Ottawa’s annual Winterlude festival is always full of ice sculptures, but this year, one stands above the rest.
A 100-block ice carving marking the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War is on display at the Crystal Gardens in Confederation Park.
The sculpture, which was unveiled in a ceremony on Feb. 6, portrays a train car full of soldiers bidding goodbye to their loved ones before they leave for war.
“Though the sculpture is set in 1914, it’s a scene reminiscent of any war, when brave men and women must say goodbye to their families,” explains Simon Forsyth, a media officer for Veterans Affairs Canada, which sponsored the sculpture.
During the Great War, trains brought soldiers to Valcartier, Que., where they began training.
The carving weighs 14,000 kilograms and was no easy feat to create.
Five carvers worked on the sculpture during the five days leading up to the unveiling ceremony.
Gabriel Giammaria is a member of the Canadian Ice Carvers’ Society who participated in Winterlude’s international carving competition this past weekend. With large sculptures like these, he says, “it’s 90 per cent planning and 10 per cent carving.”
Carvers spend weeks planning out their sculpture, using everything from diagrams to models to life-sized stencils.
With larger creations, safety is a main focus.
“The stacking plan has to be resilient, especially if you want to keep it for more than a few days,” says Giammaria, referring to the base of the sculpture.
Workers must make sure the area is safe so that if the statue ever falls, it won’t damage anyone or anything.
Carvers need to build scaffolding and use harnesses for any work more than two meters above the ground.
There must also be sources of power and water nearby. Though chisels are traditional, most carvers use power tools like chainsaws and die grinders for convenience. Water, or sometimes a propane torch, is used to melt rough edges once the sculpture is done.
Giammaria calls it a performance. “It’s not like walking down the street and seeing a painter – you don’t see it all the time,” he says. “When we do demos outside, people flock to them.”
Then, there's the weather.
If it's too cold, the ice becomes brittle and easily cracks. If it is too windy, fine detail is quickly worn away. If there is snow, the ice can lose its crystal quality and become cloudy.
And if it’s too warm? “I’ve celebrated Waterlude instead of Winterlude a few times,” says sculptor Kenny Hayden. “The ice melts as you’re carving it.”
Though the elements will eventually affect the war memorial carving as well, Michael Blais says the effort is still worthwhile.
Blais is the founder and president of Canadian Veterans Advocacy, an organization that aims to improve veterans’ quality of life.
“In this case, we have no more First World War veterans and there’s no one to speak of that era’s sacrifice,” he says. “I think it’s appropriate that we spend money in Canada to make citizens appreciate the sacrifices of our forefathers.”