole a pearing knife from his mothers kitchen and created his first piece.
This small Wolf Head is what would lead to the pieces you can see today.
6" x 3 1/2"
Wolf By Bear
As his skills grew Tobias moved from making plaques and small masks to creating larger and more detailed masks. Many of his early pieces ended up as gifts to his family members. However, he soon realised that there was a market for his work and began selling masks to the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria and Haa-huu-payak school where he first met the traditions of native design.
Tobias took a career with the Tseshaht First Nations Fisheries Department in 1997 as a salmon enhancement technician. The work took up a majority of his time and his tellents were set aside for the next six years.
In 2001 Tobias met his wife who happened to be an artist herself, and when she learned of his skills, encouraged him to return to doing what made him happy. He began making pieces for cultural use in his community and soon found that his pieces were in demand. Many people were pleased to hear that he was carving again and began placing orders for specific charactor pieces.
When Tobias' daughter was born in february of 2004 he decided to make his art form into a full time job. That meant that rather than filling orders he would have time to expand his horizons and start creating pieces that came to him. Since then he has made many unique pieces and has established an ever expanding buisness of his own.
Tobias prides himself on the fact that he is a self taught artist and that he never reproduces a design. Most of his pieces are one of a kind and have a personal signifigance and are now in collections around the world.
