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In the Beginning - 1980 When I was in grade school the only things I ever drew on my own, that wasn't for an art assignment, were dinosaurs. Like most normal American kids I grew up without much artistic desire or confidence. But in 1979 I did make a critter out of snow that wasn't exactly a snowman. It was a photo of a snow man that my Mom had made which inspired me to break from the snowman tradition.
By 1987 I had my own children Keely, age 6, and Robb, age 3. It was near Easter so I made a bunny. When my wife wasn't looking, I sneaked Robb outside without his jacket and stood him in front of Bugs for a photo. He's refused to pose for any picture ever since.
I started with a pile of snow. Once it was my height I put a snowball's worth of snow where each eye should be and a little more where each cheek should be. The face was a lot like my 1980 critter. I would later discover that you can create eyes by digging them out instead. More snow was required for the paws and the fluffy cotton tail The ears were formed like a couple of bananas on the ground. I used a snow shovel like a spatula to cut them off the ground in one piece and stuck them on end over the head. I made a couple stubby legs and put a little cotton tail on its bottom. Sticks were used for whiskers and stones for eyes. See the paws? They remind me of an anecdote I read in Reader's Digest: Mom and Dad were horrified to discover that their son Bobby had just sculpted a naked snow woman in their front yard. When they confronted Bobby about his sculpture he said with pride: "That's Jimmy. He's holding his hands over his ears."
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