Ed Sotelo began his formal art training in sculpture at the Tucson Museum of Art in Tucson, Arizona. He later worked at a foundry where he practiced the lost wax process in bronze. He first developed an interest in carving fossilized ivory during a stay on St. Lawrence Island in the 1980s. An elder introduced Ed to the carving of walrus teeth as well as its influence on the Yupik culture. Ed remembers being told, "The more energy that goes into a carving, the greater its power." He has continued carving since then and enjoys depicting with his art, the Siberian Yupik subsistence lifestyle and their dependence upon the sea for survival. Each piece is individually hand carved from fossilized walrus ivory. The tooth will usually portray images of the storytellers talking about the one that got away. Ed hopes that the owner of each piece receives as much pleasure in owning the individual tooth; as he did in carving it. Please check out his his art work below.