He studied first at the Collège Philadelphie and then at the Lycée Alexandre Petion. In 1968 he entered the training center of St. Matin where he studied ceramics and anatomy. He received his diploma in 1973, and then went on to participate in 1975 in a group exhibition in Washington D.C.

Ernst then taught ceramics in an art school. It was during this year that he received a scholarship to study the archeology of ceramics in Caracas, Venezuela. His passion for painting led him to discover a technique for painting on terracotta that he exhibited in 1983.

In 1984 he was chosen by USAID to represent Haiti in an International exhibition in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In 1996 his works - sculptures in patinated terracotta - were exhibited at the Musart Gallerie in Haiti.

In 1998, Ernst was off to China to exhibit his work and share Haitian culture with the East under the patronage of the Haitian Embassy in China.