Icing it out

Any angler knows largemouth bass like cool and shady surroundings.

But it's pretty unlikely you'll catch one, much less see one, in the cloudy, freezing temperatures gripping Downers Grove this weekend.

That didn't stop ice carver Buddy Rasmussen of San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday as he attempted to turn a 300-pound block of ice into an award-winning freeze frame of the freshwater king leaping from the water after a bullfrog.

"I'll carve just about anything, but I like the challenge of capturing moving animals, especially fish," he said, chiseling out the large gills with a chain saw.

Rasmussen was just one of dozens of ice artists from across the country competing for more than $20,000 in cash and prizes this weekend during the city's 11th annual Ice Sculpture Festival featuring the 21st anniversary for the National Ice Carving Association championship.

This year's competition includes past national champions, Olympic trial competitors and carvers who competed in the 2006 Olympic Arts Festival in Italy.

Sculptors start with 300-pound, rectangular ice blocks and finish with ornate, detailed works of art created with a combination of hair dryers, irons, chain saws and chisels.

The theme of this year's festival is "Big Top on Ice," and 50 pre-carved circus-themed sculptures sit on sidewalks and street corners throughout the downtown district and along Main Street.

Erica Hrubetz and daughters Sara, 3, and Violet, 5, stopped to examine nearly every sculpture.

"They look so real and lifelike," Hrubetz said. "And they're all about the girls' height, so they're fascinated with them."

The three-day festival and competition continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today in the downtown area. Visitors also can hop aboard trolleys for free rides from noon to 3 p.m.

Association officials said most sculptures will last for a few days, even in unseasonably warm temperatures. In the sub-zero weather we're expecting, they'll likely last longer.