Skip to main content

Winnipeg father carves ice castle in honour of daughter’s birthday

Share

A Winnipeg father’s icy creation in honour of his daughter’s birthday is bringing a bit of winter wonder to his neighbourhood.

Brent St. John carved a castle out of ice to celebrate his daughter Abigail’s third birthday.

The frosty fortress is a fitting birthday gift.

“My daughter is three years old now. She was born Feb. 2, 2020,” St. John told CTV News Winnipeg in an interview.

“That’s the year I started ice carving. So every year, she's going to get ice sculptures.”

St. John started carving soon after he moved to Winnipeg and realized his new prairie home could flatline his favourite hobby – snowboarding.

“I found out there was no mountains here, but your temperatures stay below zero. I needed a new hobby and ice carving came to be,” he said.

St. John always had natural artistic talent, but never an outlet to express it. His new home presented plenty of blank, snowy canvasses on which to hone his skills.

As the snow melted away, and his love of the art form grew alongside his daughter, St. John found new mediums to practice. In the warmer months, he started etching on glass, and also dabbled in wood carving.

When the snow returned at the beginning of the winter of 2022, St. John started making the ice blocks at his Transcona home that would eventually form the castle.

He finished the project in time for Abigail’s birthday, but is still adding some detail work, like a carving of a particularly regal Peppa Pig.

It’s a birthday tradition he hopes to continue for years to come.

“This year is the castle. Next year is going to be something completely different, I’m sure."

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

N.B. man wins $64 million from Lotto 6/49

A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.

Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks

Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.

Stay Connected