Ice Sculpting: A Cool Job to Have

A cool job to have in the heat of the summer. Ice sculpting. The creations are most often seen at formal events, brunch buffets or elegant soirees.

The dining facilities on Fort Bragg send some of their kitchen personnel to training to create ice sculptures, but they are seen all over town.

Russell Neff, the Executive Chef at Fayetteville's Highland Country Club for the past five years knows that some events require an eye-catching centerpiece.

“It often brings added mood and feeling,” Nuff said, a certified chef in American Culinary Foods. “It’s something people enjoy and remember. I do mainly basic sculpting, nothing real elaborate.”

Another local renowned ice sculptor is Mike Kowalski, the vice president of the National Ice Carver’s Association whose work in the Fayetteville area — Holiday Inn Bordeaux, Highland Country Club, Raeford and Hope Mills.

He has created works for Screen Gems movie studios, one work that included a 100-foot long, 10-foot high slide, a 6-foot tall horse standing on its back legs and more traditional 3-D carving such as angelfish, swans and logos.

“You name it and I’ve carved it,” said the Wilmington resident. “And anything I haven’t done is a challenge that takes up all my attention and focus of the moment.”

Kowalski, 43, a former Air Force veteran said ice sculpting creates cost between $225 and $1,800, depending on size and detail.

Ice sculptors also use razor-sharp chisels and handsaws that are specifically designed for cutting through the thick blocks of ice at freezing temperatures and typcially last for eight hours.

“Ice sculptures begin to look better as they melt,” Kowalski said. “No, they really do last and accent everything a chef, his staff and the wait staff do.”