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Ice Sculptures

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Fête de Glace Promises Frosty Fun on Saturday

The 14th annual "festival of ice" event will feature ice sculptors at work, plus plenty of entertainment, food and family activities.

The 14th annual Fête De Glace Ice Carving competition will be in historic St. Charles on Saturday. The free event will be held on North Main Street, between Jefferson and Monroe Streets, from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Penny Pittman, president of the Historic Downtown Association and co-chair of Fête de Glace, said the day will start with team ice carving around 9:30 a.m. Each team will use five blocks of ice, resulting in one “monster carving” per team. The ice carvers bring their art to life using a bevy of tools that includes chainsaws, power grinders, sanders, handsaws and knives, hot irons and cold spray. Pittman said a favorite monster carving was a Roman gladiator, complete with shield and “a great big plume on his helmet,” about 8 feet …

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Ice Festival Carves Out Home on Main Street

The Fête de Glace takes place Saturday.

On Saturday morning, John Russell and Naomi Hamamura will pack up their chain saws, hand saws, power grinders, irons, sanders and chisels and head for St. Charles. These are the tools of the trade for ice carvers, and Russell and Hamamura will be among the carvers competing in the 13th annual Fête de Glace, or Festival of Ice. The event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, in the 100 to 200 blocks of North Main Street in St. Charles, between Jefferson and Monroe streets. "It's a beautiful art form," said Russell. "The way light bounces around inside the sculpture is what I like about it." Russell, of the St. Louis ice carving business Ice Visions, has taken part in the event the past five years. He started out in ice …

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