Don't get too excited, it's not quite as easy as you might think!

We're talking about an ice sculpture. Let's take a closer look ...

The tools of the trade

I'm certainly no authority on ice sculpture but we can look at the next two images to see some of the weapons of choice:

• For starters, you'll need about $80US to purchase two rectangular blocks of crystal-clear ice. The water needs to be vibrated as it slowly freezes to prevent air bubbles from forming and clouding up the ice.
• Rough cuts and, surprisingly, even many of the finer cuts are done with a chain saw. In this case an electric Stihl. So you will also need power cords and somewhere to plug them in.
• An electric die grinder. In this case, a Makita.
• A variety of shaping and styling bits for the die grinder. These bits can each run upwards of $100 US.
• Various chisels for carving and fine tuning.
• A propane torch for melting, smoothing, and polishing.
• What looks like a board of nails to serve as a very coarse sand-paper.
• An electric iron, thick pieces of aluminum, and a jug of water for fusing pieces of ice.
• Several hand saws.
• A large pair of ice tongs for grabbing and lifting the massive ice blocks.
• Insulated rubber gloves and lots of warm, water-proof, protective winter clothing.
• A thermos of hot coffee. Optional, but might be nice!

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But wait, something's missing ...

Oh yeah, we need to add one more item to this list, and that's the craftsmanship of a seasoned professional ice sculptor like Chad Gasiorek who was the master carver that we watched work his magic for the better part of 2 hours in creating this wonderfully detailed Ice Angel sculpture at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey on Saturday January 15th, 2017.

Chad is a professional ice sculptor with over 20 years of experience and has taken part in many ice sculpting competitions. In addition, Chad has created many "banquet" and special-occasion ice sculptures. Chad's main job is a chef/teacher at the Sussex County Technical School and he is also a graduate from the Culinary Institute of America.

Let's take a look at some of the steps involved with this photo progression

First off, I have to comment on the use of extension cords and electrical outlets in the midst of all those ice shavings. Take a look at this zoomed-in image to see the bites that the chain-saw has taken out of the wires. Yikes, it's good that Chad is wearing solid-rubber boots and gloves!!!

Secondly, please note that the entire process took two hours and while we watched most of it, there are a few steps I'm likely missing or forgetting. But hopefully the following flow will give you a good understanding of the work involved.

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Each of these two blocks of ice weighs about 300 pounds. Chad had to first trim each of them down to size.

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Ice tongs to the rescue, as each of the trimmed blocks need to be positioned properly.

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Here's that board-of-nails in action as Chad sands and levels one of the adjoining block surfaces.

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I wouldn't want to get body-slammed by that thing 😱

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A paper template will eventually be adhered to one side of the two joined blocks of ice to serve as a rough guide.

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Chad needed a little help to lift one block atop the other. That's certainly understandable. If that block slipped off and went for a flyer, it could cause someone serious bodily harm.

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Maneuvering the top ice block into position.

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Getting closer.

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Some final leveling adjustments. The two blocks need to be precisely aligned to prevent trouble later on.

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I think Chad has the right idea for the choice of clothing. Boat sneakers and blue jeans, hmmmm, maybe not such a good idea!

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A little Poland Spring water for the final bonding.

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A little more Poland Spring water to glue the template to one side of the ice blocks.

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Starting to trace the template pattern using the electric die grinder.

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Rough outlining is almost done.

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We were getting really cold and had to take a break and go inside for a cup of hot tea, else we would have turned into ice sculptures. As you can see where I picked back up shooting, Chad has roughed out a good bit of the sculpture with the Stihl.

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I think that's a look of approval, thus far.

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The next three images show how the chainsaw was used extensively to shape and detail the wings. I was literally amazed to see the amount of finesse that Chad had with that chainsaw. I was waiting for the wings to just snap off.

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Roughing out the front of the sculpture with the Stihl.

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There were large piles of ice shavings accumulating and Chad had to push them off the platform several times as they were getting in his way.

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Much of the facial detailing was done with the Makita die grinder. Chad used several different shaped bits.

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More facial shaping. Chad kidded with us several times about not letting her have his chin ;-)

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But now back to the chainsaw to produce all the feathers of the wings. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. How can a chainsaw produce such detail?

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The figure is really starting to take shape at this point.

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It's hard to capture all the fine detail and curved lines that Chad produced.

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Adding the eyes.

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And here you have it, the finished product in the next two images. Good job Chad!!!

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I hope you enjoyed this look at some of what it takes to create such a fleeting piece of beautiful art work. And since you stuck around this long, here are a few bonus shots of two of the other ice sculptures from that day:

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All images (except as noted below) @cognoscere and taken on January 15, 2017 at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey (Sony RX100 V)

• First Image Source