Three Dimensional Ice Sculptures
All ice sculptures are actually 3D. At Colorado Ice Works, we refer to 3D designs as sculptures that are carved by hand and NOT engraved on a flat slab or “pane” of ice. Larger ice sculptures, animals and people fall into this category. Nearly all festival work that we do falls into the three dimensional category. 3D designs require much more artistic talent to produce and is usually done by drawing or scratching directly onto the ice, or applying a paper template. The first tool we usually pick up is a chainsaw, followed by hand tools, chisels and die grinders. Three dimensional designs take much longer to create and require a lot of time in the freezer; For this reason we are now charging more for 3D designs than we do CNC designs.
Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
At Colorado Ice Works, we utilize three CNC machines, one of which was customized to fit our volume and needs. We start with an idea or a design from the client. Next we create a program using our CNC software. First, we load a slab of ice onto the CNC table and then hit the “run” button. The CNC machine has a powerful spindle that engraves into the slabs of ice, which mimics the artwork we created on the computer. After the engraving, we pack snow into the design, revealing an exact replica of the design we created. When the engraving is complete, the ice is removed from the table and detailed by hand, leveling and smoothing of surfaces as well as freezing pieces together.
Hybrid Ice Sculptures
A hybrid ice sculpture requires both CNC and hand sculpting. An example of this would be a sculpture of a polar bear with a company logo underneath. We cannot cut and detail the bear on the CNC because it requires us to be able to sculpt 360 degrees around the ice. It needs to be “sculpted”. With the logo, we cannot match it with 100 percent accuracy engraving it by hand. Engraving by hand is what was being done 30 years ago. Engraving all of our ice by hand would be equivalent to a photographer using only a film camera and developing all photos in a dark room. There are times where we still engrave by hand, but it rarely happens. We choose to embrace technology with stunning results.
ICE SCULPTURES FOR ANY EVENT
We produce ice sculptures for all kinds of events and have had the pleasure of being involved in some really cool projects:
- Birthdays
- Quincenearas
- Weddings
- Festivals
- Live Demonstrations
- Corporate Events
- Holidays (Easter, Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years Eve)
- Gender and Product Reveals
- Company Parties
- Adult themed events
Check out our Portfolio for examples of the quality you can expect, or to get some ideas.
