Fairbanks artist Steve Brice was chipping at victory on Monday at the World Ice Art Championships \u2014 literally.<\/p>\n
Surrounded by already completed graceful works of art, Brice spent the second day of the Single Block Classic on a bust of a strongman letting loose a shout.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did a mannequin back in 1998 for a piece I was going to do here, and decided to do an extra-large one,\u201d Brice said. \u201cYou have a hope for a vision and you have to adjust it often as things progress. It is very rare that your vision is the final product.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brice, who\u2019s been competing in the championships since 1990, got started early, with the temperature hovering around 35 degrees below zero.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s starting to warm up now, so I\u2019m having fun now,\u201d Brice said.<\/p>\n
Brice was one of dozens of artists and teams working on single-block works, the last of the professional categories at the 51st World Ice Carving Art Championships, hosted at the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds.<\/p>\n
Competing sculptors were on the second day of the single-block contest on Monday, chiseling and sawing away as they shaped ice blocks into masterpieces.<\/p>\n
Visitors roamed through the fair\u2019s campgrounds, watching as artists worked their magic.<\/p>\n
Aurora Fagan, of Anchor Point, was busy working on the emerging shape of a dinosaur with a rider.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy 4-year-old daughter likes dinosaurs, so she modeled for me,\u201d Fagan said. Fagan has competed in the championships several times over the years.<\/p>\n
Her first foray was at 16 years old in the timed Fairbanks Open Invite.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first time carving solo,\u201d Fagan said. \u201cI\u2019ve always worked on a team, so it\u2019s different, like having to move all my own ice.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same time, folks in the Fairbanks Open Competition were hammering away in a timed 38-hour drive to carve their niche at the ice park. The open competition was nonjudged and open to novice, student and amateur ice artists.<\/p>\n
Tyler Sledd, from Oregon, was busy shaping a rattlesnake from a block of ice in his first attempt at the medium.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m deathly afraid of snakes and I want to go get over that fear, so I\u2019ve been carving and learning about it,\u201d Sledd said. \u201cIt has helped me to try and get over my fears.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 40 artists from Alaska, the U.S. and across the world are competing in Ice Alaska\u2019s signature event this year.<\/p>\n
Winners of the multiblock championships that wrapped on Feb. 21 included the team from the Philippines for their display, \u201cThe Pack of Silk and Starlight.\u201d Members included team captain Ross Baisas, Angelito Baban, Antonio Baisas and Victor Dagatan.<\/p>\n
Second place went to a team from Tuv, Mongolia, for their \u201cEverything is Waking Up\u201d sculpture. Members included team captain Tserendash Batmunkh, Altankhuu Khishidalai, Enkhbat Damdin and Munkhtuu Dorjdamba.<\/p>\n
Third place went to a U.S.-based team of carvers from Alaska and Washington for their work \u201cStorm of Bjorn Vaer.\u201d The team includes captain Jordan Anderson of Anchorage, Amanda O\u2019Neill of Fairbanks and Washington state carvers Nick Bielby and Wade Lapp.<\/p>\n
For the double block championship, which ended Friday, the first-place award went to Mongolia\u2019s team for their piece \u201cThe Legend.\u201d The team consisted of carvers Altankhuu Khishigdalai and Enkhabat Damdim.<\/p>\n
Second place also went to a Mongolian team for its \u201cRoyal Hunting\u201d sculpture. The team included Tserendash Batmunkh and Munkhtuul Domjdamba.<\/p>\n
Third place went to Japan\u2019s team for its \u201cTraveling Planet\u201d sculpture. The team members included Hiroaki Kimura and Miho Takami.<\/p>\n
Next Monday, the Youth Competition kicks off its four-day run, open to all aspiring ice sculptors.<\/p>\n
In addition to the championships, the fairgrounds was turned into a crystal forest of sculptures and ice art, including games such as checkers, miniature golf and cornhole.<\/p>\n
Visitors shouted in delight as they sled down one of three large ice slides that are iconic of Ice Alaska\u2019s ice park.<\/p>\n
Ice Alaska will continue through March 31, weather permitting.<\/p>\n
Ice Alaska and the World Ice Carving Championships opened Feb. 16 at the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds, 1800 College Road. The overall event runs through March 31, or as weather permits. Hours are noon to 10 p.m., seven days a week. Tickets can be purchased online at icealaska.com<\/a> or at the gate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fairbanks artist Steve Brice was chipping at victory on Monday at the World Ice Art Championships \u2014 literally.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,61,60,77813],"class_list":["post-326898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-local_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}