Art born in dead of winter Sculptor breaks ice with prehistoric creations — and tales of unexpected police visits
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/01/2026 (243 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Lendrum Keast smashes ice out of his bucket before heading next door to grab some additional supplies.
“The neighbours never complain about me stealing their snow,” Keast says with a laugh.
The 61-year-old has been making ice sculptures for 14 years, attracting thousands of people to his homes — first on Leila Avenue and now on Aberdeen Avenue — and gaining attention on social media.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS
Lendrum Keast, 61, makes ice sculptures in front of his house at 1035 Aberdeen Avenue. Lendrum has been making the sculptures for the last 14 years and says he largely does it for the community reaction.
His sculpting started as a way to get him outside during the winter.
“You don’t want to sit in, you can get really depressed in the winter,” says Keast. “Getting out there helps and talking to people.”
Keast says he’s partly retired. He owns a window cleaning business but takes much of the winter off, where he spends up to six hours a day on his art.
This year, he has created two dinosaurs and is in the process of sculpting a third. The largest one is about eight feet tall and 30 feet long.
His first sculpture, at his former home on Leila, was Santa Claus riding in a sleigh with his reindeer. In 2016, he moved to 1035 Aberdeen Ave. and continued his work.
He says the reaction has been phenomenal.
“The community loves them, they’ve been well documented over the years, and well photographed,” said Keast.
“I’ve been told many times that the pictures were sent to China and stuff.”
Keast admits despite the mostly positive reviews, his icy objects has garnered some stiff opposition.
In 2016, he sculpted the Grinch and a friend dared him to make it a little more… anatomically correct.
The artwork drew many curious spectators — an estimated 20,000, by Keast’s count — including what appeared to be members of a wedding party who stopped by to pose for photos with it.
But one person apparently took offence, landing him in the back of a Winnipeg police patrol car after a complaint was made, Keast says.
The “funniest thing I’ve ever seen” was when officers began inspecting his other sculptures for specific ‘parts,’ Keast said with a laugh, adding the part was quickly removed, but the Grinch’s legend remained.
Keast’s favourite work to date is the dragon he designed last year, made by putting a propane line through the sculpture to make it breathe real fire.
“That one’s going to be hard to beat,” Keast said, but noted it wasn’t nearly as big as his “monster” dinosaurs currently in his front yard.
He said fresh snow is needed to make the sculptures, which can take anywhere from a few days to a month.
“After the snowplows have gone by it (the snow) can get contaminated,” says Keast.
He always starts with a metal frame before laying slushy snow over it to sculpt the desired shape.
The water in the snow freezes, making the whole sculpture a sturdy block of ice.
Keast plans to continue sculpting as long as possible.
“The year I stop there’s going to be a lot of disappointed people.”
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca
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