A couple of months ago, I received a letter from the Canton Special Improvement District about the January 2009 First Friday “Ice-O-Rama”. the letter asked me if I would be interested in carving an ice sculpture for the event. There was nothing compulsory about it–Just a simple inquiry. No was an acceptable answer.

But as I am often want to do, I said, “Sure! I can do that!”

Keep in mind that I am a capable artist, but my realm is typically 2-D. I am not a sculptor. I have never carved wood or stone or even plaster, for that matter. I am a painter.

Why do I get myself into these things???? There are times that I might be wise to abandon my motto, “Life is and adventure!”

Four days from now, I will be carving a block of ice at a very public event, outside of my studio, Art Adventures Studios, in the freezing cold, trying to make sure that my fingers do not succumb to power tools, and trying to avoid making a complete fool of myself. To prepare, I am doing a lot of research through Google and You Tube, to see how the pros do it. I am picking the brain of fellow artist and wood worker extraordinaire Kevin Anderson of Anderson Creative, who has gamely agreed to loan me some tools. I am hoping that I can do it without a chainsaw, the most common tool used by ice sculptors, because I have never used one of those before. We will see.

I have pulled off some incredible adventures before. If I can pull this one off, I guess there will be little that I cannot do. Stay tuned…