Ski Boots & Sketches

That’s not me shushing down the slopes—that’s my cousin. She invited me to spend a week with her at Fairmont Hot Springs. Although I don’t ski, I couldn’t resist the chance to soak in the scenic winter wonderland—and, of course, it is a hot spring! Fairmont has been a family favourite since childhood, filled with memories in every season.

One afternoon, we were treated to crystalline beauty as sunlight edged the mountain ridges, making them sparkle like faceted glass. The rest of the week brought overcast skies, but that didn’t stop us from pursuing our passions. My cousin carved her way down snowy slopes while I expanded my visual memory—capturing scenes with photos, sketching in coloured pencil from the warmth of the lodge, and completing a small watercolour dancing with the contrasts of light and dark.

The view that captivated me most was a stunning late-afternoon tableau. Unnaturally dark clouds backlit a ridge of snow-draped trees—an exquisite study in elegant contrast.

As I sat drawing and painting in the upper lounge, I became entranced by the rhythmic clomps of skiers making their way across the floor, navigating stairs with stiff, cumbersome ski boots. On the slopes, they moved with fluid ease; here, their torsos swayed and lurched like marionettes, contorted by the mechanics of their footwear. The muted, mechanical sound of their boots on carpet was strangely hypnotic.

Watching these kinetic performances, I couldn’t help but think of Umberto Boccioni, the Italian Futurist who celebrated dynamic motion. His sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space is charged with angular momentum and layered planes—expressing the relentless energy of bodies in motion. In that lounge, I saw echoes of his vision: living sculptures propelled through space by the mechanics of their boots. It was a delightful, impromptu composition of Futurist art—a symphony of rhythmic motion, and sound.

Discovering Boccioni’s work was a pivotal moment in my artistic development. The bold idea of depicting intangible forces—like the blur of speed or the displacement of air—opened my eyes to the power of conceptual art. Capturing unseen energy and movement became as compelling to me as the subjects themselves, adding new dimensions to my creative path.

My cousin? Safe & Sound.

Fairmont Hot Springs ski hill, watercolour sketch, January 2025