Ice Sculpture at Winterlude

Ottawa's winter festival, Winterlude, is in full swing. This evening, I visited one of its popular attractions, the display of ice sculptures at Confederation Park. This lit-up giant snowball with the Winterlude logo was at the entry to the park.  

In the middle of the park, the sculptures were in a long open shed with a kind of wooden boardwalk in front. There were lots of people viewing the pieces and taking photographs, so I was in good company.

There were about a dozen ice sculptures on display. Many of them were quite elaborate and must have taken days to carve. There were lights shining on the pieces that slowly changed from blue to pink and other shades in between. I started to realize how hard it is to photograph something that is transparent. 

This sculpture shows a woman with blowing hair. Quite amazing to get all that detail in ice. There are two figures on either side of her, but I don't know what they are.

I decided it was easier to take close-ups of parts of the sculptures. Like this amazing owl perched on top of a tree. These sculptures have been on display for almost a week now and they have obviously already deteriorated somewhat. On some of the sculptures, pieces of ice had broken off and some of the figures were missing legs or hands or even their heads. This owl was the most intact part of a larger sculpture. I was impressed by the detail in the wings.

I also liked this howling wolf that was part of a larger, very elaborate piece. 

This bear was wonderful too - all the detail in his fur.   

But this sculpture of a Viking on a horse was the pièce de résistance. One of the other people viewing this said it had won a prize and I can see why. The reins from the horse's mouth are just strands of ice. Wow! I think the fact that these sculptures are so ephemeral - they will all be gone in a couple of weeks - makes them even more amazing.