The Hamiltons have recently begun a project that involves working with blocks of ice measuring two metres tall and weighing 1.7 tonnes. These blocks are made in Belgium as they’re much larger than the custom blocks that are usually made at the studio.
Some logistical adjustments have been made to accommodate the blocks. Bigger freezers with bigger doors have to be used and the whole team have had to pass a forklift training course in order to be able to move them safely!
Large Ice Sculptures
Although this seems like rather a lot of effort, working with such large blocks allows the team to carve extremely large sculptures as complete singular objects rather than having to construct them from separate parts. There’s also something extremely satisfying about sculpting on such a grand scale.
Here you can see Darren carving the face of an ogre warrior. He’s working with a die grinder tool which creates so much fine snow debris – also known as ‘swarf’- that he has to continually brush it away so he can see what he’s doing more clearly.