'Pretty happy with it': Ice carving draws eyeballs in Winnipeg Beach

A Manitoba artist is grabbing attention for his gigantic sculpture on the shores of Lake Winnipeg.

Gary Foidart recently carved an owl out of ice that washed up near Winnipeg Beach.

“It was dirty ice, it was basically, the water was open and waves splashed up on the shore and coated everything with about a foot thick – or more in some places – over everything,” he said. “The boardwalk, all the trees, and shrubs just had a foot of ice on them, and when I saw this one particular nature sculpture, I just wanted to enhance it.”

The owl was chosen based on the look of the ice.

“I saw the wings, and there was a big round piece in the middle,” he said. “Very rough, but that’s one of the things about being an artist, you get to see things in the woods or the ice.”

He added, “It’s only my second ice carving, so I’m pretty happy with it.”

Foidart, a member of the WAVE Artist Group in Manitoba’s Interlake region, has been a carver for more than 30 years and is largely self-taught after witnessing a carving championship.

“When I saw the work people were doing, I was like ‘I’ve got to try that,’” he said. “And that went very well and just snowballed from there.”

Foidart said it took about 10 hours to sculpt the ice into the shape, noting the sand and grit mixed in made it tricky. A friend of his posted the pictures online, and he has been overwhelmed by the response to the sculpture.

“Just unbelievable shares and I can’t remember how many hits I got, but a ton of comments on Facebook and it’s still going,” he said.

The sculpture, which is roughly 50 yards from the water tower in Winnipeg Beach, was buried in the snow on Friday. Foidart shovelled snow around it, but he said he is expecting more snow to cover it in the coming days.

He plans to carve another sculpture in the new year, harvesting clean ice when the weather gets colder.

“I always have to carve something, and I’m all caught up with my woodcarving, so it gets me out in the fresh air, a little bit of exercise and maybe a little bit of public art will come from it,” Foidart said.

An ice carving of an owl created by Gary Foidart in Winnipeg Beach on Dec. 15, 2022 (Image source: Pat Payjack)