Got Snow? How about an Ice Castle?

Here at the Davenport's we thought we'd have a little fun... I think it's safe to say we brought a few smiles to passerby's!

We're still digging out from a historic Blizzard here in Connecticut, and as luck would have it, in Durham we were in the thick of it. Snow totals for our little cow town topped out at 36" with snow drifts of 6 feet and more.  In celebration of the Blizzard of 2013 and the predictions that more snow in on its way for Wednesday and Sunday.  I thought I would resurrect a blog from 2011, for fun I updated the countdown calendar to spring! Enjoy!!

January 31st, 2011
Since January 1st I have shoveled, swept, brushed, thrown and scooped over five feet of snow. As I finished digging out from yet another 19″ this morning I began brainstorm about ways I could become inspired, not discouraged, by Mother Natures latest gift.

As I jammed the snow shovel into my seven foot pile of snow, I turned and saw my inspiration.  Life through the eyes of a child, there was my son digging out the snow fort he and my husband (aka my oldest child) had built in the last snow storm.  ”Wow Mom! Isn’t this great? I could like… live in here!” My imagination began to run: how would one design the interior of a snow fort?

Truthfully, this isn’t a unique idea.  The IceHotel in  Jukkasjärvi, Sweeden, just north of the Arctic Circle is a design masterpiece!  Artisans from all over the world built this 5500 square foot work of art with ice from the Torne River.  Each year this magnificent treasure can only be appreciated in person until March, at which time the warm spring sun slowly converts the hotel from crystals back to running water returning to the Torne River.

photography credit to Xavier Dachez

Ice is a unique material to sculpt, and even with all of my years as an art student, I can’t think of any substance or product with the same delicacy and strength that ice offers.  The artist use chain saws, water picks, files and hot water to create.  The ice can be finished  to appear frosty, for a strong and solid appearance, or polished to a clear, high gloss surface giving a fine, fragile facade.

photography credit to Paulina Holmgren

Blocks of ice become everyday items needed to adorn the hotel, chairs, beds, tables and more.  It’s hard to imagine being cozy comfortable in a ice bed, although they might be a touch more appealing with a warm fur throw.  Lighting is a challenge in these ice castles, ice chandeliers give a completely new meaning to ‘crystal’  These works of art have wire bases and fiber optics running through them and the sparkle gives Swarovski Crystal some serious competition.  The architectural wonders that include arches, ice columns, and  barrel vaulted ceilings are created all out of ice,  leaving visitors in awe, forgetting their frigid zero degree surroundings.  Imagine, something so fascinating that you would actually forget the cold? Maybe we need an ice castle here in Connecticut!

I’ve started turning on my computer each morning, and visiting the countdown calendar to spring.  You can bet your snow shovels I’ll be dancin’ in the streets at the sight of that first crocus!

I won’t be designing a Ice Castle any time soon, although with 5 feet of snow, maybe Joey and I will build a ‘grand’ entrance at the end of  the sidewalk today…..its gotta look better than the  9 foot piles of snow currently there!