Ephemeral beauty!
Yes, there is something better than sink your après-ski boots into the virgin snow , although it is not an activity that is available to everyone. Turn snowy slopes into a canvas on which to capture all the creativity contained requires a gift, and simon beck can boast of mastering this savoir faire to perfection.
Paint large scale drawings on snow, a discipline known as snow art , is the specialty of Simon Beck, who, despite being born in London in 1958, he feels a great devotion for the landscapes of the ski resort of Les Arcs, located in Savoy (France).
A dose of off-piste art?
As he has commented to Traveler.es, this London cartographer has been spending his winters in an apartment in the Arc 2000 area since 2004.
“I started drawing in the snow for fun in 2004 and decided to take it seriously, that is, to make as many works as possible and give it priority over skiing when conditions are right, five years later”, explains Simon Beck to Traveler.es.
the one we could call “the master of snow art” , since he has a career that brings together nothing more and nothing less than 350 creations he has also left stamp him in the sand where he has given life, rake in hand, to more than 130 large-scale figures.
“Most of my drawings have been done in Arc 2000 when I spend the winter season at my house there, but I have flown to all the continents, except Africa, to draw geometric figures below zero. Chile, Aregentina, USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Andorra, Spain, China, Japan or Russia are some of the destinations I have been to, but, without a doubt, my home -referring to the French Alps- is my favorite place to practice my hobby,” Beck tells us.
Giant snowflakes, hearts or stars are some of the reasons that we can find in his Instagram account.
“Geometry is what works best: it is the theme that I like the most, and my fans too. The process of creating this type of drawing begins with some precise measurements, that is the most mechanical part. Therefore, my favorite designs are those that minimize that phase of the work”, confesses Simon Becks.
To make each of these wonderful murals, Beck spends a minimum of four hours, in the event that the drawing is the size of a football field. His largest works have the area of three soccer fields.
“The locations where I decorate the snow in Arco 2000 they are usually circular, with a diameter of 150 meters ”, Notes Beck, who, at the end, always takes a photo of his ephemeral work of art to make it immortal. Well, actually, a friend of his does, since the artist is a faithful defender of JOMO.
"I have a friend who kindly posts some photos on Instagram for me, but actually I do not like social networks. I wish people used only one means of communication, as well as I hate smartphones," he concludes.