Another look at the ice sculptures in Alaska
The multi-block construction is easy to see in this magnificent and huge elephant called Hero in Legend, created by artists from Thailand and Australia
Winter finally has its grip on southeast Australia—well to the extent that we have winter.
Tomorrow night the mercury will drop below 0°C (32°F), and it might snow. While that’s almost summery in my home state of Nebraska, in Australia it’s considered near rock bottom on the thermometer.
Alaska Tambourine, first-place abstract, included a dolphin, a wolf and a bird
The last time I experienced really frigid, below-zero temperatures was earlier this year in Alaska. Every time I looked at a thermometer in Fairbanks, the temperature was showing -6°C (21°F) or less.
But the Alaskans were hoping it would get even colder. For them, winter doesn’t seem right unless the temperature hits -50°F (-45°C) for a couple of days. This last northern winter the mercury there never dipped below -29°F. Alaskans know they are experiencing some sort of climate change.
Morning of the Universe, second place in the abstract category
Another concern was the condition of the sculptures at the 2016 World Ice Art Championships put on by Ice Alaska. The annual competition ran for a few weeks with single-block ice sculptures being completed and judged first.
When we arrived in Fairbanks in the first week of March, the first round of judging had taken place and at least one work had melted enough to collapse.
At that time, the ice artists were already at work on their multi-block sculptures. We first saw those completed and judged works about a week later (after our trip to the Arctic Circle).
Cinderella comes down the stairs to meet her Prince Charming in A Fairy Tale Goodnight by artists from the United States and the Philippines. See the pumpkin in the right corner
Some of these pieces were huge, and the first-place winner in the realistic category was the size of a small house. It was a lovely scene of Cinderella descending the stairs to her Prince Charming. Second place went to Goddess of Determination done by artists from Mongolia.
First-place in the abstract category went to Alaskan Tambourine by artists from Russia and the United States. Second-place went to Morning of the Universe by artists from Russia and Mexico.
I was surprised to see how many artists came from countries with little or no snow and ice.
Perhaps they are among they many people who have found their way to Alaska to live.
In the supermarket, I met a fellow who had moved to Fairbanks from Jamaica. And one of our Road Scholar guides was originally from St Lucia in the Caribbean.
The Goddess of Determination looking pretty in pink, second place in realistic
Where to next? 
Wednesday in Ballarat with snow down to 300metres. I don’t think I’d like Nebraska.
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It’s not as cold as Alaska, and the houses, cars and shops are well-heated. You might survive. 🙂
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Stunning ice sculptures, wonderful shots!
I love sculptures ❤
Ciao
Sid
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Me too.
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I remember an establishment in Sidney which had ice sculptures inside.
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The only time I’d seen ice sculptures before these was as table decorations.
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Thanks for the reminder, Peggy. The ice sculptures were fun. But they seem like a long time ago. –Curt
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Given that it’s supposed to snow here tomorrow, it seems like yesterday to me. 🙂
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We are edging up to 100 degrees F. 🙂 -Curt
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Maybe I should post more ice pics. 🙂
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These are incredible – and your photos captured them beautifully.
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Thanks. I had a lot of fuzzy pics too. 🙂
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Well, that’s why we take so many, isn’t it!
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Precisely. 🙂
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They all are amazing – such detail and work went into creating these! Thanks Peggy for sharing these, I truly appreciate them. 🙂
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The detail is incredible. The artists used all kinds of tools from tiny drills to blow torches to jack hammers.
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Very intricate indeed! 🙂
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Beautiful!
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We were so lucky to see them.
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WOW! Amazing!!!
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They were amazing, and it was beautiful the way they managed to light them.
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Very nice
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Thank you.
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Just beautiful Peggy. Would live to see that. We won’t visit there until June next year
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The ice sculpture competition is on in late February and early March.
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Those sculptures are fantastic!
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A real credit to their creators.
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Hi Peggy, thank you, as always, for the beautiful photos and explanations.
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My pleasure.
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Just beautiful! Creative expression in any form is inspiring to me.
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Anyone who follows your blog would know your interest in creative expression. 🙂
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Incredibly beautiful! Great captures… 🙂
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Thanks so much.
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After arrival in Australia and experiencing our first winter with morning frosts in the suburbs my mother complained she never experienced the cold as during our stay in Australia. Houses and public transport, schools etc. unheated. Amazingly, hardly anyone thought it was necessary. Toughens you up. In most European countries you don’t walk around inside with coats on during winter.
As for the ice-art. I am amazed. An art show last week showed thousands of naked bodies all painted in blue, lying cheek to cheek 😉
I prefer the ice sculptures.
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I think the coldest I have ever been was in Adelaide in 1982 and in the hills of Burma in 1986. But as for the cheek-to-cheek art show, I missed it.
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Beautiful sculptures and great photos 😀
I appreciate not to live in such a cold country any longer, even not as cold as Alaska.
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Like you, I’m glad I don’t live full-time in such a cold climate.
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I am amazed by the pictures! They are wonderful!
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Thanks so much. I should send the biggest thanks to the sculptors for their wonderful work.
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I am sure they are wonderful artists!
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It was fun to see some of them at work. Such detail.
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Really amazing Peggy!
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They sure are.
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You show us so many interesting things!
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Wow – these are absolutely beautiful! The sculptors knew their stuff – I’m envious of people who can sculpt, more so than those who paint, LOL
Awesome!
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Artists and sculptors have talents way beyond me, so I just enjoy their efforts.
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One thing that I loved about living in Alaska is that it attracts people from all over the world–including from many tropical areas. The Anchorage school district is the most diverse in the country, in terms of the number of different languages spoken. There is a large population of Pacific Islanders and a fair share of folks from the Caribbean, as you saw. There’s just something about Alaska …
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‘There’s just something about Alaska’ … that says it all. 🙂
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On the flip side, it also attracts desperate end-of-the-liners, horrific serial killers, misfits of every stripe, and has a tremendous amount of domestic violence and suicide. There’s just something about Alaska …
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Yes, that’s the other ‘there’s just something about Alaska’!
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So frickin’ amazing.
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I know!
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Es realmente increíble
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Yes, it is incredible.
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Sounds like Alaska is still a collection of adventurers and explorers. Terrific event with the interesting group of artists and those gorgeous sculptures
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And as Brenda pointed out in a comment above—Alaska also has ‘misfits of every stripe’. But we didn’t knowingly meet any of them, and loved the ice sculptures and our trip north to the Arctic Circle.
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One of my good friends spent the majority of her childhood in Alaska…skated to school in the winter. A place for individuals to be individual, it seems. 🙂
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What a great description—’a place for individuals to be individual’.
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Great pictures, makes me want to see them myself. 🙂
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Well worth the trip. 🙂
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Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing!
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My pleasure. Glad you stopped by.
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So beautiful..A visit to the Ice Hotel is on my bucket list 🙂 Well it’s been on there a while but one day 🙂
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The Ice Hotel is on our list too. Maybe one day. 🙂
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Fantastic!!
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They sure are.
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Wow, I had to make ice sculptures in Culinary School and let’s just say my delicate swan sculpture after a little extra chainsaw work ended up resembling a lifeboat. These are so beautiful I am in awe!
Beautiful pictures!
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At least you had a go at making ice sculptures. I can barely handle ice cubes! 🙂
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Amazing artworks.Just seeing them gives me a shiver!
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Yes, they give me a shiver too.
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Mire pictures for you .frend :
https://paintdigi.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/fruit-on-the-sidewalk-photo-of-my-country/#jp-carousel-1845
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*More
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The ice sculptures are absolutely amazing. I particularly like the one of the elephant. I’ve seen some very nice ice sculptures at winter carnivals in the lower 48 but they aren’t in the same league as what you saw in Alaska.
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The elephant was cool, and beautifully lit. Alaska was the first time I’d seen ice sculptures that weren’t on a buffet table. 🙂
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Incredible. And oh, they beckon. (100 degrees here in S CA.)
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Yikes, 100-degree weather is no fun. Stay cool!
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Just amazing photos!
Tony
http://breadtagsagas.com/
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Thanks Tony.
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I come to life during the in between extremes – Autumn and Spring. Love the sculptures, Peggy.
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Spring and Autumn are my go-to months too.
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I’m not sure I could cope too well with -45C – but then, I’m not used to temperatures as low as that. In 2010 it fell to -18C during the daytime, and that was bad enough. The snow sculptures are pretty amazing. I love the Cinderella one – no wonder it won the category. I hope your Australian winter is a pleasant one, Peggy. Our visit to the Gold Coast was in the spring (late October) and to us, it was really hot!
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We’re having a warm week with 10–11°C at night and 15–17°C in the day. It won’t last. 😦
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Reblogged this on Meet The Artists – Art Box.
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Thanks so much
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It’s a pleasure for me Peggy 🙂
Have a good time 🙂 Ciao!
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You have so rich a memory, a collection of pics and big bundle of stories of all things about traveling.
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Sometimes I am surprised by how much I forget. 🙂
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Amazing Ice sculpture!!
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Yes, they sure are. Thanks for stopping by.
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Fascinating and well-written as ever. I suspect you may have your roots in some form of journalism. Could you possibly let me have a list of countries you haven’t actually visited, as I’d like to go to them all and send you gloating accounts of my adventures. Thanks.
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Oh, yes, please come and gloat. Three places/regions are high on my go-to list—Japan, Scandinavia and more of Eastern Europe. Go my pretty, and come back with news.
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It’s funny you should say that Peggy, as I was in Tokyo earlier this morning, from where I traveled extensively through Eastern Europe and then on to Scandinavia. Nothing much to report but the beer in Sweden was extremely expensive. More from my travels in just a few moments…
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Oh my, you are such a tease. Keep up the good work.
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Awesome ice sculptures…thanks for sharing…:-)
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Thanks so much for stopping by and for commenting.
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Your photos are absolutly fantastic Peggy!
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Thanks so very much.
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So cold and hard but so very lovely and warm! Great job bringing the beauty to us. Peggy
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You are most welcome.
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🌹
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Amazing! ❤
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They sure are.
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Wow, I feel really sorry for the artist who’s ice sculpture melted. That’d have taken weeks if not months to make!! They sure are beautiful!! Did you take these pictures yourself??
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I felt sorry for that sculptor too. How frustrating. But at least they didn’t spend months creating it. I think the sculptors have no more than a week to finish their work. The ice comes from ponds near the exhibition site.
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Funny that some random chunk of Alaskan pond can be turned into something so beautiful:)
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That’s true, and apparently the sculptors reckon it’s the best sculpting ice in the world because of it’s clarity.
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I was literally speechless just looking at the picture of the Cinderella ice sculpture!!
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The most extraordinary thing is that it was life-size.
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Wow these are so surreal.! Absolutely gorgeous… Will include this place in my itinerary if I ever get the chance to come there! 🙂
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Really worth seeing. Hope you can see them one day.
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Wow! They’re really beautiful pieces. Magnificent!
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I can still see them in my mind’s eye. Truly inspiring. There will be a new batch next year.
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You’re so lucky☺
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You’re really blessed☺
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😊
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Awesome sculptures and images ! 🙂
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Thanks so much for stopping by and for commenting.
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Great pics!
(And all links in post are still good).
This comment was brought to you courtesy of ?Random Raiders! 🙂
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Thanks. I try to keep tabs on links.
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