Have you noticed that sculpture weld lines look worse than ever? Mainly, I’m talking about logo sculptures. To me, that weld line that runs right across the logo wasn’t as noticeable a few years ago. But now it sticks out like a sore thumb!

    It’s not because carvers are less skilled. Actually, the quality of the welds is better than it used to be with the use of aluminum and precisely cut weld surfaces. The problem is that everything else got better too. Super-clear Clinebell blocks are widespread and many logos are machine-cut to near perfection. A five color logo can be reproduced using a CNC machine and color-matched paint/gelatin mixtures. Everything looks fantastic except for the grey/white line running right through the middle of the logo that has to be there because ice blocks are only 40”x20” and the logo needs to be 30”x30”!

    What’s the solution? Bigger ice blocks are the solution. I wondered for years why there weren’t artificially produced blocks larger than the standard Clinebell 40”x20” and now they’re all over the place. I first started to see super-sized blocks in Europe at large ice displays several years ago and was fortunate enough to be able to carve a few of them. A while after that, I heard that Iceculture in Canada was making their own giant blocks. More recently, if you look closely at photos of the newly built Imperia Ice Club in Athens, you’ll realize that their blocks are bigger than the norm. Finally, there’s also a rather expensive ice block machine that can be adapted to make double-sized blocks.

    So once I knew that larger blocks were being produced, I started trying to figure out how I could use them in my sculptures. For my purposes, I needed a relatively nearby source. Ice Pro in Florida (near Tampa; by the way, I work on their website as well) solved my problem. They make a 32”x40” block (it’s thinner than a Clinebell, which is perfect for logos) which I’ve recently been able to utilize in my designs. Their large block is called the “monster block” and allows me to have larger logo sculptures without distracting weld lines. Why go to all the trouble of creating a precisely cut, colored logo sculpture if there’s going to be a big line right through the middle?

Above, the finished sculpture on display at an event in Memphis, TN

Julian Bayley of Iceculture recently sent me these photos above and below, which I’ll also be using in an upcoming entry. Here, they help illustrate the difference that a larger block can make. Iceculture created the Nelson Mandela design above by stacking slabs from standard sized blocks.

One the other hand, the Ellen DeGeneras portrait above was carved from a 30”x30” slab of ice cut from a much larger block. The complicated portrait designs definitely benefit from the larger blocks and the lack of distracting welds.