ANC on ice…

ANC on ice…

Ice Art was commission by the Featherbed Events company to create this 2 block ANC ice sculpture for the ruling party. The ice sculpture was created using 2 blocks of ice, engraved with snow and then inlayed with colour mixed with paint. This sculpture was set up at 5pm and it still looked fantastic at 3am!


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Castle Light Ice Sculptures

S.A Open - Pearl Valley, 2010 Competition.

Castle Lights Ice Ice Baby theme, ties in perfectly with our ice sculpture product and as a result the brand further leveraged its campaign by commissioning Ice Art to create a batch of ice display fridges which held the Castle Light product for brand display, ice drinks chests that held 50 bottles each, and Ice Golf putt-putt courses were produced for the VIP before function, championship tent and Castle Light tent.

The ice golf was a hit as always and if you could get three “hole in ones”, there were some fantastic prizes to be won.

For more information and details you can check out our website here or check out the Ice Art Press Office here.

The ice golf course was made out the Ice Art factory and brought to site to be installed. After leveling the playing field to make sure the ball did not roll with gravity we installed the slabs of ice. Once all aligned, the ice sculpture was ironed to be a totally flat playing surface, using a stainless steel sheet heated in the sun – and then the ice rails which made up the sides were added. The queue to chance your luck on the course was 50 m long at one stage!

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Ice Sculptures - Summer Meltdown!

Liquifruit National Roadshow 2009– Summer Meltdown!



Ice Art and Liquifruit worked together with Sisters Act, Bester Burke and Vanilla Concrete to complete a 12 day, 7 city, Summer Meltdown National Road-show that saw the event run from cape Town to JHB, PTA, DBN, EL, PE , PLETT and back to Cape Town again for the finale on Camps Bay Beach on the 28th Dec.

The ice sculpture concept was a very unique activation for the consumers – The fruit flavours of Liquifruit were frozen into multiple blocks for events at the various cities. Along with the fruit was a key inside each block which consumers had to “burn out” using the water from a Wazooka water pistol. It was a like a mass water fight. The key opened a special chest and the winner took the money. The blocks were lined up and the MC fired the gun and the contestants battled away in the summer meltdown!

Each crystal clear ice block weighed more than 140kg and took 4-5 days to produce while carefully freezing in the fruit and keys in layers. A 24 ton freezer truck was required to take the ice blocks from venue to venue on the 5000km round trip. Visually, the ice sculptures looked fantastic and even in the heat of the day withstood the temperatures to remain unchanged.

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Ice sculptures of Famous Faces

Ice Sculpture portaits of Famous Legends - using just snow, paint and ice...

Ice Art was challenged to create a series of famous face portraits using just snow, paint and ice. Each portrait was hand carved, and the result was excellent.

The event was the launch of the New Cape Quarter in Cape Town and the faces of legends of the past included – Marilyn Monroe, Surrealist Salvador Dali, Pavarotti, John Lennon and Michael Jackson among others.

This technique requires the details of the faces to be carved out in different levels in the ice block. Coloured paint is then mixed with snow and then separately laid into the correct level and frozen. The details of the faces are built up with these coloured layers until the final image comes together in style. The image is then trapped inside the block by welding another ice plate onto the rear of the image. Portraits like these can look good for 10 hours or more.

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Ice Sculpture - What a Wreck!...

Ice Art was commission by the South African Heritage Resources Agency Special Projects Department, in association with the Department of Arts and Culture to carve an ice sculpture of a Spanish Galleon shipwreck in celebration of national marine week.

A shipwreck initially posed a problem – there is generally not much left on a shipwreck... and whatever does remain is in tatters – Can we make this look effective in ice. Plus the fact that we can’t make the masts out of ice at this scale or they would simply break... We made a simple plan however using Perspex, fishing line and ripped satin to create the sails and masts. 2 blocks of ice were then used to create the bow and stern sections of the shipwreck ice sculpture.

On site the two halves of ice were placed together and then the sails slotted into the pre-drilled holes – the result was very effective and the client was very happy with the visual appeal.

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Ice Sculptures - A green industry for sure...

I received the following information from Aaron Costic at Elegant Ice Creations in the US and it was of environmental interest. I subscribe to his newsletters and this was an interesting read.


Don Chappelle, an ice carver from the Northeast of the US recently brought up a good point. He said our businesses and planet can benefit from being greener. This is posted on his website-


Brilliant Ice Sculptures - a Green Company.

At the end of the night when the party is over our sculptures will end up watering trees, vegetable gardens or flower beds as opposed to filling up dumpsters then landfills.


Ice sculptures are cutting edge yet sustainable products that help minimize the impact of waste created by the hospitality industry for event planning.


We deliver 95 percent of our sculptures with low-emission vehicles.


We reuse or recycle our plastic drip trays, lights and foam when used.


Our plant is heated by our freezer condensers only.


We recycle remaining ice from ice sculpture production to chill the water for the next batch of ice blocks, an energy savings of 25% per block.


Ice Sculpture creates very little waste materials other than organic earth-healthy waste; minimal plastic is used in the making of ice blocks which is reused several times for packing materials.


We use only natural ingredients, we do not use chemicals of any kind in the process of creating these amazing sculptures.


Only organic cleaning products are use in the cleaning of our facility.


Don has reported that this has boosted sales to those interested specifically in Green products.


Mike Kowalski mentioned recently that we should be using a soy based lubricant instead of WD-40 or a lithium spray. He is right, our product is either displayed right next to or touching food products. We should be using an organic lubricant.

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Ice sculptures and the FIFA 2010 World Cup Soccer

FIFA 2010 World Cup and Ice Sculptures...

It was only a year ago that the 2010 World Cup looked like a distant milestone that was to be considered much later – now with 290 days to go its almost upon us and before you can blink it will be over.

Being prepared with your creatives is a must with ice sculptures for your functions and events. At Ice Art we have already started taking ice sculpture bookings for pre-match and post match functions, and corporate themed events for the 2010 during the World Cup period for a variety of ice carvings.

In fact we have already been commissioned on a number of ice sculptures between now and the end of the Year for build up events and the fever is already rising in S.A…C’mon Baby!

With our ice sculptures and skilled carvers we can create so many varied themes for the soccer sport, from action sculptures to the FIFA logo, footballs, trophies – Just look at the World Cup Rugby trophy we created just recently just imagine this translated into a ice sculpture of the Soccer world Cup trophy.

Ice sculptures and ice bars like this Adidas football sculpture with the FIFA logo can be adopted to have any company logo or insignia combined into the ice sculpture. It can also be made into a luge or a fountain.

Do drop us a line anytime if you have any questions or require quotes and don’t forget to visit our Press Office and Ice Art Website for extra info.


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Ice sculpture of Webb Ellis Trophy for Players Fund Function

Ice Art was commission by the Chris Burger Petro Jackson Players Fund to carve an ice sculpture replica of the Webb Ellis World Cup Rugby Trophy for the BELL’S Night of the Stars Rugby Extravaganza at the Durban ICC. The function was very well attended from the greats of the past in Joel Stransky and Bob Skinstad through to the entire Springbok team.

The aim of the function was to raise funds for injured players, and their target of R 1 000 000.00 was reached with exceptional contributions coming from as far and wide as Morgan Freeman who pledged R 100 000 to the fund via a live feed to LA!

Ice Art was privileged to be a part of the function and produced this 1.3m tall, 350kg replica of the iconic trophy. It was made up from three blocks each weighing 140kg, which were joined and then carved in our freezer in Cape Town and thereafter taken apart into 3 sections and re-assembled on site in Durban, at the ICC venue.

The feedback regarding the guest reaction to the ice sculpture from the client was excellent, “A huge hit!” and provided many guests with great photo opportunities.
This ice sculpture was quite a tricky one as the supporting stem had to be strong enough to carry the weight of the hefty upper half of the trophy for the duration of the night. This was also a crucial joint point in the sculpture and so this join had re-align perfectly horizontal when re-assembled again.

The trophy also has a high level of gold leaf detail which we managed to replicate very closely.

We had to leave the ice making up the trophy handles a little thicker than the origional as they needed to last for a good 7 hours and at the end of the function they were still looking the part.

We are expecting the photos from the actual event soon and we will post them shortly. The pictures in the blog and website are taken from inside our freezer before it was disassembled.

For more information please visit our website and Press Office which is also on our site.

www.iceart.co.za

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Ice Golf!

We know it’s popular with certain Inuit clans and Eskimos in the very northern ice capped locations of the world, but very few normal people have had the chance to try their hand at Ice Golf. It’s really not as easy as one might think and takes some deft putting to overcome the slippery course...

Ice Art produced a 6m ice putt-putt course for Bells Whisky. The golf day was held at Brandhouse and there were a number of interesting holes on the day, but it was certainly the ice hole that had people battling to sink their ball. Players teed off over the Bells snow logo and headed down the 6m course, which was straight with a slight dog leg at the end. There were a few obstacles along the course, bottles frozen on the course, and a few slight ramps to make it more tricky.

The main challenge faced was that the ball slips and slides on the ice in a very interesting manner, quite unlike your normal putting green! This was of course all part of the plan and simply meant that players needed to adjust their game, tone down the power of their shots and work on shorter deliberate lay-up shots to get close enough to the hole. One player however, actually managed to get a hole in one!

At Ice Art we can create just about any ice sculpture, and we were very keen to put together the ice golf putt putt hole. The original ice blocks were cut into 80mm thick slabs and flattened out to be level. These were then all assembled on site in a water catchment system and raised ice sides were then added to stop the ball from shooting off the sides of the ice runway.

At the end of the round players met at the Star Bar and here we had erected an Ice Bells drinks dispenser for all the thirsty ice golfers. This dispenser was a first, we actually froze the bottle and the optics tot dispenser into the ice. Then all one needed to do was use your tumbler to push on the optic and ice cold Bells Special Reserve was dispensed. Nice.


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A White White Wedding - and Ice Sculptures of course....

Start planning your Weddings for next season with Crystal Clear ice sculptures:

A white wedding with ice sculptures. The huge scope available to the event planner and soon-to-be-bride through the medium of ice, is of great appeal when planning ice sculptures for a wedding. From table centrepieces, to ice serving stations, ice chilling aparatus for the champagne, Ice Wine Racks, Ice Vases, ice bowls for desert, Oyster Terraces etc.... all fit in so perfectly with the shimmering white wedding occasion that they were essentially born to co-exist together on the special day… Check out more images here

In South Africa many people have never been able to consider icesculptures as a décor element for their event and special day, but now Ice Art has that base covered, coupled with an extremely high level of skill and professional service to further enhance the pleasure of such an icesculpture or ice installations on the day…

For more information also see our press office here

http://www.bizcommunity.com/PressOffice.aspx?i=120562

The more traditional classic pieces like Swans, Harps and cherubs may still be common…but that trend is fast changing as people come to realise there is a far greater scope for exciting and dynamic wedding concepts in the ice carving field. Ice sculptures that double up as drinks fountains or vodka luges are also popular for entertainment at the reception, and a Live Carving is the perfect way to entertain guests while the bridal party is off having the pictures taken - this is an excellent way to fill that gap.

At Ice Art, we can supply interactive themed Carvings, LIVE Carvings, elements frozen in the ice and ice baths for the drinks / Champagne Buckets to the wedding or reception. We can enhance traditional décor such as flowers, individual miniature themed ice table centrepieces and display items with a huge variety of options and even supply full Ice Bars, archways or an entire winter wonderland.

Ice Sculptures will last for more than 8 hours, looking good, if kept out of the sun and direct wind

The Ice looks absolutely fantastic and really makes the wedding unforgettable. I hope this gives you some food for thought, and I look forward to hearing from you, please feel free to visit our website at http://www.iceart.co.za

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Icy Fashion Shoot in Ice Art Freezer!....

Rooi Rose - Icy Magazine Shoot - In our freezer...

For the May Edition of Rooi Rose, the publication visited the Ice Art factory for a subzero shoot in our large 9m by 5m freezer...

The theme was black, and the textures of the black garments, the lighting on the ice and ice sculptures with the striking female model resulted in some fantastic polar shots. The model and Rooi Rose crew were extremely brave, putting up with -15 degrees C temperatures in order to capture the perfect shot.

In the past we have supplied ice for a number of shoots, elements of colour also look fantastic with ice sets.

- Read more to find extra information on this Chilly experience and to see more images on our Press Office link.

Photographer Johan Wilke, Fashion Editor Giselle Hon, Make-up Artist Lara Whitehead, Hair Stylist Merle Titus and Ice Art collaborated to produce some excellent imagery for the May issue of Rooi Rose. All the images were taken inside the freezer at subzero temperatures and the Model bravely posed amongst the icicles and ice blocks to achieve some spine chilling results.

Ice sets were arranged within the freezer to suit the various shots required, and certain elements such as the icicles were pre-carved and brought into position for the specific scene.

Icicles are a feat of nature and proved tricky to carve, being so fragile and prone to breaking. In the end the crew at Ice Art used a technique involving a blow torch and the slow trickling of water over the ice to create the icicle effect in the images.

Working in the freezer gives the benefit of the subzero temperature, so the ice does not melt which allows more creativity without the stress of any of the set melting. In this way intricate sets of ice sculptures can be laid out and arranged, and re-arranged...and re-arranged... if required!
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Ice Art - Ice Sculptures

Ice Art has been creating hand carved ice sculptures in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban for the last 6 years.

To visit our recently re-launched website, go to www.iceart.co.za

Whether our clients have a small budget to work with or a national launch budget to spend on creating a WOW impression, we have worked with them to maximise the Ice sculpture Experience. It's not just ice sculptures that we create at Ice Art:

Ice Art also produces Ice Bars on request for clients. The entire bar is made from ice, drainage and lighting is supplied for effect. These can have branding or artwork on the bar face and can be from 1m up to infinity... budget depending! The longest ice bar in SA to date was 8m - for a single night event. The Ice Bar in the V+A Ice Lounge was 9m long, but lasted for 4 months as it was in a subzero environment.

Ice carving is a very niche field in SA and as such few people ever see the ice sculpture medium, it is generally utilised in the corporate field where there is more budget allocated to decor elements.

A Live Ice Sculpture, performed on site for the guests with chainsaws and chisels is always a spectacular treat which can also involve guest participation. A great experiential marketing tool.

To view more images for a better understanding click here

Individual Mini table centrepieces are also very popular, and a great alternative to flower arrangements... these can be ice logos or an element frozen into the ice, or they can even combine with flowers to create a refreshing floral alternative.

At Ice Art we take great pride in producing excellent quality hand carved ice sculptures and will lend advice and assitance on your creative ideas in ice. We know what works well and what will not be so effective based on our experience in the field.

If you are interested in an ice sculpture, a live ice carving, or would like to find out more about the industry please contact us for more information.

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Black Ice Sculptures....?

Ice Sculptures - Its black and white....

Black ice sculptures?.... Can you do it?... This is a question we have received in the past, and the simple answer is yes, under the right circumstances. Afterall we are the rainbow nation here in SA.

The ice blocks that we produce at Ice Art for the ice sculpture creations is crystal clear and its the only quality of ice black that can be professionally used for ice sculptures, ice bars and other ice constructions as it is inherently strong and has no structural weak points like normal cracked, white ice, or dirty ice as we call it in the ice carving industry. This process that produces clear blocks however, does not allow the ice to be coloured with a dye in the production process to produce a red, or green or black block... These dyes are seen as impurities and are extracted from the water by the machines drive to deliver clear ice blocks as a finished product. Colour can however be inlayed within the ice sculpture during the carving process.

Black ice sculptures can be best expressed through the placing of a black background behind the ice sculpture, and then using snow engravings and a white light, one can highlight the detail and definitions of the sculpture to produce a very effective two tonal, high contrast result. This approach is highly effective for shoots, such as pack shots where one can play with the lighting and angles.

to visit our press office for more information in general please click here

When using this approach for ice sculptures one needs to make use of both carving and form sculptural technique combined with the snow engraved areas, otherwise the ice sculpture outline can be lost on the black background. Flat snowfill engravings can stand alone without sculptural elements as they produce the contrast by virtue of the white snow.

For more information please don't hesitate to contact us.

You can also visit our website here.

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Ice Art Tour - ice sculpture factory

For many years now, our clients have been asking us how it really happens at Ice Art behind the scenes. Who carves the ice sculptures, what tools do we use, where does all the ice come from... and so for the first time - here is a true to life behind the scenes tour of our ice sculpture factory...Enjoy.



For more information and details you can check out our website here or check out the Ice Art Press Office here.


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Ice Sculpture video clip

Here is an excellent quick resource of information on ice sculptures and ice bars - This was an info clip shot at our factory last week and give some insight into the ice sculpture world! - Enjoy

Once you have watched the clip please visit our website or Press Office for extra information....

Ice Sculptures - Elements trapped in ice

How clear?! .... That's the question we field on a regular basis. The quality of the ice produced at Ice Art is carving grade and is crystal clear, unlike normal ice which is opaque, dirty and fractured.

This clear ice, which is the only suitable ice for ice sculptures, is produced in 150kg blocks and does not simply look great, but it is also an extremely uniform structurally as there are no air or salts trapped in the ice. By virtue of this, elaborate shapes and designs can be carved without the flaking and cracking that you would find in normal ice. Ice sculptures in normal dirty ice don't just look terrible, they are limited in terms of the shapes that can be made and the melting time is much faster.

For more images of our work in this regard please visit our website here or our Press Office here

This also means that the ice sculptures melt very slowly and is very resistant to ambient temperatures... All ice sculptures hate wind and direct sun however! It takes a full four days to produce one block of clear ice, so a number of these blocks are produced on an ongoing basis to be able to provide the building demand year on year since 2003. Here are some good examples of products frozen in ice

The fact that the ice is so clear means that certain products or objects can be frozen in, with dramatic and long lasting effect. Perfect for product display, or branding related showcasing. In the past a huge variety of objects have been frozen into the ice, or combined inside ice sculptures... sunglasses, bottles, fruit, wedding invites, cigarettes, Amazing Race clues, clothes, shoes, diamond jewellery, champagne bottles, car bumpers, real fish... just about anything can work...

Give us a call anytime - www.iceart.co.za

Or mail us on james@iceart.co.za

Interactive Ice Sculptures

For the most part, an ice sculpture can stand alone as a feature, as purely a static decor item. The look and feel of the ice is unique enough to carry this off. Therefore ice sculptures of Logo's, animals, product replicas etc...can generate enough of an appeal all by their lonesome selves.

However, the fantastic thing about ice sculptures, and something we like to focus on at Ice Art is bring interactive elements into the mix when the function or event suits it. Ice sculptures can be made into Luge's for pouring shooters, or for a more permanent flow they can also double up as a drinks fountain with the liquid flowing through the ice sculpture and into a catch tray. Live ice carvings on site for guests is very entertaining, but even more so when we can actually pull out members of the guest party and let them assist us on the completion of the ice sculptures... normally towards the beginning so that there is less chance of them hacking off a crucial part of the almost finished sculpture!

Sculptures that chill bottles, or keep seafood or ice cream cold are great ways to make use of the ice sculptures temperature properties as well as its visual elements.

Ice Bars for exanple, can easily be converted into a seafood station, or even an ice cream station - looks fantastic and serves an icy purpose too.

There are examples of this on our Press Office and our website - www.iceart.co.za

For more images and examples of these concepts please visit our press office - The SA Golf Open Ice golf ball shows a great example of a fountain, and the Vawter Ice Chest shows am excellent way to chill bottles and have them on display with branding at the same time ( see above image ). There is also an image below of the fountain.

Of course, making use of the the cold temperature of the ice sculptures in South Africa is a must on many occasions as it can be extremely hot here during the summer season.