Jeff Stahl of Cincinnati, OH is a recent National Champion (2007) and also World Champion as part of a team that took first place this year (2008) in the Realistic Multi-block portion of the World IceArt Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. Jeff has been very active and successful at carving competitions in recent years and he applies the same sort of dedication and commitment to the ice carving business, Artic Diamond, Inc, that he runs with his wife Michelle.

 
 

So that you can understand what I mean when I refer to this sculpture as a dress rehearsal, I’ve included a photo by Patrick Endres of Jeff’s (and his teammates) work in Fairbanks, “Elijah,” as well as three photos taken by James Ottens of Jeff carving at this years National Chamipionships. The sculpture in Alaska is obviously much larger (more than 20 feet tall!) but you can definitely see the similarities in the design of the Pegasus, particularly in the position of the legs and wings. At the National Championships, Jeff took an abstract approach to the design and changed the pose somewhat, but there are similarities in the design as well as the process. Jeff is not the only world class ice sculptor to “practice” pieces at earlier competitions; it’s a smart way to approach difficult, high level carving events. Thanks to Ms. Crouch’s photos (and Patrick Endres’ and James Ottens), we get an insight into how successful carvers prepare for success at world class competitions. Thanks Jeff! (Jeff can be reached at www.articdiamond.com) Blog entries regarding this sequence are here and here.


Janet Crouch, James Ottens, and Patrick Endres retain the copyrights to their respective photographs. These photos are used with permission. Janet Crouch can be reached at janethut@comcast.net, James Ottens’ site is at www.icesculpturing.com,and Patrick Endres’ site is at www.alaskaphotographics.com. Jeff Stahl has given permission for images of him and his artwork to be included here as well. Duplication or republication of these images without permission is prohibited.

 
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The photos in this gallery are used with permission. More will be added to this gallery as they become available. The blog entry that introduced this gallery is here.