The Iceman Carveth

Mark Mastrangelo brings his temporary ice masterpieces to the Lambertville-New Hope Winter Festival Feb. 8-9.

By: Amy Brummer

"One

TimeOFF photos/Amy Brummer
Ice carver Mark Mastrangelo (right) can create one of his signature "lovebird" designs (above) in half an hour. "Ice

   The chainsaw cuts through the 300-pound block of ice like butter. Snow flies off the blade. With each swipe, ice carver Mark Mastrangelo inches closer to transforming a hunk of frozen water into a glistening, albeit temporary, masterpiece.
   Since its inception, Mr. Mastrangelo has been delighting the crowds at the Lambertville-New Hope Winter Festival with his fine-tuned skills and affable personality. Now in its seventh year, the festival is a celebration of cold-weather delights offering parades, concerts, tours, a scavenger hunt, a chili cook-off and an exhibition of Snowfolk designed by local artists.
   While Mr. Mastrangelo is busy with festivals in the Philadelphia region throughout January and February, he also provides retail and wholesale services during the other months of the year. His 10-year-old business, Dining Designs, provides sculptures for individual events such as weddings, graduations and corporate functions, in addition to high-volume work for hotels and restaurants. The Phoenixville, Pa., resident is no stranger to the demands of that industry, having learned his trade working in professional kitchens.
   With a culinary education from Johnson and Wales in Providence, R.I., he found himself drawn to the challenge of creating three-dimensional presentations and sought out instruction with an expert. His passion led him to the Adam’s Mark Hotel in St. Louis, Mo., to work with Naomi Hamamura, who at the time was one of the world’s top carvers. Once there, he honed his craft through trial and error under the careful scrutiny of a seasoned master.
   "He would be standing there with his arms crossed," Mr. Mastrangelo says. "He’d be looking at you and looking at you, and it was unnerving because he wouldn’t say anything, and then I would finally say ‘What?! What Hama?’ And he would say, ‘Chef, you messed up,’ and I would say ‘What’s wrong?,’ and he would say ‘Five dollars’ and put his hand out. He was just kidding, and I would say ‘All right Hama, put it on my bill,’ and I owe him like a million dollars. He would pick up a chainsaw and hack half of something off and say ‘Better now, chef,’ because it had been too thick. It was things like that, once he explained something to you it made perfect sense, but you would never get there on your own."
   During that time, he traveled the country with Mr. Hamamura, entering competitions sponsored by the National Ice Carving Association, which brings together carvers from around the world. Serious artistry takes place at these events. Because the sculptures are carved on site and only need to stand for 20 minutes, ice carvers can work with a level of complexity and delicacy that is impractical for retail and wholesale work. Although Mr. Mastrangelo was moving his way up the ranks, he got to the point where there were a half-dozen competitors he couldn’t beat consistently.

"Mr.

TimeOFF/Amy Brummer
  "A normal block of ice is 40 inches tall, 20 inches wide and 10 inches deep. That is a


very small person,"

says Mr. Mastrangelo, left, with "lovebird" stencil.


   "I could go to any given competition and tell you by who was there where I was going to rank," he says. "I decided to get out of competing and get into judging. In competitions, you have one block and say three hours. When you are cutting a lot of different pieces, three hours isn’t a lot of time for carving, and you go completely out at full boil the whole time.
   "You look up and it is over, and then you see everyone else’s piece and you have no idea how they got to where they got. With judging, I would sit there and watch them and see how they got the finished product, and that helped my skills also."
   His judging abilities have taken him to numerous competitions, including 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, where he was one of eight judges for the Olympic cultural sport.
   But that is a different world from the everyday demands of his business. While he will ultimately carve anything a client wants, he is honest with them about what they can expect from the product. For an event, he will carve a sculpture at home and transport it to the location, where it may sit at room temperature for up to seven hours. There are also certain forms that are difficult to create given the limitations of the medium.
   "Human figures are tough to begin with," he says, "because you know if something is off, even though everyone is different. If my one arm was shorter than the other, you would know right away. If the head is too big for the body or the eye is off kilter a little bit, you notice, whereas if the swan’s wing isn’t exactly in proportion, you don’t know unless you are a swanotologist.

"You break a lot of power tools ice carving, not like with the chisels. The chisels last forever," Mr. Mastrangelo says.   "Mr.

TimeOFF/Amy Brummer

   "It is amazing how you don’t know what things look like if you don’t see them all of the time. Plus, a normal block of ice is 40 inches tall, 20 inches wide and 10 inches deep. That is a very small person. The fine detail on the face is going to melt off quickly at that size, and you end up with this blank face thing, which is very disturbing."
   That said, he has enough designs in his arsenal to satisfy a wide range of clients. To further that capacity, he has recently purchased a computer-generated routing machine. It allows him to turn the ice on a lathe to create architectural elements such as pillars or functional items such as cups, as well as incise intricate designs into the surface.
   He makes his ice blocks in his home studio in a Clinebell ice machine that takes about three-and-a-half days to produce two blocks of ice. "To keep it clear, you have to circulate the water," he explains. "The pumps are at the top, so I only get the white core at the top, and that gets cut off so the ice is really clear. You could put a newspaper under (the block) and read it. That’s how clear the ice is."
   After a block is fully frozen, he lets it sit out for about three hours to temper it and get it ready for carving. As it sits out, the molecular structure changes. When it reaches 10-15 degrees, the ice becomes less brittle.
   At this point, he is ready to carve. If he is using a stencil, he will press it up against the block and outline the design with his chainsaw. From there, he lays into the block with his saw, cutting out the rough design with fluid strokes. Carvers used to work with hand tools, but the effect and speed of the power tools have been invaluable. Though it appears effortless, he is actually using a fair amount of pressure to work his 14-inch Makita chainsaw through the ice, occasionally stopping to adjust the mechanics.

"The

TimeOFF/Amy Brummer

   "You break a lot of power tools ice carving, not like with the chisels. The chisels last forever," he says. "The Makita has the highest chain speed, which you need when you are carving ice. Plus the weight and balance in my hand works out really well."
   Once the rough design is cut out, he uses the chisel to knock out the extraneous pieces. Then he takes a V-bit grinder to incise details into the surface and ultimately finishes it off with a rounded sander. When he hoses it off, its dusty surface gives way to a translucent surface that sparkles like a jewel. To create one of his single-block standard designs, like lovebirds, it may take him half an hour. For his demonstrations at the Winter Festival, he will carve four blocks over a three-hour period. To fill the time evenly, he takes a more relaxed attitude to the work, allowing time to enjoy the experience and share it with the spectators.
   "I carve pretty fast, you know. It is what I do for a living," he says. "I carve maybe 800 sculptures a year. I’ve got it down to a science. At a festival, I’ll stop and talk to the people a lot, so it fills up the whole time whether I’m carving or talking or whatever.
   "Most of the time, I sit out (in my studio) and carve ice all day, so it’s nice to have some interaction with someone else. It can get a little loony in the freezer, just me and the saw. The great thing about the festival is being able to talk to the people. They ask questions, I talk to the kids, and that is the fun part."
Mark Mastrangelo will demonstrate his ice-carving skills at the Lambertville-New Hope Winter Festival in front of Lambertville Station, 11 Bridge St., Lambertville, Feb. 8, 1-4 p.m., and at the River Horse Brewery, 80 Lambert Lane, Lambertville, Feb. 9, 1-4 p.m. His assistant, Jason Kole, will give a demonstration in front of Havana Restaurant, 105 S. Main St., New Hope, Feb. 8, 1-4 p.m., and there will be several finished sculptures, sponsored by local businesses, throughout the two towns during the weekend.
The festival will also include the Winter Festival Parade on Bridge Street in Lambertville and New Hope Feb. 8, 11:30 a.m-12:30 p.m. followed by the Philadelphia Mummer’s String Band Invitational Competition at 12:45 p.m. The Children’s Scavenger Hunt for ages 5-12 kicks off at the New Hope-Solebury High School, 180 W. Bridge St., New Hope, Pa., Feb. 9, 10 a.m., and the 7th Annual Chili Cook-Off takes place at the River Horse Brewery, 80 Lambert Lane, Lambertville, Feb. 9, 1-4 p.m.. For a complete listing of events on the Web, visit www.winterfestival.net. For information, call (215) 862-2974.