ice carving secrets: Jeff Stahl in competition
Jeff Stahl of Artic Diamond in Cincinnati, OH is a recent National Champion (2007) and also captained a team that took second place in 2007 in the Realistic Multi-block portion of the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. Prior to both of these events, in January of 2007, Jeff competed at the Hunter Ice Festival. Few knew at the time that his Pegasus sculpture was a sort of dress rehearsal for the National and World Championships, as his pieces at both of these demanding events included a flying horse as a main element. Fortunately for us, Jeff graciously allowed photographer Janet Crouch to record the process of carving and assembling his sculpture at the Hunter Ice Festival. Ms. Crouch has continued that spirit of goodwill and has allowed 17 of her photographs to be posted here. The full sequence is much longer and includes 90 photos that can be viewed at her website: www.itsphotos.com. (continued at the bottom)
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Jeff Stahl in competition
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.
