Snow Becomes A Canvas For Intricate, Temporary Art Works

Simon Beck trudges through freshly fallen snow to create his large-scale graphic motifs. For Simon Beck, snow is where his heart is. He has an uncanny knack for creating intricate designs in a fresh fall, and has been creating stunning large-scale, ground-bound art works since he started with a five-pointed star back in 2004. He’s subsequently developed increasingly complex designs while simultaneously refining his process (he claims his background/day job as an orienteering mapmaker doesn’t give him much insight, but it certainly couldn’t hurt). Each motif measures almost 50 feet in diameter and takes about 10 hours to complete. He uses a handheld orienteering compass to establish the setting, determines distances with measuring tape or counting his paces, then creates curves with a clothes line attached to an anchor at the center. Depending on the location, Beck...