Daily Press Writer
RIDGWAY — Like the icing on the cake, recent low temperatures have helped giant icicles frost Lyle Braund’s newest art installation in Ridgway Town Park.
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Braund, the former manager of Ridgway’s Chipeta Sun Lodge, is well known in the area for his many ice sculptures in previous winters. Utilizing town property adjacent to the lodge, Braund created many steel creations he then sprayed with water to create giant works of art for people to enjoy. Many of his sculptures were so large, people could view them while driving down the road.
However, this winter’s piece is his first attempt to make his artwork more appealing.
“Before my work had a few shortcomings,” Braund said. “So I started playing around with metal ideas. My goal was to come up with a structure that whether it had ice on it or not it would be intriguing. Before, when the ice was melting off, it kind of looked like twisted wreckage.”
He said in years past his sculptures were based on free-form steel structures that, when coated with ice, were beautiful, but as the weather began to warm and ice melted, the core of the sculpture left much to be desired.
Braund, who now operates his own landscaping business LB Landscapes, is no stranger to working with Mother Nature to make the environment more attractive. He left the lodge approximately five years ago and has focused his time on plants and working with natural elements. His passion for ice has found even greater depth as he has pursued his passion for lighting.
“I want my sculptures to have a more dynamic effect,” he said. “A real interest of mine is seeing how I can make things always change. In their own right each of the columns in its own right is interesting, but with the lights and ice — they become something else.”
Braund plans to alter the installation throughout the year. From the color of the lights to the position of the lights his ideas may change.
He wanted to get his sculptures back out in the public eye, but with a new twist.
“I approached the town,” he said. “I wanted to try something new. I wanted to see if they would allow me the space. They provided the location, and the water and power hook-ups.” He began the installation at the end of November. He turned the water on just before Christmas.
“There is a small spray head on top of each column,” Braund said. “I do not do any carving or shaping. I have set up the framework and I let nature take its course.”
Braund says he has not done ice sculptures for the past few winters, but rather spent the holidays back east with family. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and has lived in Ridgway for the past 13 years. He studied landscape horticulture in college and has been working with that knowledge most of his life. Approximately 16 years ago he first started to combine ice with his landscaping roots.
“It was a really cold winter but we had no snow,” he said. “I started playing around with running water and put it over different structures to create sculptures.”
Over the years, he perfected his system but found the elaborate set ups and planning to be burdensome.
“Honestly, I burned out,” Braund said. “I spent a huge amount of time putting up all these different structures.”
So he took the past few years off but this winter is back in the game. His other recent projects include landscaping for new homes and all the landscape lighting for the new high-end Elkhorn town home development in Ouray.
“I am really happy how that project turned out,” Braund said. “I completed it this last summer and it’s very nice.”
He has been working a lot lately with light installation and is trying to market his own line of trademarked Attraction Lights, for functional and decorative landscape lighting.
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For photos of Braund’s ice sculptures from former years and information about his work, visit:
www.beyondicesculptures.com
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