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Skupiens ready to carve into winter
Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition approaches
By Toni Rocha
special to the Daily News
ROSCOE - Snow is falling. Temperatures are falling, too. But the competitive spirit of the Skupiens, Roscoe's first family of snow sculpting, is on the rise.
When the Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition kicks off on Jan. 18 in Rockford's Sinnissippi Park, Andy, Steve and David Skupien will be there with the best and the rest, up to their eyebrows in frozen medium.
“I've been out there with the team since I was about 2 years old,'' said Andy Skupien, who will lead a seasoned team in the state competition. “This is the fifth year I have competed and the second year the same team is together.''
Twelve teams will vie for state honors this year, with the winner invited to the international competition. While the number of teams appears to be fewer, (there were 14 teams last year) the spirit of camaraderie and cutting-edge competition remains as intense as ever.
“We expect between eight and 10 high school teams as well as corporate,'' Andy Skupien said. “Also, there will be two international pieces. We actually have a team coming from Mexico. It's like having the Jamaican bobsled team compete. You got to wonder what they train on.''
The snow sculpting teams start work on Wednesday and continue through Friday, honing their snow blocks into fanciful shapes. Official judging takes place at 10 a.m. Jan. 21, after which the public can tour the competition and vote for the people's favorite. Awards are given to those teams, which place first through fourth, plus the people's choice.
First and second place winners are invited to participate in international competition. Andy Skupien said that during those days of freezing, sneezing and energetic teamwork, a lot of good-natured razzing takes place.
“They have a lunch room set up in the park with a truck parked outside,'' Andy Skupien added. “A huge sheet of butcher paper is attached to the truck and buckets of markers stand nearby. We all write jabs and jokes and draw cartoons all over the paper. We are all artsy to some degree so it can get pretty funny.''
Funnier still, the Skupiens use Swedish nicknames during competitions.
“David is Thorfinn, Andy is Bjorn and I'm Svenhard,'' said Steve Skupien, now in his 18th year of competition. “We've been doing this for so long, our sponsors write our checks out to these names and our banks cash them.''
Working snow is not an easy task, the Skupien brothers said. Quality of snow, temperatures, even sunlight play roles in how well the design is implemented.
“The first day is spent chopping out as much of the basic design as possible, after which we hope the temperature will drop sharply at night and deep-freeze the core,'' Andy Skupien explained. ”We carve the gross details during the next two days, and finish with fine detailing late Friday night or early Saturday morning. The goal is to present a crisp image that is clean, smooth and white.''
This year, the Skupien team will send a message in the medium for the second time.
“Our design is titled ‘The Great American Puppet Show' and depicts a business man with dollar sign eyes manipulating elephant and donkey puppets,'' Andy Skupien added. “Our first political design was right after 9-11. We dressed Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie in firefighter gear with the title ‘When I grow up, I want to be a hero.'''
Steve Skupien's team will present a two-sided design with political implications as well.
“One side is a homeless person sitting against a wall with FEMA written on it, while the other side depicts an American soldier guarding oil barrels,'' he added, saying it isn't all that uncommon for artists to make a statement with their work.
By Toni Rocha
special to the Daily News
ROSCOE - Snow is falling. Temperatures are falling, too. But the competitive spirit of the Skupiens, Roscoe's first family of snow sculpting, is on the rise.
When the Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition kicks off on Jan. 18 in Rockford's Sinnissippi Park, Andy, Steve and David Skupien will be there with the best and the rest, up to their eyebrows in frozen medium.
“I've been out there with the team since I was about 2 years old,'' said Andy Skupien, who will lead a seasoned team in the state competition. “This is the fifth year I have competed and the second year the same team is together.''
Twelve teams will vie for state honors this year, with the winner invited to the international competition. While the number of teams appears to be fewer, (there were 14 teams last year) the spirit of camaraderie and cutting-edge competition remains as intense as ever.
“We expect between eight and 10 high school teams as well as corporate,'' Andy Skupien said. “Also, there will be two international pieces. We actually have a team coming from Mexico. It's like having the Jamaican bobsled team compete. You got to wonder what they train on.''
The snow sculpting teams start work on Wednesday and continue through Friday, honing their snow blocks into fanciful shapes. Official judging takes place at 10 a.m. Jan. 21, after which the public can tour the competition and vote for the people's favorite. Awards are given to those teams, which place first through fourth, plus the people's choice.
First and second place winners are invited to participate in international competition. Andy Skupien said that during those days of freezing, sneezing and energetic teamwork, a lot of good-natured razzing takes place.
“They have a lunch room set up in the park with a truck parked outside,'' Andy Skupien added. “A huge sheet of butcher paper is attached to the truck and buckets of markers stand nearby. We all write jabs and jokes and draw cartoons all over the paper. We are all artsy to some degree so it can get pretty funny.''
Funnier still, the Skupiens use Swedish nicknames during competitions.
“David is Thorfinn, Andy is Bjorn and I'm Svenhard,'' said Steve Skupien, now in his 18th year of competition. “We've been doing this for so long, our sponsors write our checks out to these names and our banks cash them.''
Working snow is not an easy task, the Skupien brothers said. Quality of snow, temperatures, even sunlight play roles in how well the design is implemented.
“The first day is spent chopping out as much of the basic design as possible, after which we hope the temperature will drop sharply at night and deep-freeze the core,'' Andy Skupien explained. ”We carve the gross details during the next two days, and finish with fine detailing late Friday night or early Saturday morning. The goal is to present a crisp image that is clean, smooth and white.''
This year, the Skupien team will send a message in the medium for the second time.
“Our design is titled ‘The Great American Puppet Show' and depicts a business man with dollar sign eyes manipulating elephant and donkey puppets,'' Andy Skupien added. “Our first political design was right after 9-11. We dressed Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie in firefighter gear with the title ‘When I grow up, I want to be a hero.'''
Steve Skupien's team will present a two-sided design with political implications as well.
“One side is a homeless person sitting against a wall with FEMA written on it, while the other side depicts an American soldier guarding oil barrels,'' he added, saying it isn't all that uncommon for artists to make a statement with their work.
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