Alaskan Ice Sculpting Craft Fairs
March 14, 2009 by Ryan Morley
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A lot of crafts endure time. They are the tangible products of a person’s soul and are able to outlast the artist on many occasions. We humans are different from animals in the respect that rather than adapt to our environment, we shape it to our needs. But what if your craft is ephemeral?
Perhaps one of the most celebrated crafts is the art of making ice sculptures. Unlike other crafts, the material vanishes quickly. Pretty soon, all that is left of the craft are photographs taken by admirers.
This is what makes ice carving very unique, though. That you put a bit of yourself into a block of ice is not just an imprint of your spirit, but also a combination of your impressive talents, too. In this case, an eye for artistry isn’t enough to chisel a large chunk of ice into a thing of beauty; power tools such as chainsaws are most often needed to carve away to reveal the masterpiece within. This in turn needs a practical know-how on engineering melded with artistry.
Because of these many skills, ice sculptures are marveled greatly; sometimes even more so than their more permanent counterparts. Here in Alaska, for instance, there is a World Ice Sculpting event held every year. People from around the whole world gather to this important event to see these fleeting but immortal renditions of talented craftspeople.
Arts and crafts provide a glimpse to the inner artistry of the craftsperson as most are pieces of their soul that live on after the artist. Ice sculptures, on the other hand, can be even more special, because they live far shorter lives than the human hands that shaped them from the block of ice. It is something that will outlast both object and creator.
Ice sculpting is but one of the many craft works done by the people who live in the largest state in North America. If you are interested to learn more about crafts, look up fairs and festivals that are scheduled to occur in Alaska this year.
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