The Ice Palace
7th Wonder of Woody Creek, Colorado
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In the early days of 2013 the nighttime temperatures in Woody Creek dipped sufficiently to the point whereby I knew the moment had arrived to being work on The Ice Palace, a project I had conceived the previous summer during the hours I logged warming the arbor benches.
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Although I had no real idea just how exactly the Ice Palace would take shape I knew it would need a strong framework on which to build, and so I shaped the arbor by interlacing the branches to provide it with a strong, rigid architectural structure that would give the all-important solid foundation… sufficient to support the several tons of snow and ice that would soon enough put my preparations to the ultimate test.
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On the morning of January 8th I awoke to survey the results of my previous night’s endeavor.
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While the initial results were encouraging they did lead me to realize I had much learning ahead of me.
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The Ice Palace actually took shape with remarkable rapidity and within a few nights had acquired the familiar outline that was to define its ever-evolving character over the following weeks.
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With the thermometer consistently dipping well below zero degrees Fahrenheit (-18C) the palace rapidly took shape as I was able to build not only throughout the bitterly cold nights but for large parts of the daytime too.
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From January’s Snow Moon to well beyond the Wolf Moon of February The Ice Palace morphed through a multitude of phases. Mysterious sculptural forms appeared, evolved, and were promptly re-absorbed with quite fascinating regularity.
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Deep within the palace strange and evocative shapes prowled their frigid world.
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Strange stalagmites grew to dominate the palace interior.
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The rock hard icy floor became embellished with coral-like formations.
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Meanwhile the exterior of the palace underwent a series of remarkable transformations.
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A gathering of motley characters began to assemble upon the roof
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But of all the weird and wonderful images the palace conjured in my mind, I think The Pirate and his Loyal Monkey stand as my favorite. They even went on to be immortalized in Winterset limestone later that year as ‘The Snowgoyles’.
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The Ice Palace, my largest sculpture to date, continued to build and evolve throughout it’s brief mid-winter reign over the sculpture garden, right through to the dramatic final hours, and stately demise.
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And when the end came The Ice Palace succumbed to the inevitable with a style and grace befitting of such a majestic structure. With daytime temperatures on the rise, and assisted by a brand new blanket of deep spring snow, she simply bowed from the scene with nary a sound, and with barely a snowflake disturbed.
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Thanks for visiting martincooney.com
Cheers for Now
Martin
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