The late Gord Downie received a massive outpouring of love from Canadian fans, fellow musicians, media and even the Ontario government last year, but the winter months have brought about a frosty new form of commemoration.
An Ottawa snow sculptor named Brian Clemence recently began work on a massive tribute to Downie, but passed away last week from a heart attack before the sculpture was complete.
His son, Frederic Clemence, enlisted his own sister Marissa and stepbrother Emile Maheu to finish their father's work, working off sketches that were left behind.
"I wanted to bring peace to my father and Gord Downie, because both of them are great men, and both of them have given so much to me," Clemence told the Canadian Press. "It was a really great way to find peace for me and my sister in the last moments."
The three-metre tall sculpture now stands completed in Ottawa's Glebe neighbourhood — though it's not the only chilly tribute to Downie. British Columbia artist Peter Vogelaar erected a Downie ice sculpture in the singer's hometown of Kingston last week.
See some photo evidence of the Clemences' work below.
An Ottawa snow sculptor named Brian Clemence recently began work on a massive tribute to Downie, but passed away last week from a heart attack before the sculpture was complete.
His son, Frederic Clemence, enlisted his own sister Marissa and stepbrother Emile Maheu to finish their father's work, working off sketches that were left behind.
"I wanted to bring peace to my father and Gord Downie, because both of them are great men, and both of them have given so much to me," Clemence told the Canadian Press. "It was a really great way to find peace for me and my sister in the last moments."
The three-metre tall sculpture now stands completed in Ottawa's Glebe neighbourhood — though it's not the only chilly tribute to Downie. British Columbia artist Peter Vogelaar erected a Downie ice sculpture in the singer's hometown of Kingston last week.
See some photo evidence of the Clemences' work below.
