Waves became ice sculptures on Lake Erie. Photo: Jake Kudrna.
Waves became ice sculptures on Lake Erie. Photo: Jake Kudrna.

As the East Coast hunkers down in anticipation for what could be its first major snow of the season, artists around the world are busy getting inspired by winter weather. From the forbidden “snow penises” of Sweden to ghostly frozen jeans in Minneapolis, artnet News has rounded up some of the best images of frosty art of 2016. Enjoy!

Randall Johnson of Minneapolis froze these jeans.
Photo: Aaron Lavinsky, courtesy the Star Tribune.

When it’s so cold that you’re freezing your pants off, why not do just that? Minneapolis’s Tom Grotting, age 61, was struggling to cope with the polar vortex of 2014 when he first got the idea to sculpt his soaking wet pants into a stand-alone work. What began as a joke has now become a burgeoning movement of sorts, with others taking to social media with #frozenpants.

The quirky frozen jeans trend has even expanded to include other articles of clothing, such as bathing suits. In each case, the resulting works straddle the line between playful and downright creepy.

Sweden’s original snow penis.
Photo: Åke Lindgren.

Earlier this week, someone drew a giant penis, reminiscent of the work of Wanksy, in the fresh snow on a frozen moat in a park in Sweden. It was quickly erased by the parks department, sparking a debate about artistic freedom.

Emilian Sava used a long tool to erase the first snow penis to avoid falling through the thin ice.
Photo: screenshot from Youtube user Emilian Sava.

Following the drawings premature demise, over 3,500 distraught Swedes have taken to consoling one another on a “Save the Snow Pecker” Facebook page. With activists looking to plan a demonstration, Emilian Sava, the maintenance worker tasked with destroying the original, actually created a second snow penis, reports City Lab.

Sweden’s new, bigger snow penis by Emilian Sava.
Photo: screenshot from Youtube user Emilian Sava.

“I want to say that I am sincerely sorry to see that this many people miss the snow penis,” Sava wrote on Facebook. “I am trying to figure out the best way to recreate a big and lovely snow penis in the memory of the old one.”

One of Tom Baker’s Snow Windows.
Photo: courtesy Snow Windows.

Meanwhile, for those of us who haven’t experienced much naturally occurring snow this winter, there’s always the fake stuff. British artist Tom Baker has created a small business, called Snow Windows, dedicated to creating festive seasonal scenes on local shop windows.

Using snow spray and a dry paintbrush, Baker creates charming wintertime scenes, expertly employing shading and negative space. His work was quite popular over the holidays, with most windows featuring Santa and his sleigh flying overhead.

Waves became ice sculptures on Lake Erie.
Photo: Jake Kudrna.

Of course, the best winter artist just might be mother nature herself. Naturalist Jake Kudrna of Cleveland Metroparks has snapped a number of gorgeous shots of naturally occurring frozen sculptures on the shores of Lake Erie.

“When the wind comes through,” Kudrna told CNN, “the waves get big and splashes up into the air which then coats these wonderful light posts that we have and we get these nice ice sculptures.”