Ice Sculpture: Places 3-5 Abstract

It’s officially the first full day of spring, but with 20″ of snow still on the ground and temperatures well below freezing it’s had to tell that from the local weather! Mainly photos today, with the rest of the multi-block abstract placers.

Singing in Unison, 3rd place abstract. Vitaliy Lednev, Russia, Mario Amegee, Monaco, Junko Yanagida, Japan, and Speareo Stephens, USA.

On My Way Home, 4th place abstract, multi-block. Tian Zuo Wei, China, Linda Heck, USA, Qun Li Mu, China, and Ling Zhi Zhang, China.

The Dream of the Sky, 5th place abstract. Sergei Zinner, Viacheslav Maksimov, Andrey Koshelev, and Evgenii Gorbunov, Russia

Breaking news: I found out just this morning that there’s an A to Z theme reveal going on, so I signed up at the last minute. My theme? I’m doing my A to Z blogs from my books, both characters and background information. For characters I’ll introduce them quickly, say what point of time they’re talking from since their situations change drastically through the books, and let them talk. The format of background information will vary according to what I’m talking about. Bold type will indicate that more information has been or will be available in another A to Z post. All of these blogs will be scheduled to go live at 6 pm Alaska time.

Ice Sculpture Multi-Block

Here are the top two winners in each category (realistic and abstract) of the multi-block competition of the World Ice Art Championships. I have to say some could fit either category. I am surprised (and pleased) at how well the USA did this year.

Hunting Dragons, 1st place realistic. Steve and Heather Brice and Steve and Justin Cox, USA.

Winter Breeze, 1st place abstract. Stan Kolonko,
Chris Uyehara, Jerry
Perun, and Wei Sen Liang, USA

Foreign Object, 2nd place realistic. Chris Foltz, Woojay Poynter, Jillian Howell, Amelia Rombach, USA

Hope, 2nd place abstract. Ivan Zuev,
Aleksandr Parfenov,
Mikhail Vasilenko, Eduard Ponomarenko, Russia

Ice Art 3rd places and Multi-block Update

Here are the third place winners in the single block competition.

This one took third in the abstract category, and was so intricate it was hard to photograph.

This one’s called Water and Fire, and the artists are Ivan Zuev and Eduard Ponomarenko, from Russia.

This one’s my favorite — but you ought to know by now that I like horses!

Bullseye, by Steve and Heather Brice, USA. I think they’re local.

I went out to the ice park again yesterday, and photographed a few of the multi-block carvers in action. They’re about halfway through and while the sculptures as a whole are still anyone’s guess, some pieces are coming together. Again, click on the tumbnails if you want to see the larger versions.

More Ice Art

I’m not really writing a post today, just showing you some more ice art. This was 2nd place in the abstract category.

“Visitor of the Sun.” Tian Zuo Wei and Lin Zai Zhang, China.

2nd Place in the realistic category went to this one.

“Lion King.” Artists Victor Dagatan (Phillipines) and James Duggan (USA)

Also, I managed a photo of the 1st place “Locust” on a clear day.

“Locust.” Artists Junichi Nakamura (Japan) and Shintaro Okamoto (USA)

The multi-block carvers started their work  9 am March 3 and can work through 9 pm March 8, but I am including some thumbnails of the earliest stages of their work. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

North Pole Weather 3/4/13

The sun rose (note the past tense) this morning at 7:48 and will set this evening 10 hours 30 minutes and 42 seconds later at 6:19. We’re still gaining about 6 minutes 45 seconds a day, and the sun is more than 19 ° above the horizon at noon.

Spring activities are getting started. The Yukon Quest is over, and the Iditarod had its ceremonial start in Anchorage Saturday and the Willow restart yesterday.

Here in Fairbanks the Ice Park is open and the single block carving competition has been judged. I got my season pass Friday, but it was overcast and very fine snow was falling. I tried to take some pictures, but in the flat light it was hard to get anything to show. Saturday the sun was shining, and I hope I got some decent pictures of the single block carvings. I’ll post some over the next few days.

The multi-block carving started yesterday and will continue through this week, with the judging being Friday night. I’ll try to get some photos of the pieces being worked on. Meanwhile, I’ve included photos of the 1^st place abstract and 1st place realistic single-block sculptures.

This was first place and artists’ choice in the abstract category. The title is “Meteor final destination,” appropriate, since the artists,  Vitaliy Lednev and Sergey Loginov, are Russian. This photo was taken Saturday, in sunshine.

This was the judges choice for first place realistic. The photo was taken Friday, in flat light due to overcast skies. The Title is “Locust” and the artists, Junichi Nakamura and Shintaro Okamoto, are from Japan.

This one, “Man o’War,” was Artists’ Choice in the realistic category, though unplaced by the judges. I think the other ice artists were impressed by that unsupported pennon. The artists were Chris Foltz and Jillian Howell, USA.

World Ice Art Chapionships Multi-block 2

Here are the sixth through the tenth placings in the 2012 World Ice Art Championships, along with a few shots of the general layout of the competition site.

Sixth place went to “Geoflames,” sculpted by a USA team.

Seventh place was “Playin’ in the Garden,” again by a team from the USA. This one had a “viewing window” (actually three atop each other) to indicate the best place to see the sculpture. This photo was taken through that window, also carved from ice.

Eighth place went to “The Super Raven Guide.” The two carvers were from Russia, and it took me a while to see the raven’s head. I was trying to make it an aurora, and it may have been intended to evoke one. Most of the sculptures were done by teams of four. This and the fourth place “The Land Calls” a couple of days ago were carved by 2-person teams.

Ninth place and Artist Choice was “Spring.” I’ve used this one before, but it’s worth using again. The artists on this one were from China.

Tenth Place and Governor’s Award was “Olde #7 On The Bridge To Nowhere.” The artists were from the USA.

The ice as cut from the pond has a layer of cloudy ice  near the surface, where snow and ice intermingle. Although most sculptors cut this off, it can be used with interesting effect, as on this pedestal.

Finally a wider view of part of the competition area. Snow is being blown off  “Mother” in this picture. I’ll have at least one more blog on the kids’ area of the ice park by daylight, and I might get to see it at night, lit up, next week. If I do, I’ll get some pictures. The sculptures are incredible bathed in colored lights in the dark. If you’d like to see a particular piece under the colored lights, leave a comment. No promises, but I’ll try.

Multi-Block Ice Sculpture 1

My internet access is via a phone line (DSL) so I am well aware that pages with lots of photos tend to load slowly. This is one reason I’ve broken the World Ice Art Championships into several blogs. (The other is that the awards for Tourist Trap are keeping me pretty busy marketing, and several short blogs are easier than one long one.) Beside, who wants to look at that many photos at once?

First place in the multi-block competition was “Prickly Reception,” by a team from Japan. Don’t ask me how they managed the porcupine. I did find out how they achieved the leopard’s frosty spots: shave out the ice, saving the shavings. Then pack the shavings back into the hollows and heat.

Second place was entitled “Rebirth of Elements.” Three of the carvers were from Russia; the fourth was from Monaco.

Third place went to “Tiger Marriage Desire.” One of the carvers was from the USA, and the other three were from China.

Fourth Place was “The Land Calls.” Both sculptors were from Russia.

Fifth Place (and one of my favorites) was “The Gallery.” One of the carvers was from the Phillipines; the other 3 were from the USA.

One question I’ve had was answered yesterday. We’ve had over a foot of snow since the carving started — why don’t the sculptures all have snow caps? The answer? Leaf blowers!

More Ice Sculpture: Multi-block in Progress

I didn’t get to the ice park until after the single-block sculptures were judged, so I didn’t see them in progress. But I did get to see the multi-block sculptures at several stages. These photos are mostly of incomplete sculptures, so you get some idea of how they’re done.

Tools are, to put it mildly, eclectic. The first is a long-nosed chain saw.

Next there are a wide variety of hand and power tools, including both hand and impact chisels, screwdrivers, propane torches, screwdrivers, Dremels, brushes, and even hairdryers.

The drawings have to be transferred to each block of ice.

The blocks may need to be piled up, and for this the artists have the help of heavy equipment. Scaffolding is available, and often needed to reach the surfaces to be carved. These blocks, for instance will be carved into the appearance of a stone bridge.

These will eventually be in the round, but not yet.

And this is the early stages of a bird-themed one,

which finished up looking like this. The trailers provide shade.

Even yesterday, after the judging, this artist was sharpening up his sculpture.

I’ll have photos of the winners up in a few days.

Ice Sculpture: Single Block by Daylight 2

Single block 2? Well, I couldn’t get them all in one post, so I split them up. Some of these were taken from the train (which bounced badly, so I hope they aren’t too blurred.) I’m going to use larger photos this time, in hopes they won’t change places!

This was 7^th place, “Giving Thanks to the Great Spirit.”

8^th place was “Dragontango.”

9^th place was “Spirits of our Ancestors. The shoulder and beard at the far left belong to the train driver.

10^th place was “Pegasus in Sky.” This one was definitely taken from the train.

“Entertainment” took the Artists’ Choice award.

“Your Move” is a hero-and-dragon theme, always popular.

“Unrest” really showcases the ice.

“Feather” is another that caught my eye. Notice that all of the single-block sculptures are set among trees, for protection from the sun.

No, that’s not all of the photos I took. Next week I’ll show the progress of the multi-block sculptures, which are sculpted from up to 10 blocks of ice, each 6’ x 4’ by 3’. The judging was yesterday evening, when the sculptures were lighted. Will I have any photos of the lighted sculptures? Depends on whether I can hitch a ride after dark.