Published: January 03, 2009 11:21 pm      

Sculptors turn icy blocks into art

It looked like snow in downtown Goshen late Saturday morning, even though the sun shone through blue skies.

Instead, it was eager chainsaws biting into large blocks of ice sending up the showers of powder as ice sculptors competed in First Fridays’ second annual winter sculpture competition.

The competition, part of the weekend’s Fire and Ice Festival, brought members of the Michiana Ice Carvers Association to the courthouse where hundreds of residents and passersby braved low temperatures to enjoy the frosty art. Sculptors were allowed three hours to create their pieces.

“Three hours is a good amount of time, actually, for a competition,” competitor Andrew Thistlethwaite of Elkhart said.

Thistlethwaite, a 14-year ice carving veteran and two-time national ice carving champion, said competitions can be more entertaining than regular displays since carvers can be more aggressive with their designs. He added, though, that the more complex the design and the more detail added, the longer the sculptures take to complete.

“With a competition you get to see stuff we don’t normally do,” he said.

For his entry, he created an approximately four-foot long Cobra helicopter on a tall ice stand.

Howard Busfield of South Bend spent much of his time with a small hand tool carving out the angles and details on a large owl perched on a stump.

“I did a few owls last year,” Busfield said. “I kind of go with what I’m comfortable with.”

Busfield has been carving for about five years.

“I love to work with tools, love to make things,” Busfield said of his reasons for picking up the hobby. “It’s a reason to get out of the house in the wintertime.”

One of the more time-consuming aspects of the activity, he said, is collecting the necessary tools. From chainsaws for initial shaping to electric grinders and large scrapers for intermediary detail and small tools and handheld routers for finishing work. The final step generally requires a propane tank and large torch, which is used to go over the finished sculpture, evening out the surface and making the surface of the ice transparent.

“It takes a few years unless you’ve got a lot of money,” Busfield said.

Greg Beachey of New Paris is MICA’s carving coordinator, contacting the other carvers when an event is scheduled.

“Last year with Goshen was my first time organizing. I’ve done several since then,” he said.

All of the carvers share a congenial cameraderie, and spent plenty of time during the competition joking with one another and helping each other out. According to Beachey, who also competed, they were all happy to participate.

“I just put an e-mail out and said, ‘We’re doing it,’” he said. “They all wanted to do it.”

MICA has been around for about two years now, since the group decided to organize.

“We were all carving together anyway,” Beachey said.

The group has several events remaining this year, including the Hunter Ice Fest in Niles, Mich., the Magical Ice Carving Festival in St. Joseph, Mich., and Ice Alaska in Fairbanks.

“We start in December and go into January, February, sometimes March,” Thistlethwaite said.

The competition took nearly five months and the entire First Fridays task force to put together, according to Director Gina Leichty. Gathering downtown sponsors is a major step, as they pay for the ice at $150 per block. Several of the sculptures this year took two and three blocks to create. She was on hand during the event to ensure everything ran smoothly and to announce the winners at its completion. A friendly ice supplier also helped out.

“City’s Pure Ice donated four blocks for today and gave us a significant discount,” she said.

At the end of the competition, Thistlethwaite walked away with $300 and first place for his entry. Carver Mike Evans, South Bend, took $200 and second with his Pegasus and Bud Lies, LaPorte, took $100 and third for his entry, titled “Tractor Tipping.”