Thursday, February 24, 2011

House No. 55: Quinzhee

House No. 55: Quinzhee
ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper, digital layout
8.5 in. x 11 in.
055/365; 02/24/11

A quinzhee, for those who are unfamiliar, is also known as a snow hut, cave, or shelter. "What is the difference between a quinzhee and an igloo?" you might ask. (I know I did.) The answer is that a quinzhee is carved out of snow while an igloo is built from blocks of it.

While igloos are a tradition of the Inuit, and are crafted in a specific manner, quinzhee are built and used in many places.

Quinzee were even built in Princeton, New Jersey in the eighties. I remember my mom building them with me when I was wee. She would carve out a snow drift to make me a snow house and a snow couch and a snow bed ... The making was the fun part.

What can I say? I liked making houses. Well, some things never change, do they?

1 comment:

  1. To think my brother and I would believe we were making igloos when we were actually making quinzees. It just hit me that this would be a high scoring Scrabble word. :)

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