Middlemoon Creekwalk 2016 - Photos!

The 2016 Middlemoon Creekwalk was a wonderful experience. It was a pleasure to work with other ice artists (my husband Tom, Mary Arneson and her equally crazy husband Dale Hammerschmidt) to create an event that people have started to look forward to and is seen as well as felt. 

I loved presenting my latest technique that I call Finnish Ice Glass. I am in love with this idea and will be in my book - for sure! The surface of the ice displays cascading bubbles of air that I think looks and feels like the bark of trees and with a little more time, I would have loved to have made several towers randomly spaced to create a forest of them! 

Some of concepts from previous years (Teardrop Ice Lanterns, Hanging Ice Luminaries and Flower Stuffed Ice Lanterns) received some tweaks. 

This Flower Globe Ice Lantern had already made an appearance at the Luminary Loppet the weekend before, but looked good enough for a second showing at the Creekwalk.

And then there is the process which I haven't named yet, that I've also taken to another level this year. With the concept, I created an Ice Vase and a Funky Bucket Lantern that both have a distinct texture to the ice surface.

I built an Ice Bar for the second year in a row, which turned into a great photo opportunity on Valentine's Day! 

The cold snap a few days ago, allowed me to make a great crop of the large sheets of ice (Ice Glass for Ice Bar and other arrangements) and many choice pieces of Bubble Ice Glass. Mary and Dale helped me bring the Bubble Ice Glass down to the creek (scroll down for video) for Monday's lighting and it was used to make the Chimera Luminary in the middle of the creek, a few luminaries along the trail and the delicate Ice Rose on the very north end of the trail.

Please indulge me a brief rundown of the people that made the Middlemoon Creekwalk 2016 wonderful:

Tom Hedberg - He made or helped me make so many of what was seen out there. If you saw a big piece of ice, Tom probably had a hand in it somewhere along the line.

Mary Arneson - Mary has the ice lantern bug! This is her masterpiece which she calls "Arare" because looks it like a Japanese teapot made out of cast iron and decorated with a pattern of evenly spaced bumps, known as Arare.

I love it and revere her patience to glue all those ice cubes onto a globe ice lantern. Unbelievable. (And, it melts beautifully, too.)

Her Ice People and Appliqués of Hearts, Stars and Ducks were a crowd favorite!

Mary first started making ice lanterns in the Fall of 2013. Retirement and a bit of craziness :) have sent her into a whirlwind of ice and candles. This was her second year and she must have brought down at least 40 icy creations. What will she do next year?

Dale Hammerschmidt - Dale is Mary's support, as well as the candlemaker and the photographer of the group. I feel much better knowing that I can send him all my candle stubs to reuse, and that he is standing by with his trusty 3D camera, to capture many of the moments, that would have otherwise, blurred into obscurity.

And because they are wonderful people, they went over for several days in a row AFTER the Middlemoon Creekwalk to pull out plastic cups and candles! This is a job I do NOT look forward to, but this year, it was done before I had a chance to worry about it. Thank you Mary and Dale! 

And last, but not least, Dave Smith,who is also a neighborhood ice artist, creates what I call "Ice Totems" in his yard. He was out of town for the first night, but brought over his 6 foot tower of ice (on the north end of the creek) over for the second night. I hope we will see more of him in the future!

Future Ice Artists: We know you are out there and just need a little encouragement to bring your creations down next year. Please feel free to contact me so you will be sure to get the word in time to create and bring them to the creek.

HELP!  Making and lugging all the ice down to the creek and then lighting it is a huge job! There were several folks who chipped in to move and light ice that really saved the day.

Peter Hedberg, Riga Moettus and Anda Moettus - Tom's brother Peter and two of his girls, showed up on Friday to help move many of the larger bucket lanterns down to the creek so I could build the bar in time to freeze solidly into place.

Linda Miller Stolte - Linda came over on Saturday to be helpful in any way we needed. That's a direct quote! She lugged ice. She monitored kids drilling holes in ice. She bought Tom and me lunch, and then, she brought her mother on Monday night to enjoy the luminaries!

Heidi Chen and her boys Owen and Kyle Knicklebine - They helped transport much of the ice down to the creek and drilled chimneys in many of the globe ice lanterns. Heidi also sent her son Cole to buy me two more cans of Mapp Gas which I use constantly and was running low.

Dan Berg - Dan was wonderful. Not only did he do a lot of ice moving, but he also quickly absorbed the lighting techniques and with a lighting kit in hand, he lit up many of the smaller lanterns on the east side. After Tom came back from lighting the entire west side, he was dreading the idea of the work left to do, but then saw that it was virtually done! Thanks Dan! 

Nettie Magnuson - Nettie (and another woman whose name escapes me) stepped in at the last minute and helped me do some fine tuning on the hanging globes and some quick repairs.

Our daughter Ellie and her boyfriend Alex - They surprised Tom and me with a delicious Valentine's Day dinner after we came back exhausted and hungry from working outside all day!

Ice Bundt Pan Donators - Many people who brought down bundt pan-shaped ice, as I requested, which were shaped into ice lanterns for Monday night's lighting.

A Mystery Woman responded to my plea for grit along the trail when she asked how she could help. To the hardware store she drove and bought a HUGE bag of grit which she helped sprinkle all along the pathway. The was a great relief as I know that the Creekwalk is attended by many young and old, and after the crowds come through, it can get a bit slippery in places.

Rick Chasin - Rick volunteered to help light on Wednesday night's encore lighting which was very helpful as I had a commissioned installation scheduled for that day and could not help light as much as usual. Rick also dropped off a flash drive of photos that he had taken! I love photos as they are a wonderful way to save the fleeting images of ice along the creek.

Martha Archer - Martha came on Valentine's Night and took many photos which she has sent my way - love them - thank you!

Larry Risser - Larry sent many photos, including this very cute one of a dad, his daughter and dog out for a stroll through the Ice Lantern Garden! That is one the true benefits of the Middlemoon Creekwalk - there is a cement walkway running alongside the creek which offers pretty good accessibility for folks with strollers or wheel chairs. And, dogs are allowed!

Bob Hayes - For a second year in a row, Bob spent many daytime and nighttime hours behind his lens and took the time to assemble his photos and dropped them off on our doorstep. Thanks Bob!

I have tried to present a smattering of images of the Middlemoon Creekwalk 2016, but I still have more photos to sift through. In the meantime, it is my great pleasure to share with you a photo journal that was sent to me by Stephen L. Garrett, which does a wonderful job of showing the essence of the Middlemoon Creekwalk 2016. 

In the meantime, if you have photos that you snapped at this year's Middlemoon, please consider sending them my way. I love seeing the event through other people's perspective . . . and WINTERCRAFT has a Photo Contest!  Submit by email, Facebook or Instagram. Really, however you send it, it will be entered in the contest. If you win, we will track you down :)

And finally, a big thank you to all the passing neighbors whose kind words and gestures helped to bolster our weary muscles and spirits as we were working by the creek. There were many times when we were rushing to light all the luminaries that we may not have been able to take the time to have a real conversation, but the appreciation was felt. Thank you!

Enjoy the Glow!

Jennifer Shea Hedberg - The Ice Wrangler

***

©Wintercraft.  All Rights Reserved. This blog post may be linked to and credited, however, the contents including all photos, videos and text may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.