Page 12 - ice2019

Plymouth Ice Festival
Page 10

Champion from page 9

Costic is self-taught, he said, and has “learned on the fly” during the
past nearly three decades he has been carving. His business now includes
teaching new carvers during Ice Carving Boot Camps and the sale of ice
carving tools and equipment.
He has come a long was from delivering his first sculptured center-
pieces to clients on the back of a scooter, he admits. His business is now
housed in an 8,000 square foot studio and he has a total staff of about 12,
but not all of them are carvers, he added.
Costic and his team won't be on hand for the Friday, Saturday and
Sunday festival as they will have completed their work and traveled back
to Ohio for another ice carving event.
Costic, who has won nearly every ice carving/sculpting championship
title during his career and is certified as a Master Ice Carver and as a
judge, won a Gold Medal at the Turino Winter Olympics and holds multi-
ple world and national ice carving championships.
He and his team are dedicated to keeping his art good for the environ-
ment, he said. He stressed that his teams use plastic drip pans made from
recycled material and everything that can be reused, like drip trays, lights
and foam, is used again. They even recycle remaining ice and do not use
chemicals of any kind in the process of creating the sculptures.
“But, Mother Nature is still in charge. Our only challenge is the weath-
er,” he said.