My name is Matt Morris and I'm a community snow sculptor in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I've been making large snow sculptures on our front lawn for many years. I've figured out how to build tall towers of snow and then carve them into sculptures. I almost always use non-packing (dry) snow. You might be surprised to learn that non-packing snow is the best type of snow for sculpting. There is no need to wait for packing snow! The story continues further down the page, but for those that want to jump right in, here are two key videos. 1. How to get started with snow sintering. 2. How to carve a gnome.
The story continued.... I snow sculpt because it's a blast. I enjoy the challenge of designing and building the structures and receive equal enjoyment from the interaction with the community. Each winter I have hundreds of great discussions with local kids and their parents, community members, taxi drivers, Canada Post workers, delivery specialists, and many who just hang out their car window for a quick chat. It's also a great workout! It's also a very reasonable hobby as costs are minimal. And lastly, I don't worry about storing my 'art' as it always melts off to a better place.
This website attempts to share my journey in snow. In the menu system you will find a yearly history of my creations and, if you are interested, you can follow my development as an artist. Elsewhere you will find more detail on many topics such as: how to make a tower of snow, how I make them spin, how I use plasticine to improve my sculpting skills, how I create the eyes and more. And everything is free! Enjoy!
Lastly, consider joining my virtual and socially distanced snow sculpting club! I created the club to help us all survive the pandemic that started in 2020! Check out the menu above for the appropriate link. But even if you don't join the club, the page will show you how to get started with snow sculpting--especially when the snow is non-packing! Included on the page is detailed instructions on how to make the snow pounding tool I designed--it's called the QP7000! I do NOT sell this tool—remember, everything is free!
There are now over 30 commercial free ‘how to’ videos too. You can jump to them by popping open the SNOW SCULPTING CLUB menu above. For the majority of the demos only a ‘robust plastic knife’ is used. Some videos do review other tools. Parents and guardians should always be involved in tool choice decisions. Safety first!
Thanks for being curious enough to visit my site!
Breaking News:
January 14, 2022. I was just published in the Feb/March issue of Our Canada!
December 30, 2021. Had a great chat on CBC Toronto Metro Morning with guest host Rebecca Zandbergen. Tried to get the message out about the wonders of sculpting with non-packing snow! And Riverview New Brunswick has made 200 more QP7000's! This after making 350 last year. They have also welcomed Dieppe, New Brunswick to this years fun. Dieppe will be putting subtitles on some of my videos! Let's continue to spread the word of the fun you can have this winter--especially when the snow is non-packing and fluffy to start!
Two feet of snow landed on a lake up in Muskoka.
My second owl. I turned the eyes on my wood lathe and then painted them. Later, they fell out.
The first carve of each season is a Moai.
The tallest foot I ever created. Pretty sure it was an athletes foot.
"What we need"
Carl and his sidekick Dug from the movie Up.
I launched a Twitter poll to see if people wanted Mick Jagger or Steven Tyler. They chose Mick. He rotated too.