Snow Sculpture in China

This isn't new, but I happened across a great post about the Harbin Snow and Ice Festival--filled with lots of photos.

There are snow sculptures such as the beautiful woman playing a flute (?) as well as sculptures carved from ice--including a full-sized ship you can walk upon!

The temperature in Harbin reaches forty below zero, both Fahrenheit and Celsius, and stays below freezing nearly half the year. This Chinese city is actually further north than notoriously cold Vladivostok, Russia, just 300 miles away. So what does one do here every winter? Hold an outdoor festival, of course! Rather than suffer the cold, the residents of Harbin celebrate it, with an annual festival of snow and ice sculptures and competitions. The festival officially runs from January 5 through February 15, but often opens a week early and runs into March, since it’s usually still cold enough. This is the amazing sculpture made of snow greeting visitors to the snow festival in 2003. ~R Todd King

Check out complete R Todd King's information: http://www.rtoddking.com/chinawin2003_hb_if.htm

Congrats Loveland Sculptors!

The team of sculptors from Loveland, Colorado who headed to Japan earlier this month to participate in the 11th annual Japan Cup international Snow Sculpting Competition did not come home empty handed.

While the sculpture is just a memory...snow sculptures, unlike their stone counterparts, are temporary after all..the threesome of Stefan Keinschuster, Jack Kreutzer and Sheldon James came home with 3rd place titles that will never melt in this prestigious art competition.

Starting with blocks of snow that are 10 feet x 10 feet x 10 feet (or 3 meters to be more exact) the Loveland sculptors were the only team to create a representational piece--all other competitors chose to create abstract sculptures.

The talented artists were selected to represent the United States based on the drawing they submitted. The carved and shaped the 15 ton chilly cube of snow into rocks that morph into water, fabric and 2 figures.

Congrats guys--well done!

Loveland Sculptors Heading to Japan for Competition

Fresh on the heels of the 2011 Budweiser Snow Sculpting Competition in Breckenridge this last week, the team from Loveland, Colorado is heading to Japan for more of the cold stuff.

The 11th annual Japan Cup International Snow Sculpting Competition is held in Nayoro, Japan. The Loveland sculptors will be representing not just Loveland, nor even just Colorado, they are representing the United Sates in this competition.

12 countries are represented in this competition after being selected from the sketches they previously submitted. All teams are scheduled to arrive on Monday, Feb. 7.

The blocks of snow are a bit smaller than Breckenridge--starting at 3 meters cubed (about 10 feet) but, like Breckenridge, the area is known for it's fine quality snow that allows for intricate works of art as a result.

Team USA's design will include a rock foundation transforming into water and fabric. Two figures will also be prominent in the piece.

The team members include Loveland artists Stefan Kleinschuster, Sheldon James and Jack Kreutzer.

Breckenridge Snow Sculpture Winners

The 2011 Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championships where held last week in Breckenridge, with the sculptors putting down their tools on Saturday Jan. 30. The resulting works of art are available for viewing by the public, weather permitting, through Sunday, Feb. 6.

The artists compete for glory, not money--there is no cash prize for this competition. The event is free to watch...with the only "fee" being $1 to vote for people's choice, $1 = 1 vote. All proceeds from the voting go to funding the event for future years.

1st Place- Team Mexico
2nd Place- Team Canada- Yukon
3rd Place- Team Breckenridge

“Team Mexico definitely took some risks,” said Jenn Cram, judge coordinator and Arts District Administrator for the Town of Breckenridge. “They defied gravity in several areas on the piece, especially with the dragon head. The contrast of thick and thin areas created a wonderful fluidity. Additionally, the piece was covered with finely executed texture that spoke to and had a strong connection to the team’s heritage. Team Mexico’s expression, use of ice for details and overall risk taken resulted in a superbly-executed sculpture with 360 degrees of interest.”

While Team Mexico won the first prize in the eyes of the official judges, both Team Canada-Yukon and Team Breckenridge produced crowd favorites.

People's Choice- Team Canada- Yukon
Kid's Choice- Team Breckenridge
Artist's Choice- Team Canada- Yukon

Photos of the sculptures show the detail the artists are able to achieve.

Team Mexico's winner titled “Alebrije,” depicts three mythological beings of Mexican culture. Team Canada Yukon's "Spirits of the Aurora,” represents the Northern Lights. Team USA Breckenridge's “Underwater,” used the shape of the 12-foot-tall starting block to act as a frame for a below-the-sea scene.

Colorado's Cool Carving Competition Commences

The Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championships are held in Breckenridge, Colorado every year. The first internal competition in the town was in 1991 so this year mark's the town's 21st competition.

The competition allows only hand tools to touch the 10x10x12 blocks of snow (yes, that's feet) that weigh in at 20 tons. The competition starts today with 5 person teams coming from Russia, China, Japan, Morocco, Belize, Finland, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, Great Britain, Spain, Bulgaria and Canada and of course, the United States. This year 8 countries are represented by the 15 teams with the US boasting 4 different teams all competing for medals and ribbons--but no cash. Sculptors do it for the fun of it and love to have you come enjoy the process and the results.

The teams have five days (65 hours total) to create their masterpieces. After that a panel of artist judges will find a favorite on the basis of theme, style and technique. At the awards ceremony on Sunday (at 3:30pm), the sculptors will also learn which team has been selected as People's Choice, Kids' Choice and Artists' Choice. People vote with $1 donations, with the money going to help support the event.

Some years the works are melting by the time the weekend comes, but this year it looks like the temperatures will be cool enough to preserve the work. Mother Nature permitting, the sculptures will remain on display until the evening of Sunday Feb. 6.

Organizers suggest visitors come before then and watch the pieces evolve--which is a lot of fun. It is hard to see what they are doing at first, but then suddenly the work reveals itself. Very cool...no pun intended. Friday night Jan 28 ought to be a really fun night since it is frequently an "all nighter" for the artists as they put on the finishing touches before they judging on Saturday the 29th which begins at 10:00am.

Many of the sculptors who participate in snow sculpting also work in other materials other times of the year. Loveland sculptor Jack Kreutzer is a stone sculptor and one of the founders of the Sculpture in the Park show every summer (this summer will be the 28th annual event.)

Learn more about the snow sculpting competition including the best parking spots and some photos from past events. The venue is at the Riverwalk area (see map) and there are shuttles from other parts of town.

Check out more photos, information and even videos of past events.

Ice Sculpture and Bowling

Ice sculptors in Loveland got into the act, too, during the festivities this week...

Even creating a little bowling alley where you could knock down pins with a frozen chicken which turned out to be a hit with the kids!

Snow Sculpture Competition in Loveland

Loveland had a snow sculpture competition this year for the first time in...well, I don't know how long. So of course, we probably had the warmest December to date on record! Snow had to be made from local ponds (one of the sculptors told me the snow smelled fishy) and trucked in.




Concrete forms were set up to hold the snow, which was loaded in and then packed down by volunteers. After a day to set, the forms were removed and the blocks of dirty snow were revealed. I noticed large air pockets, which the sculptors called "cancer"...fortunately for this competition they were allowed to help the blocks a little and use "slurry" to fill in voids if necessary.



The snow was rapidly melting in our 50+ degree weather...but the sculptors, using a variety of tools came out with their maquettes and drawings and started to carve.




The works gradually began to take shape over a couple of days as the sculptors worked...








Things were looking pretty grim on Friday...the wind was strong which can erode the sculpture and the temperatures were so warm it was not possible to get to work on the detail.


But, sculptors are intrepid and many stayed up all night or came early on the (thankfully for them) cold Saturday morning...



...and by Saturday evening masterpieces were revealed!



all in all, the event was a big success!