We are still High on Ice!

Perhaps you would like to join us for a day of fun with ice - we hope you say yes! Come join us in “Finding your Creative Spirit”. All interested people are encouraged to attend, artistic ability or not, we will help you find your ability and spirit within.

The Fort St. John Community Arts Council in partnership with the City of Fort St. John present: the FSJ Ice Carving Workshop "Finding your Creative Spirit” on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at Centennial Park form 9 amd to 4 pm. Registration is only $25 and lunch is provided.

Instructor Jesse Forrester FSJs professional carving competitor for three consecutive years. He was born and raised in the Peace and has lead the local High On Ice team for the last five years in park and site preparations. He is an artist by hobby and a successful entrepreneur by trade. Jesse promises to provide hands on techniques and ice loads of fun.

Instructor Sonja Butts is one of FSJs most recognized artists and the local and professional judge for High On Ice for two consecutive years. She was born and raised in the Peace and has added to the beauty to our community with her art and continues to showcase her pieces. She is an artist at heart and a Director of the FSJ Community Arts Council. Sonja promises to share carving tips and help awaken your spirit with your artistic creations.

The registration deadline is Thursday, February 9th, 2012 so get your forms in and unlease your creative spirit on the ice!

A natural artistic gift, a lifelong love of art and a streak of perfectionism; this is the happy combination of traits that has made Sonja Butts one of Fort St. John’s most recognized artists. Her work can be seen on the walls of the Cultural Centre, on numerous Flower Pots, along the walking track at the Pomeroy Sports Centre, at North Peace Secondary School, and on the doors of Central School and the Christian Life Academy, just to name a few examples.  

From the time she was a little girl, watching her father doing wonderful drawings of horses, Sonja wanted to make pictures.  Her natural ability was obvious from an early age and was recognized by her teachers who encouraged the talented student.  After graduation she further developed her craft through the 2 year fine arts diploma program at Northern Lights College which, sadly, is no longer available.

Sonja made her presence felt on the local art scene early, and on a large scale, as one of the “Wall People”, a project for the 1984 BC Winter Games, featuring a series of sports related murals around the community.  This was followed up by a similar heritage mural project the following summer.

Painting, drawing and design remained an integral part of Sonja’s life in the years after that, in spite of the “distractions” of marriage, work and raising a family.  It would have been easy to allow art to fall by the wayside, overcome by the demands of a busy life, but Sonja continued to hone her skill, showing her work through membership in the original North Peace Art Group.   Technique and technical quality in her art has always been important to Sonja and she has taken great pride in strengthening her technical abilities through years of hard work and high standards.  Sonja the perfectionist is never far from the surface.

During those years of artistic development, Sonja also became involved with the Community Arts Council.  She speaks warmly of the positive influence that the Arts Council has had in her life, giving her opportunities to travel, to connect with other artists from around the community and the province, and to grow on a personal level.   Sonja is still a key member of the Arts Council, having served as its treasurer for many years.  She was in at the ground floor in the development of Ice and Snow Carving in the community, participating in the very first amateur competition.  As with her painting, her attention to detail and good technique led to outstanding results right from her very first sculpture, which, she recalls, was of a mermaid.  She and long-time friend, Julie Foster and her husband, Myles, have become one of the most successful local ice carving teams, placing first in the amateur division of High on Ice in 2009 and 2010.  She has no desire to make the jump to the professional competition, however, having developed a healthy respect for the physical demands of the higher level of carving competition.  In 2011 she took a break from carving to work alongside NICA professionals as part of the panel of judges, a role which she will take on again this year

Sonja credits her involvement with the Arts Council with building an awareness of the broader art community.  She found herself drawn to the look and sound of Bellydance and decided to give it a try.  Performance art in any form was something she had never, ever thought would come her way, but, as her skill in the dance technique has grown, so has her confidence, and she has come a long way since her first, absolutely terrifying, experience on stage.  She is now a member of the Mystic Borealis Bellydance group which performs a Tribal fusion style of dance; a blend of traditional Arabic bellydance with moves and costuming from other cultures and dance styles.

In spite of her widening range of artistic interests, painting remains Sonja’s first love and she has recently become a member of the Federation of Canadian artists, admitted to this organization, she thinks, on the strength of her most recent work; a series of water colour portraits.  She has always been drawn to the human face as a subject, loves the technical challenge of bringing life and realism to a portrait and sees herself taking on commissioned portraits in the near future.  Moving forward, she is striving to use her technical skills to reach another level of creativity and to evoke an emotional response while never compromising the visual quality of her paintings.  She is currently preparing work to submit the Federation of Canadian Artists for a show in May at the Peace Art Gallery, just another step in her pursuit of that perfect picture.  

Yes - it was very cold yesterday - but if you haven't had a chance to checkout the High on Ice Festival, you really should.

I bundled up as much as I could, and lugged out my super cold metal camera and took a few shots.  The process actually was more like I took a few shots, ran back to my car to warm up for 10 minutes, and then ran back out to take more pictures until I was too cold and gave up.

It's a pretty neat experience seeing these guys make such complicated works-of-art out of ice.  It's facinating to watch.  I hope these pictures do it some justice.

I've posted a few pics to our facebook page.

or if you're not into facebook, you can see them on Flickr

Enjoy!

Having an outdoor festival is always challenge - you can't depend on the weather and we know that Fort St. John is particularly finicky. However, there are times when things work out just in time and this year High On Ice is really happy for that! The ice is here, the slides are built, and Centennial Park is looking icily magical. Tonight is the Opening Ceremonies for High On Ice at 6:30pm in Centennial Park. Come see the winter wonderland that has been built in the middle of town, meet the ice carvers who are building masterpieces out of massive blocks of ice, take a slide down the ice slide hill and experience some winter fun!

Did you know... ?

30 loads of snow were trucked in from other locations for ice slides hill.

It's the first year the ice slides have been created by local artists.

The park is brought to magical winter life by the "ice fairy", Angela Loftus.

The ice blocks used to make the slides are 250lbs each.

The carvers use Clinebell ice - grade A, diamond crystal ice made in downtown Vancouver.

This year's carving theme is Forces of Nature.

8th Annual High On Ice – Ice &  Snow Competition is proudly hosted by The Fort St. John Community Arts Council and will be happening January 13th to 15th in Centennial Park. People of all ages are invited to celebrate spectacular sparkling creations carved from ice. Sculpting events by professional and amateur carvers will take place all weekend long, with the amateur event featuring the annual ‘Mayor’s Challenge’ on Saturday and the “Media Challenge” on Sunday. Take in the snow and ice carving competitions in Centennial Park at the following dates and times:

Schedule of Events:  Centennial Park

Thursday, January 12  6:30 pm - 7:30 pm Welcome Reception

Friday, January 13   1:00 pm - 3:00 pm Single Block Competition

                                      10:30 am - 11:45 am Carver’s Connection Meeting

                                       6:00 pm - 10:00 pm Professional carving competition begins

Saturday, January 14  8:00 am - 10:00 pm Professional carving competition continues

                                          9:00am - 4:00 pm Amateur Ice Carving

Sunday, January 15 8:00 am - 2:00 pm Professional carving competition completion

                                       9:00 am - 3:00 pm Snow Sculpting

                                       2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Judging

                                       4:00 pm Awards Ceremony

                                       5:00 pm Fire & Ice Display

For even more High On Ice community events check out the schedule!

Fort St. John’s premiere winter event, the High on Ice Winter Festival, is set for January 12 – 15, 2012. The featured event – the professional ice carving competition – brings in carvers from around the world to compete in British Columbia’s only sanctioned ice carving event.

This year’s competition theme, Force of Nature, will surely inspire some icy masterpieces.

In addition to the professional competition, some of the other highlights include an amateur ice carving competition, a snow sculpting event, sleigh rides, curling bonspiel, snowmobile group ride, ice fishing derby, pond hockey challenge, live entertainment, and the very popular ice slides will be back for another year.

"Fort St John's High on Ice festival has become an opportunity for the community to celebrate our winter season” said Mayor Lori Ackerman. The 2012 event schedule is full of activities both indoors and out. The ice carvings by the professionals differ every year and never cease to amaze us. This is something you do not want to miss!"
High on Ice is a joint venture between the City of Fort St. John, Fort St. John Community Arts Council, and many other community groups and volunteers.

For a full schedule of events and more information, visit High On Ice.

Welcome to 2012, the year the Mayans gave up on calendars, life, the universe, and everything.  Well, not til December at least...which means we have 11 more issues of Northern Groove mag to go until, much like Y2K, nothing exciting happens and we sit around and wait for the next bit of nonsense about the end of everything to come around.

Humphrey Bogart said he should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis.  Igor Stravinksy exclaimed that he drank so much Scotch his name should really be Igor Strawhiskey.

This Saturday, January 16th, we have an event for all you Bogarts and Strawhiskeys down at Egan's Pub - Scotch on Ice.

Starting at 9pm, Scotch on Ice is a night of wailing blues music and, of course, a lot of scotch.

Wailin' J, the host of Friday Night Blues, will be providing the music for the night and $1 from every Scotch sold will be donated to the Ice and Snow Component of the High on Ice Festival, put on by the Fort St. John Community Arts Council.

To tide all you Scotch connoisseurs over until Saturday, and to help you plan your evening of Scotch enjoyment, here is Egan's list of the Scotches they carry:

• Glenfiddich
• Glenlivet
• Cragganmore
• J&B
• Lagavulin
• Glenkinchie
• Dalwinnie
• Johnny Walker Blue
• Johnny Walker Black
• Johnny Walker Red
• Bushmills
• Macallan
• Jameson
• Tullamore Dew
• Chivas Regal 

Fort St. John's Annual High on Ice Festival is set to take over the city this Thursday, January 14 to Sunday, January 17. The weekend is cram-packed with winter fun ... just take a look at the schedule!

Friday, January 15

Single Block Ice Carving Competition - Centennial Park (1pm-3pm)

Professional Ice Carving Competition - Centennial Park (6pm-10pm)

FSJ Mukluk Independent Plumbing Mixed Bonspiel Begins - Fort St. John Curling Club (6pm)

Comedy Night - Lido Theatre (doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm)

Snowmobile Club Fun Ride - Jackfish Parking Lot to Snowmobile Club Chalet (8pm-11pm)

Saturday, January 16

Over the Line Ball Tournament - Surerus Ball Diamonds (8am-5pm)

Professional Ice Carving Competition - Centennial Park (8am-10pm)

Amateur & Intermediate Ice Carving - Centennial Park (9am-4pm)

Regional Mayor's Ice Carving Challenge - Centennial Park (9am-4pm)

Ice Fishing Derby - Mile 91, Inga Lake (9am-Dusk)

Snowmobile Show 'n' Shine - Centennial Park (10am-5pm)

FSJ Mukluk Independent Plumbing Mixed Bonspiel - Fort St. John Curling Club (10am-6pm)

Concession - Warm Food & Drinks - Centennial Park (11am-5pm)

Children's Activities in the Park - Centennial Park (11am-3pm)

Toboggan Races (weather permitting) - Togobban Hill, NPSS (11am-3pm)

Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides (weather permitting) - Togobban Hill, NPSS (11am-3pm)

Fort St. John Curling Club Community Dinner & Dance - Fort St. John Curling Club (6pm)

Comedy Night - Lido Theatre (doors open at 7pm, show starts at 8pm)

Sunday, January 17

Professional Ice Carving Competition - Centennial Park (8am-2pm)

Community & Family Snow Sculpting Competition - Centennial Park (9am-3pm)

Media Snow Sculpting Competition - Centennial Park (9am-3pm)

Concession - Warm Food & Drinks - Centennial Park (1am-5pm)

Ice Fishing Derby - Mile 91, Inga Lake (9am-3pm)

Toboggan Races (weather permitting) - Togobban Hill, NPSS (11am-3pm)

Horse Drawn Sleigh Rides (weather permitting) - Togobban Hill, NPSS (11am-3pm)

Children's Activities in the Park - Centennial Park (12pm-4pm)

Ice & Snow Awards Ceremony - Centennial Park (4pm)

Fire & Ice Celebration - Centennial Park (5pm)

Fort St John has recently earned the title of the Music Capital of Northern BC. What else can our northern community claim to have? Well, lots of snow and ice for a start, but what has this got to do with art?

Moving from Europe to Fort St. John, thinking “It’s how far North!?” I knew nothing of the art of Ice Carving. What is the attraction of chipping away at a block of ice?

It is not until one has been given the opportunity to see someone chisel with skill and precision the layers of ice to reveal something of beauty that one is left standing in awe at the multi-dimensional sculpture. It is truly spell-binding.

High on Ice is an annual winter festival held every January in Fort St John's Centennial Park. It is at this festival where I got my first glimpse into the world of Ice Sculpting.

This January 14-17, 2010 sixteen professional ice carvers will come to compete from all over the world. Each artist has a different story as to why they love this art form. Many work in other mediums too - potters, painters, sculptors, jewellery designers, and of all things, chefs. Whatever the reason, Fort St John is the place to carve.

Some of us may not feel that we can lay claim to being an ‘artist’, but the festival is about having fun and making the most of what we have a whole lot of - snow and ice. The Community and Family Snow Sculpting Contest is for everyone, while there is an Ice Carving Competition for Intermediate and Amateur levels.

Art is all about creation and sometimes one realizes, as in the case of ice carving, it’s not about longevity or preservation, but about the beauty of impermanence. It is not hard, one just needs to try. And who knows? You might just surprise yourself.

For more information or to register for the Snow Carving Competition and/or the Amateur Ice Carving Competition, please contact the Fort St. John Community Arts Council at 250-787-2781. You may also download a registration form from the city’s website at www.fortstjohn.ca, under Community Programs.

Photo by Sandy Busche