Carnival

Every January St. Paul hosts a 10-day winter carnival. The festival is complete with a royal family, ice sculptures, some years there's even a whole castle built out of ice. It's our way of celebrating the cold and snow that graces (I was going to say plagues) us for so much of the year.

This yearly event is steeped in tradition. Every year, thousands of people clamour to find the hidden medalion, the Vulcans "mark" their territory, and the royal court presides over everything. This year, I was lucky enough to be a pre-carnival behind the scenes person. I have had the great honor of helping Boreas Rex (King of the Winter Carnival) develop and design numerous items for his reign of high court.

It started off with knighting medals and gold coins, which display his symbol and name. In combining the Winter Carnival's slogan "The Coolest Celebration on Earth" with Boreas' motto "Coming Together. Keeping Warm." the focus was on community. A snowman motif was developed to express the key interests of St. Paul and Boreas Rex - neighborly people, coming together. I opted to build a neighborhood scene in the background, with two snowmen in the foreground. One snowman is offering a casserole to the other snowman...or, for us Minnesotans - a Hot Dish.

This design work has kept me pretty busy over the last several months. Coins, embroidery, letterhead, and other countless items are adorned with variations of the snowman/hot dish motif. Now that the King has been named, I am free to tell you my small part in all of this. I'm honored to have worked so closely with Boreas Rex - Chris Schneeman and his lovely wife, Cathy. I'm excited and proud to have designed artwork for his joyous reign. And, I just wanted to share a bit of my good cheer with all of you.

Happy Winter Carnival!