A Saskatoon woman is using her free time this winter to shape the snow in her backyard into sculptures of her favourite animal, polar bears.
The sculpting of the polar bears, a mom and her cubs to be exact, as well as a tree, now resides on the deck of Patricia Leguen’s residence.
She used some plastic forms to help hold the snow in place and shape the polar bears. She also used professional carving tools collected from around the globe, including Russia and China.
The professional sculptor has travelled the world and competed in over 120 competitions. She has been professionally carving since 1979. Leguen was born in France and has been living in Saskatoon since 1983.
“We had some blizzards here, and a lot of snow on my deck. So instead of shovelling, I thought I’ll sculpt something. I used plastic forms I used for sand sculpting. I clamped them together to make big circles and piled them like a two- or three-layered cake,” Leguen said.
Now she is taking a more local approach to her passion, as COVID-19 puts a hold on her international travel plans for the time being.
“I’ve done a lot of sculptures of polar bears. I was looking online and found a picture of the momma bear and her triplets and thought, ‘Oh that’s perfect,” Leguen said.
“It takes me about 12 to 15 hours to complete from start to finish a project like this.”
Leguen said she will be doing more carving throughout the month at Wintershine, offering workshops for high school students, and providing her take on an Every Child Matters sculpture in North Battleford.
“I keep busy creating when I’m not working because I’ve been unable to travel to sculpting competitions.”
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