How many 60-year-olds do you know that make massive snow art with just their feet? Two years ago, in 2020, Simon Beck’s honest but quirky art form propelled him to popularity. He was 60 at the time and his art required a lot of work – several hours, actually. Moreover, he had not started doing it in hopes of fame. Beck’s art is snow art – art drawn with the snow as a canvas![1]
Simon Beck used to be a cartographer and had received engineering training at Oxford. However, after turning 50, he decided to use his feet not for mapping but for creating stunning masterpieces with sand and snow as the canvas.
Of course, his engineering and cartographic training does come in handy. He uses geographical as well as geometrical tools to measure and plan his designs. However, he still has to walk for over 12 hours to actually create the snow art. That equates to roughly 40,000 steps per piece. However, as exercise-intensive, creative, and beautiful as it is, snow art, by nature, is fleeting.
Read: These Artists Paint Gigantic Bookcase On Side Of Apartment Building Featuring the Locals Favorite Books
Why Keep Making The Snow Art?
Since snow art uses sand and snow as the canvas, air and water constantly erode and erase it making Beck’s beautiful pieces extremely temporary. However, this characteristic of creating natural art does not faze Beck at all.
While speaking with Artsy, he pointed out how the majority of artworks are witnessed in the form of photographs. “Even with the Mona Lisa – probably only a minority…have actually seen the real thing, but everyone’s seen a photograph of it”. Thus, so long as Beck manages to photograph his enormous design, he considers it a job well done.
Of course, the pictures of his snow art are absolutely breathtaking. He posts them regularly on his Instagram and Facebook profiles. Here are some examples:
Read: This father took the same picture with his son every year for 29 years. The last picture will touch your heart
How Difficult Is This Type Of Art?
Creating art indoors is a tough task as it is. Now imagine having to draw on an enormous natural landscape. Beck has no control over weather conditions, so the snowy landscape can change before he finishes his snow art. For example, it can become too icy or simply melt.
Worse, other passers-by can just inadvertently walk all over the unfinished snow art, never realizing the amount of work they have wasted. Since Beck does a lot of work on slopes, skiers can simply plow through the design. As for his sand art, Beck has to account for the tides, the wind, along with beachgoers.
All of these make his sand and snow art an extremely challenging task. However, for Beck, the final picture is completely worth it. And we must agree!
Sometimes, Beck’s snow art even conveys messages regarding current world issues. For example, one of his drawings contained 81 triangles, out of which 71 were unshaded. According to Beck, it represents the 71 countries that discriminate against LGBT particularly harshly. [3]
The majority of Beck’s over 300 art pieces are created in Europe. However, he has traveled to other nations, like the Americans, and created several dozen snow art.
Keep Reading: Artist uses A.I. to ‘resurrect’ stars like Diana who left us too soon
