Land-claiming spaceman snow sculpture sets down in Winnipeg
Step aside Dumbo – there is a new astronaut in town.
Residential snow sculptures are taking over Winnipeg yards this winter and this time, it is not a giant elephant.
‘In the Name of Love’ is the creation of amateur snow sculptor Bradley Gerbrandt who said the idea behind his space-themed snow man was inspired by a lamp.
“The head lights up and it was pretty cool so I thought wouldn’t that be neat to kind of make an astronaut and have a flag and kind of like claim this land in the name of love,” said Gerbrandt.
The flag in question is decorated with a heart.
The sculpture was formed with three blocks of snow, a key skill to snow sculpting which Gerbrandt said is something he has finally figured out.
He considers himself as an artist at heart and after several years of trial and error, he said last year was his snow-sculpting breakout.
He had two successful builds and this year, he brings that experience to his astronaut.
“It’s daunting a little bit but the medium snow is quite forgiving in if you make a mistake you can add snow to it and hide the lines where you patched it together,” said Gerbrandt.
Gerbrandt credits cold weather and the pandemic as key reasons for his hobby.
“What else are you going to do?” said Gerbrandt.
This particular project took about 16 hours over the course three weeks to complete and Gerbrandt hopes to get another one started this year.
As for long-term goals, he would like to get a chance to play with bigger snow blocks at something like the Festival du Voyageur.
“The guys at Festival have access to big machines that make gigantic blocks. It would just be a thrill to get going on one of those,” Gerbrandt said.
Feedback for his land-claiming spaceman has been positive. Most people slow down as they pass and maybe take a picture, but just recently he got higher praise in the form of the backup.
“Most people just slow down and take a look but the backup is nice,” said Gerbrandt.
“He rolled down his window and I said, ‘Hey,’ and he said, ‘I like this,’ and it meant a lot to me because I felt like the guy, maybe wasn’t the kind of thing he usually does like stop and say something like that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
'My family doctor just fired me': Ontario patients frustrated with de-rostering
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
Ottawa pizzeria places among top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world at international competition
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Canada Post cracks down on Nunavut loophole to get free Amazon Prime shipping
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
Wildfire near Fort McMurray more than triples overnight, several evacuation alerts remain in place
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Putin replaces Russian defence minister in rare cabinet shakeup
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Man fatally 'slashed in the neck' in downtown Toronto, suspect outstanding
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
WATCH Dashcam video shows terrifying near-miss on two-lane northern Ontario highway
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Edibles, armchairs and adapters: Here are the recalls for this week
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.