GREENFIELD — Rick Horton feels the tingle of inspiration as the first flakes of snow drift to the ground.
The Greenfield resident, whose 8-foot-tall snow sculpture of an eagle in his front yard on South State Street has garnered national attention, appearing on the likes of “Good Morning America” and the NBC “Nightly News,” has since 1993 made a tradition of creating art with winter’s first big snow.
That first year, he was building a regular snowman with his daughter, and got the idea to “do something funny.” He sculpted a large Homer Simpson statue and spray-painted it for extra impact.
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People didn’t forget it. All year long, passers-by and acquaintances commented on how they had enjoyed the statue of the patriarch of animated TV comedy, “The Simpsons.”
“It’s just built up from there,” Horton said. He’s sculpted rattlesnakes; Minions; a cat in the image of his 18-year-old Maine Coon, Gary; and other creations. But nothing has received quite the attention his eagle did this week.
He was inspired this year by the mated pair of bald eagles living on Greenfield’s northeast side, he said. He’s a fan of watching for the endangered birds, and seeing them soar overhead is a thrill that hasn’t lost its novelty, he said.
“It’s amazing seeing them right here in Indiana,” he said.
A Facebook group created to keep admirers informed about the eagles, Greenfield Eagle Watch, shared Horton’s art to its page. His original post, on his Facebook page, “The Snow Artist,” has been shared more than 3,000 times and viewed more than 85,000 times, according to Facebook’s count.
People from Greenfield and beyond have commented, with locals saying they look forward to seeing what he will make every winter. Those hailing from farther away expressed their appreciation for the depiction of America’s national bird.
Horton said he’s been astonished by the attention — one picture, shared by a national news site, has more than 400,000 “likes,” he said.
People really liked the Minions sculpture he did in 2015, and he thought that would be the most attention he’d ever receive, he said.
“This has been crazy,” he said. “It’s a really good feeling that something I created has so many people like it.”
After more than 20 years of carving recognizable creatures out of winter’s first heavy snow, Horton has developed techniques and tools to make the process a little more streamlined. He uses molds to build snow blocks and creates a hollow square base, before filling the inside with snow as well. He built his own sculpting tools, and this year, he used a heat iron, something he uses to make model airplanes, to make more distinct markings in the snow, for the eagle’s feathers and facial features.
The Horton family members are creative people. Rick has several hobbies, including making his own fishing lures and model airplanes, said his wife, Missy Horton. She’s a fiber artist, as well.
“He’s never taken up anything like painting or sculpting outside of his snow art, but he could,” she said.
Though more heavy snowfall is expected to hit the region this weekend, Rick Horton doesn’t have plans to create another sculpture this winter, he said. The eagle took some 15 hours of exhausting labor, and he doesn’t want his fleeting artwork to lose its novelty.
“I do one a year,” he said. “That way, it’s kind of special.”
