FENTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) – A chef in Fenton Township uses ice to create beautiful pieces of art.
Matthew Cooper, owner of Icon Ice, was trained as a chef and previously worked in the hotel industry. He started making ice carvings for buffets during that time, which now has blossomed into a full-time business venture.
Cooper started traveling across the country for ice carving competitions.
“It’s a good creative outlet. I like that,” he said.
Cooper started Icon Ice 20 years ago. Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, which was the former home of the Red Wings, was among his first big clients. Now he creates frozen pieces for weddings, anniversaries, parties and more.
“We are all over Michigan. Especially this time a year. So we do a lot of those winter festivals that you see,” Cooper said.
Icon Ice is based inside a warehouse in Fenton Township, which houses everything he needs to dream up and create his icy pieces of art. It starts with making the ice itself.
“We pump in the water. We filter it through a reverse osmosis system,” Cooper said. “It takes about three-and-a-half to four days to make two blocks of ice. The machines make two blocks of ice at a time.”
His plain blocks of ice come out at 40 inches tall, 10 inches thick and 20 inches wide. Before he starts chipping away, Cooper draws a template or uses a computer program to come up with a design.
“Then I can stick that to the ice and that will kind of give me my first dimension,” he said.
Cooper uses a variety of tools to create his frozen art.
“You have to be able to see into that clear block of ice and what has to be taken away. So it’s kind of a left brain, right brain thing,” he said.
Every creation is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Cooper said a lot of people like to watch his work in action when they get the chance.
“If you watch an ice carving competition, it’s kind of like NASCAR. There might be a crash. It brings a lot of excitement there,” he said.
Cooper said an ice carving creation can make an event more special, but it can only be enjoyed while it lasts.
“I guess that’s what keeps us in business, too. It’s not there forever,” he said.
