Big White artist, Frosty Eye Kandi, is capturing family ski days on the mountain.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Frosty Eye Kandi

An artist at Big White is back making memories for families during some of their favourite family winter getaways.

Simon Gorbould, or more commonly known as Frosty Eye Kandi on the mountain, has been capturing family ski days for nearly 10 years.

Gorbould was first inspired to capture family moments on the hill after his friend took a photograph of him riding the chair lift in a whiteout.

“I call it the chair to nowhere because you can almost see a returning chair, and the chair in front of you,” Gorbould said. “From that original photograph, it gave me the idea to make a stencil from it and use oil spray paint.”

For the ski portraits, Gorbould goes out on the lift behind the family, takes a series of photos, and then blends them together for the most appealing silhouette.

“I stitch the images together, make a stencil, and then spray it onto a canvas for them,” he said. “It can be a very quick process; I can do it within a matter of days or a week depending on the families.”

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Frosty Eye Kandi

The ski portraits have become well-known on the mountain, as Gorbould receives positive feedback from families that he’s painted.

“People love the portraits. They are very happy with the project I do for them. It’s very nice to know that your work is appreciated and admired by people,” he said.

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In the past, Gorbould has had to work in many professions, including as a graphic designer, painter and designer in the UK, and a snowboard instructor. However, he was always creative and drawn to art.

“Art is very important to me; I use art as a therapy. I’ve always been really creative from a very early age, and now I’m using my creativity to help my mental health,” he said. “I find it very therapeutic.”

Working with spray paint as a medium is nothing new to Gorbould as he was very interested in graffiti art for many years in the UK, but it wasn’t until he moved to Canada in 2009 that he rediscovered his passion for the art style.

Currently, Gorbould and his wife own a painting and decorating company and often see the same style of home décor in the ski chalets.

“We see the stereotypical décor in a ski chalet, of the old cross-country skis, snowshoes, or a bear, and generic art, all the things you’d expect to find, we were seeing the same pictures from Ikea,” Gorbould said. “I decided to use my street art style to make unique ski hill art because nobody was making ski hill art with that thing of edge and style to it.”

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