Lloyd Gielbelhaus

Lloyd Giebelhaus is a resident of Alberta, born and raised on a mixed farm in the Vegreville area, which is still owned by his family. He received his education in the Vegreville area and continued his post secondary education at the University of Alberta. He graduated with a BSc in Agriculture in 1969 and began his career with Alberta Agriculture in Ponoka. While working with Alberta Agriculture, Lloyd continued to operate a small beef operation in the Sanguodo area until 2005.

After his retirement from his agriculture endeavors, Lloyd decided that he wanted to pursue his artistic interests. Lloyd credits his instructor, Allan Weidman for encouraging him and providing the training and techniques to make soapstone carving an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Lloyd says that carving is like therapy for him as he becomes totally immersed in each project. His history in agriculture and raising cattle has given him an appreciation to create carvings that appear life like and as if they are in motion. In 2009, he began to sell his carvings professionally through Rowles & Company in Edmonton.

Lloyd sources most of his stone from local suppliers and carves in a variety of soapstones from Canada and Brazil. He spends a great deal of time to bring each carving to life and prides himself on his attention to detail. The polishing process sometimes takes hours to bring out the luster of the stone.

All the carving is completed using woodworking hand tools such as chisels, files, rasps, saws and drills.

Power tools are only used to shape larger pieces and make hand cuts. To date, Lloyd has created images that include bears, Inukshuks, loons, and a duck. A large 30 pound bear is on display in the lobby of the World Trade Center in downtown Edmonton.

The artwork of Lloyd Giebelhaus is represented by Rowles & Company, Alberta’s Corporate Gift & Art gallery in Edmonton, Alberta.