Everyone tends to become a little tired of winter about this time of year and with all the snow piling up in the yard and streets, it makes sense.  Snow drifts can be an unsightly part to a winter yard but can also be used to make a great addition to brighten the hearts of family and those passing by.  Snow sculptures and snow carving can make a winter yard or city park into a magical place.  My first snow sculpture was a 4 ft tall snowman my sister and I constructed outside our living room window.

Where to Start

Snow sculptures sound like a huge ordeal to undertake, but in reality it is not to hard to make a beautiful looking snow sculpture in your yard.  The easiest technique to choose when building one is the carve-away method.  The first step is to make a pile of snow considerably larger than your design.  Snow drifts and old snowmen make a great start.  If you know you are going to make a snow sculpture at some point in the winter, try and pile all your shoveled snow into one place.  Make sure the snow pile has time to set up and freeze so that the snow will be hard enough to carve into.  Always take a look at the design and know what you are building so that you do not remove too much snow.  A basic outline is the first step in building the perfect snow sculpture.

Tools

Here is a list of tools we recommend using for building a snow carving/sculpture.

• Flat Shovel
• Spade Shovel
• Small Chainsaw
• Chalk Line
• Hatchet
• Metal Spatula

The Next Step

Once the rough outline of the sculpture is complete, start using tools to add detail to your project.  If at anytime the snow becomes to powdery, use a spray bottle or a garden house to help the snow firm up.  Make sure to get as artistically detailed as you can, then give the whole sculpture a light spraying with water, and bam!!, you have yourself a snow sculpture for your front yard.

Other Sculptures Made From Nature

Nature is a great medium to make some really cool pieces of art.  One of my favorite artists that use nature as a medium is Andy Goldsworthy.  Here is a link for a trailer for his movie Rivers and Tides.

Hopefully we have inspired some of you to go out and build your own snow sculpture.  It won’t be the easiest thing but keep trying and you will constructing works of art in no time at all!!!