The artist known as Kim has never sold one of his creations. He has never charged a soul to view his artwork. And his masterpieces have never appeared in a gallery on planet Earth.
But for those who have experienced his designs, they’ll tell you it’s otherworldly.
“I was stunned, totally stunned,” said Adrienne Phillips. “The first time I saw the picture, I’m sure my mouth hit the snow. Because, it was, ‘Really?’”
Kim is Kim Asmussen. Around Schreiber, Ontario, which sits along the north shore of Lake Superior, he’s better known as the Snowshoe Art Guy.
“When you’re retired, you see those posts, ‘Do what you want to do, or enjoy doing, because you can,’” said Asmussen, a mostly retired school principal. “So, it’s just the enjoyment piece. A lot of people get so much enjoyment out of it. I think that’s one of the most motivating factors for me now. It’s not just that it’s challenging, but that so many people love to see it.”
Asmussen, also an accomplished ice sculptor, was doing research on that activity when a link popped up on his computer. It was about an Englishmen who did snowshoe art.
“I was looking at that and said, ‘You know what? I think I can do that,’” Asmussen said.
His first design was on his school grounds. But the thing about snowshoe art, it can really only be seen, and appreciated, from above.
“Then, I did the same one on that weekend in town,” he said. “There’s a little parking lot, it was up in the air. So the response was fairly positive. People liked what they saw in it. But when I look back, it wasn’t that great, really.”
As a snowshoe artist, Asmussen’s No. 1 antagonist is Ma Nature. But the relationship has developed into a love/hate kind of deal.
When she provides sunshine — and we all understand how stingy she can be with that — it offers him some extra time to complete the work and makes for ideal pictures from his drone.
“If it’s cloudy, you’re not going to get a drone shot at all,” he said.
If there’s a slight breeze, he said he’s good to go.
“Just make sure it’s not so windy where you walk 100 feet, you turn around, and the track’s half-filled in,” he said. “Then you just have to pack it in for sure.”
And when she decides to use her eraser, more commonly known as snowstorm, he’s actually OK with that.
“We’re sort of limited here,” said Asmussen of the available space to execute his art.
“They’ll just cover up with snow, which doesn’t bother me at all. As long as I have that (drone) picture, I’m happy. Because the next day I don’t have to go in search of other places.”
He said ideal working conditions are “20 centimeters (that’s about eight inches for us nonmetric folks) of dry, fluffy snow.
“Because then you’re not lifting your feet up. You can sort of just put your feet ahead, and it gives us a nice flick; not sure if that’s the right word or not.
But the snow just sort of falls off the shoes, which gives it a nice contrast.”
Asmussen says he uses an AutoCAD program to get the basic measurements for his designs.
But he is an artist.
“I sort of have it mapped out, or a simple design. And sometimes you just go with the flow of things,” he said.
Four years into his snowshoe art, Asmussen says there is no favorite work.
“I don’t think so, no. Just the way they turn out that makes me proud,” he said.
He said he’s done some designs in the Rocky Mountains, but there is a larger goal in mind.
“That would be nice to hit all the provinces along the way when I go see the kids,” he said of his children who live in western Canada.
Fans of Asmussen don’t just admire his art from afar, they participate.
Once things are mapped out, and under the direction of Asmussen, the locals come out and work two-hour shifts to help make it come alive.
Adrienne and Gord Phillips have been assisting for two years now. And Adrienne, for one, is still amazed every time.
“Every once in a while you think, ‘Oh, OK, I get it. I get the picture,’” she said. “And then, it’s like, ‘No, that’s not at all what I thought it was going to be.’ It’s just amazing. I don’t know how … he must have taken a lot of algebra or something.”
Asmussen said there’s nothing quite like a newbie coming on board.
“The real neat thing is when you have someone come on for the first time and they’re following your direction,” he said. “They know what they’re doing, but they don’t have a visual of it. And then, when I pick that drone up and I show them the picture …”
“Holy sh*t! I did that?” said Gord Phillips of his first time.
Today, Gord proudly walks around town with a hat that says “Snowshoe Art Guy Crew.” He and his wife Adrienne are regulars. And not just because it’s good exercise.
“The winters are long and sometimes the weather is less than desired,” she said. “But it does, it really lifts your spirit. It gives me something to look forward to. You feel like you’re doing something that hundreds of people are actually going to enjoy, you know?”
And there’s nothing like taking the picture of the finished artwork and showing your kids what their 70-year-old parents have been up to.
“So on my husband’s Facebook page, we post the pictures so that our families can see it,” Adrienne said.
“The first few times it was, ‘You guys did that?’ It just sort of blows everyone’s mind.”
Story idea? You can reach Mike Woods at 920-246-6321 of at: michael.t.woods1@charter.com