Icy Animals

"Nature of Conflict" is the first place winner in the Abstract division of the Single Block competition at the Ice Art Championships.  It was carved by Ben Firth and his son Barnabas of Anchor Point, Alaska.  The Firth family have created sculptures at the Ice Championships for many years, and this year Ben's daughter Aurora and son Silas also entered the Single Block competition and the four of them participated in the Multi Block competition.

Nature of Conflict

Daytime

Nightime

Under Construction

Because my night shots didn't come out very well, I edited the color to give a little better feel for the nighttime view.

Although it didn't win any awards, the Multi Block sculpture created by the Firth family is quite impressive too.

The Snare

I am linking with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

Concentration

The 2016 World Ice Art Championships Single and Multi Block competitions are both complete now and I've taken quite a few photos.  I'll start out with the Single Block.  The winner of the Realistic Division is entitled "Concentration" and was created by James Duggan and Aaron Costic of the United States.  Mr. Duggan has been carving for 20 years.  He has many awards to his name and has an ice sculpting business in Atlanta, Georgia.  Mr. Costic has been carving for 25 years.  He has also won many awards and has an ice sculpting business in Broadview Heights, Ohio.

Daytime

Nighttime

Under Construction

Ice Turtles

The Ice Park has been open for a couple of weeks and we've made a few visits.  We've come across many fantastic creatures, among them a group of turtles.

My granddaughter Sydney introduced herself, and found a friend in one she named Shira.

In no time at all, they were on a journey through magical places.


I'm sure I saw Shira give us a big wink as we went on our way to the next adventure.

I'm linking with Eileen's Saturday's Critters.

I'll post photos of the carving competitions soon.

Moonlight Courtship

Although the World Ice Art Championships are over for this year and things are melting rapidly, with the miracle of photography we can enjoy them even after they have turned into a puddle of water.  I have already shown you the 3rd place winner in the Multi-Block Abstract division, HERE, so I'll move on in the Abstract division with a creation of four sculptors from the United States.  All have been sculpting for many years and have won numerous awards.

"Moonlight Courtship"

Multi-Block 2nd Place Abstract

Aaron Costic of Ohio, James Duggan of Georgia,

Jess Parish of Colorado, Michael Stoddart of Kentucky

Fire and Ice

The day after the Multi-Block competition ended I went by the Ice Park and took some photos of the sculptures.  I wasn't able to get up close because cleanup hadn't happened yet.  Even though it was a cloudy day I did get a fairly good photo of one of the winners.

"Fire and Ice"

Multi-Block Abstract 3rd Place

Artist's Choice

Stan Kolonko, Jerry Perun, Wei-Sen Liang, Brittany Cunningham

All from New York, USA

Mr. Kolonko is the owner/operator of The Ice Farm in Central New York and has been sculpting competitively since 1998 and has won many prizes.  Mr. Perun and Ms. Cunningham work at the Ice Farm.  While Ms. Cunningham is new to ice sculpting, the other three have all previously won awards at the Ice Art Championships.

The weekend after the competition ended we had quite a bit of snow, and then the weather turned cold, so I didn't get back to the Ice Park until this Monday.  Sometime during that time the sculpture had collapsed.

The artists often test themselves and the result is not always stable.  On occasion the collapse occurs during the sculpting process, but "Fire and Ice" made it through the judging.  The nighttime lighting was still on what was left of the sculpture, and it looks like it would have been quite beautiful.  

Surrounding the sculpture is a very lovely fence--yes, yet another ice fence!  The photo below was taken March 6th.

On March 17th, the fence was still mostly intact, but had a little bit of damage.

With temperatures above freezing, a little bit of dripping was happening.  Yesterday our high temperature was 47F and today looks to be more of the same, so I don't think the fence will hold up too much longer.  While we are enjoying our heat wave, it's too bad it didn't wait for another week or so......

I'm linking with Good Fences #52

at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Congratulations, Theresa, on 1 year of Good Fences!!

A Few Details

After over a week of temperatures dropping down to -20 to -30F at night and not getting above zero in the daytime, this week we're looking at temps above freezing during the day and +10 to +20F at night.  While the warmer temperatures are much appreciated, it will mean the sculptures at the Ice Park will begin to melt.  I thought I'd better get some photos of the Multi-Blocks while I could.  It will take a while to sort through them all, but I thought I'd share a few detail shots.

Another Ice Park Fence

Not all of the sculptures at the Ice Park won awards, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable.  

"Word Play"

Single Block Abstract

Patricia Moodie and Chuck Mazurek

Did you pick out the fence in the sculpture?

A few days later under the nighttime colored lights, the E had fallen down.  Kind of reminds me of all those sagging, falling-over fences we see across the country.

I'm linking up this ice fence with

Good Fences #51 at the Run "A" Round Ranch Report.

Lizard's Treat

I'm back to the Single Block sculptures for a little bit.  I had intended to go to the Ice Park today to get some photos of the Multi Blocks and let my granddaughter play in the Kids Park, but our high today was 4F with a bit of wind and still cloudy.  It's not near as much fun on a colder day and camera batteries get a little cranky.  So we'll give it a day or two and see if the sun comes out and the wind dies down.  In the meantime I've got lots of photos from the Single Blocks and the Kids Park.

Single Block Realistic First Place

"Lizard's Treat"

Vitaliy Lednev, Russia

Nighttime Colored Light

Daytime Natural Light

Nighttime White Light

And a little bit of detail, maybe the best part of the sculptures. 

Mr. Vitaliy has entered the competition here for several years and has won many awards for his ice carving.