Full Spectrum Ice Sculptures

Leahy, the sole proprietor of Full Spectrum Ice Sculptures, came into his profession while studying studio art at Webster University in St. Louis, Mo. He apprenticed for an ice sculpture company during his senior year then went to work full-time for the company upon graduation in 2005.

"A lot of other mediums I worked with were clay and wood and metal," he said. "I've drawn my whole life. In all those mediums I found myself adding pieces together to make something bigger, whereas ice sculpting is a subtractive medium. You start with the block and cut away from it."

After working in St. Louis for about five years and winning national ice sculpting competitions, he decided to strike out on his own, settling on the Austin area because he considered it a growing market with room for competition. Leahy opened shop in November 2010 and said business doubled from 2011 to 2012.

A certified professional carver and ice educator for the National Ice Carving Association, Leahy said he doesn't mind putting his creative energies into a project that will melt after five or six hours on display.

"For me, I find a lot of satisfaction in the process—the design process and the making of it and the execution of getting it set up on time and having that 'wow' factor," he said.

Leahy pointed out that from a business, perspective, the temporal quality of ice has its own advantage—it melts.

"If you liked it so much, come on back, and I'll sell you another one," he said.

Cold, hard facts

• Custom projects: Full Spectrum owner Sean Leahy's projects include a replica of the Beatles walking across Abbey Road, castles, cowboy boots and the Austin skyline.
• Costs: Leahy charges a base rate of about $350 for smaller projects and a $2,500 base rate for large, elaborate projects.
• Life of an ice sculpture: Kept indoors, a sculpture will remain presentable for about five to six hours. Generally the details melt away, but the shape of the sculpture remains much longer.
• Tools: Leahy uses chainsaws, woodworking tools, chisels, grinders and other implements to carve works from 300-pound blocks of ice.
• Time for carving: After getting approval of a concept design, Leahy can carve a sculpture in as little as an hour or two, though he asks for a two-week notice for inquiries.
• Water source: Leahy purifies and freezes water into blocks using 40-gallon tanks that have been customized to remove impurities, leaving crystal-clear ice.

512-560-2340, www.fullspectrumice.com, Twitter: @fullspectrumice