Island ice sculptors race the clock after blizzard delay

A pair of Island ice-sculpting artists had to work fast after the weekend blizzard kept them waiting for their specially madeblocks of carving ice.

"We were ready to go since Saturdaymorning," Patrick Brunet said Mondayfrom a chilly tent in downtown Charlottetown. "Theice just got here yesterday due to our fantastic organizers working their magic,and we did 12 hours straight.

"We had to modify our designand just roll hard."

The artistic endeavourturned into a marathon when heavy snow and poor visibility kept the team's building materials about 2,000 kilograms of clear crystalline ice, in pre-cut blocks stuck in a warehouse in Moncton.

The blocks are specially manufactured in northeastern New Brunswick for use in ice sculptures.

Teams in Halifax and Fredericton, also among the competitors in the 2022 Winterlude National Ice Carving Championship, were temporarily stymied by the shipping delay as well.

Chainsaws and chisels

Brunet andartistic collaborator Kelly Caseley kept theircool while the snow fell.

Sunday's 12-hour carving stintfinishedat 12:30 a.m. Monday morning, and they were back at it less than eight hours later.

"As much as it has been a bit of a marathon, I really enjoythe process," said Caseley. "Cold, but fun."

The team relied on chisels, chainsaws and sunny clear skies Sunday afternoon to keep their creative juices flowing.The mercury dipped to minus 15, but after the blizzard that raged for the two days prior, the clear cold weather was just what their collectivemuse required.

"Perfect for ice carving," said Brunet. "Some people don't like it.We do."

Herd Community is the name of their sculpture atongue-in-cheek nod to the collective effort needed to battle infectious disease in the age of COVID,and a riff on the theme of the national competition, the spirit of the Olympic and para-Olympic games.

From one side, a baby caribou appears to stand of the shoulders of its mother.Walk around the statue, and the viewer discovers theyoung buck atop anOlympic podium.

"We though about how families and communities support their athletes," said Caseley.

"It represented a spirit of resilience but also of family," said Brunet.

Herd Community is on public display in front of the main doors of the Confederation Centre of the Arts, at Queen and Grafton Streets in Charlottetown.

Photos will be posted online, says co-sponsor Downtown Charlottetown, and from Feb. 11-20, members of the public can vote daily for their favouriteto determine the winner of the 2022 Winterlude National Ice-Carving Championship.