Art Friday: Simon Beck


Artist: Simon Beck
Snow quilts, started in 2004

Simon Beck graduated from Oxford and was trained as a mapmaker specialist!

Simon Beck finds freshly fallen snow at the Les Arcs ski resort in France to trample out his distinctly geometric patterns, footprint by footprint. Each work takes the 54-year-old artist anywhere between 6 hours and two days to complete, an impressive physical feat aided from years of competitive orienteering. The orienteering also helps him in the precise mapping process which often begins on a computer before he’s able to mark landmarks in the snow that guide his precise walking patterns. (source)

Beck uses an orienteering compass to create the perfect geometric designs.

It can take Beck hours of trudging around in the snow to create his masterpieces, which can run the size of a soccer field. Why go to the trouble?  "The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise," he says. "Gradually the reason has become photographing them, and I am considering buying a better camera." (source)

Thanks Clara for suggesting this artist. Photography sourced from Google

I thought this was a good idea for all of us in Australia feeling a little hot at the moment!!

Simon Beck at work!
What an amazing place to use as your canvas!


Here is a youtube clip of Simon Beck doing his craft. It looks like an exhausting way to exercise.
PS Sorry, as I can't read French, I can't tell you what the words at the begining of this clip say, I hope they are nice words!  The music is beautiful though.

Comments

  1. Thanks for sharing this, Jo! It's totally amazing - and it looks exhausting. It always amazes me the amount of work some people will put into art that is so very temporary. :-)

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    1. I have to also say that it feels quite odd to post something on your blog on the 3rd (my time) and have it say that it's being posted on the 4th. :-) Somehow that messes with my mind. It's weird to cross the dateline without moving. LOL

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    2. It was really nice to wake up this morning and find your messages!!! After I looked at the You Tube clip, I was completely exhausted at how he does this, for something that won't last very long.

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  2. These are so amazing! Although, it seems to me that doing something that could last a bit longer than it would in a snowfield, would be more satisfying, wouldn't it??

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    1. he started out doing it for exercise, I suppose it made his walks more interesting!! if you were to ambitious it would mean working into the night and you would never know if it was there by the morning.

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  3. Lovely patterns but it would be a bit of a pity when it snowed just after you had finished.
    Merle......

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    1. I did wonder about that!! Sounds like hard work to me!!

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  4. Just AMAZING! It makes me think of how much loveliness and beauty comes from a faithful and diligent walk after the Spirit. The things we do in this life are so temporal, but what we do for the Lord will last forever.

    His snow 'quilts' are beautiful. So lovely to look at. Thank you for sharing.

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    1. Thankyou for stopping by:)) Couldn't agree more with you. Everything we do and own is just a moment compared to the Glory with our Heavenly Father.

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  5. WOW! That is amazing! I have never seen ice art before! What an amazing talent that man has!

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    1. Very talented man, he must have very strong leg muscles .

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  6. Oh, how beautiful! He is very creative!

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  7. That cold snow is lovely to see on a warm day here in Sydney:)

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    1. Very inviting today for sure. Hope you and yours are ok tomorrow as Sydney is in for a terrible time. In my prayers that nothing happens.

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