ice sculptures for banquets and special events such as
wedding receptions and showers.
Ditto still serves as a coach for the student team and he
and instructor Jeff Lao won the collegiate national ice
carving championship in 2012.
Nuznov, also a champion ice carver, noted that the 10-
ice block carving of a Svedka Vodka bottle outside E.G.
Nick's on Forest Street will be one of the largest he and
Ditto sculpt this year, along with the Penn Theater piece.
Theywill also carve the ice bar at the restaurant.
The pair will also compete, they expect, in the Dueling
Chainsaw carving competition at 7 p.m. Saturday. “That is
always exciting,”Ditto said.
The pair have been partners in Outside the Blox for
about five years and professional chefs and carvers for
about seven. The business, based in Livonia, has provided
live demonstrations at the Detroit Zoo and provides ice
sculptures for numerous events liked weddings, gradua-
tions and corporate events.
They use chainsaws, various sizes of chisels, degraders
with specialty bits and other tools to create their artworks.
To date, Ditto said, they haven't been asked to do anything
too far out of their skill range, although Nuznov said that
the working bubble gum machine they created for a 10-
year-old's birthday party was quite a challenge. “It was
great when it was done. We used those super bouncing
balls for bubble gum and they would shoot out of the
machine. It was great,”Nuznov said.
They also created a full-size Detroit Red Wings hockey
player for a party and are often asked to do some interest-
ing shot luges fromice.
Nuznov, 31, is a Dearborn resident while Ditto, 41, and
his family reside in Westland. Their families are often
amazed by their creations Nuznov said, but can't conceptu-
alizehow it happens.
The temporary nature of their creations doesn't bother
they pair, they agreed.
“After all, it's real job security,” Nuznov said, “and we
can alwaysmakemore.”
Plymouth Ice Festival
Page 25
Photo by Lovelace Photography
