Ice Sculptor

At a recent ice event, my first, I saw blocks of ice with beautiful pictures sketched into them, some even in color. Upon closer inspection I discovered these pictures were etched on the inside of the ice block. I saw no seams, how'd they do that!?

Asked by Nicki almost 10 years ago

Hi Nicki, thanks for your question! Really, without seeing the sculptures, I couldn't say. However, there are a few ways this could happen. Possibly, they froze drawings into the ice blocks while the blocks were being made. But if you're saying that the designs were sketched into the ice, then that doesn't sound like what they were doing. MAYBE you missed the seams, or even looked in the wrong place for the seams. I'm not saying that's what happened, but I couldn't know for sure without seeing them. Sometimes, seams are very difficult to find. Even knowing what I do, I sometimes can't find all the seams in a complicated sculpture if a sculptor is skilled or particularly clever. Finally, in theory, it's possible that after the designs were added, more ice was added via the freezing process and thus, no seams. This is the least likely possibility, because it's hardly worth the extra effort. It would be difficult indeed to do without risking the ice with the design in it.

There might be another way that I haven't thought about, but that would be highly unusual. Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed the sculptures! And my apologies for taking so very long to answer your question! Pandemics are at least good for helping you catch up on long neglected questions, it seems.

What percentage of your work is for private parties vs. corporate events?

Asked by Jackson over 10 years ago

Hi Jackson, thanks for your question! Ok, the simple answer is 50/50. Weddings, for example, are a big part of most ice sculptors' events and corporate events are nice because they don't always happen on a Saturday, like private events tend to. Plus, they often have bigger budgets and are looking for a big wow factor. The 50/50 ratio fluctuates a lot however, even for specific sculptors. That's partly because trends come and go. Like ice luges, for example. When I first started sculpting, we didn't do those. But then, they became a big deal. Corporate events probably started using them first, but then later, weddings started incorporating them. Finally, I can only speak for myself. Other sculptors might be skewed one way or the other, especially if they have a special relationship with certain venues that focus on one type of event or another.

I hope that answers your question and my apologies for not answering like, 5 years ago. Literally :(

In Vegas at Gordon Ramsey restaurant . The sea food platter was amazing! 4 tier how do they or do they,reuse,clean because I can't see one use out it but we did sit and pick off it 4 2hrs .What about next use? Is there one?

Asked by Chris T. over 10 years ago

Hi there Chris! If they had a seafood platter made of ice out at a restaurant, they won't reuse it or try to clean it as long as it's out for more than 3 or 4 hours. Especially when an ice display has food in it for any length of time, it tends to melt a little funny where the food is sitting. If it was used for only a short time, say the 2 hours you refer to, they could theoretically use it once more. But if it had 4 tiers, it would likely be difficult to disassemble and reassemble, so I would assume that it was a one time use. It's far simpler to use a new ice display each time. This might seem wasteful, but it's almost certainly the safest thing to do, and of course, the ice gets 100% recycled, one way or another :)

My apologies for taking so long to answer your question. I stopped working on my website a while back and wasn't sure that I'd keep sculpting. And I'll add one additional wrinkle, as we're now in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. The sort of sculpture you saw probably won't be seen again for a while, since it will probably take us some time to get back to the point where we can have large food displays where guests are free to visit as they wish. The era of the seafood brunch or buffet has gone on hiatus for a bit, unfortunately :/

Excuse me if somebody wanted you to sculpt a giant penis what you do it?

Asked by Peyton over 5 years ago

Another thank you ever add coloring to the ice

Asked by Peyton over 5 years ago