It was the wee hours of the morning about three weeks ago, and Joel Cooper was working away, painting and drawing as he usually does.

When he looked out the window, he saw one of his favourite sights, lots and lots of snow falling to the ground. For the Ontario native this snow was particularly special. It was wet snow.

It’s perfect for making a snowman, he thought.

“It was just an opportunity to do it, the snow was right and the time was right and there was enough snow,” explained Cooper. “I knew Jasper doesn’t get too many warm snows like that... so I have maybe two or three windows in the winter to have an opportunity like that.”

For Cooper, who made his first snowman when he was just two or three years old, the snowmen were a personal addition to the streets and a symbol of winter.

“It’s very personal, it’s a person made of snow – it’s our winter reflection,” he said.

Without even putting gloves on, the Jasperite wandered out onto Patricia Street and began building his first snowman – just outside Earls.

As the 28-year-old stood back to admire his work, he noticed the reaction of the people sweeping the snow from the sidewalks. “I saw the reaction of that one (snowman)  and it was pretty good, so I just continued.”

Once the artist had some gloves, he began to build his snowmen. And, in less than an hour Patricia Street was turned into a winter wonderland.

“I wanted to do it before many people woke up – I wanted to surprise everyone,” he said, noting that he enjoyed the opportunity to give the public some free art.

“It’s as free as it comes,” he said, “it just takes a bit of work that’s all.”

Once his work was done, the snowmen builder stayed around to watch the responses of people as they saw his work. His identity remained a mystery to all but his friends.

“Everyone’s face lit up. It was nice,” he said adding that he was particularly interested in sharing his art with the children of Jasper.

But the reactions didn’t stop there. Since his snowmen- building evening, Cooper has been talking to the municipality about more opportunities for street art in Jasper and, come Jasper in January, will be doing snow carvings with other locals on the Information Centre Lawn.

While the snowmen sat out that Monday for all in town to enjoy, as darkness fell on Patricia Street so did the end of the snowmen. Just as quickly as the Bear Hugs in the Fitzhugh rolled in for Cooper, so did the Moose Droppings for the snowmen killers.

Yet, if you ask the artist, that’s all part of a snowman’s life. “I knew the outcome of the snowmen, snowmen are a target for being knocked down... In Ontario snowmen and snow forts last maybe half a day, and then it’s knocked down. You’ve got to enjoy it while you can,” he said.

Despite their demise, Cooper promised to make some more snowmen to share with Jasper – if, and when, the snow is right. However, this time he won’t be alone.

“I actually have people that came up to me and they want to help me build snowman. So we’ve got a little crew of snowman builders,” he said.

Cooper is part of a new art scene in Jasper called Art of Street who are having a showing at their gallery next Monday (Dec. 21) at Building 54 in the Industrial Park.