Today we’d like to introduce you to Jim Duggan.
Jim, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started my career in the culinary industry after I graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta in 1997. I went on to work in many kitchens, mostly country clubs where I was first introduced to ice carving by a chef of the name Steve Barron. I continued to study the art of sculpture when I could while working in kitchens around Atlanta. My last kitchen job was actually at my parent’s restaurant in Buckhead. I had a falling out with the master chef who was a working partner in the business and I left the restaurant to go work for a bag and block ice company, Atlanta Ice.
At Atlanta Ice, the owner Charles Sinagra gave me a job driving a truck and delivery bulk ice and block. He gave me the option to practice ice carving to improve my skill, he had a lead carver and if I wanted to carve for him I had to improve. I took Charles up on his offer, after driving for eight to ten hours a day in the summertime in Georgia I would return to the plant to practice for a couple hours each day. After a year of doing this Charles promoted me to a dispatcher and allowed me to start carving some of the more basic sculptures. I did not realize at the time how driving a delivery truck and dispatching the fleet would help me in the future with my current companies.
I was delivering some block ice to an ice mold company in Smyrna, when I arrived they had explained to me that they had sold their first mold an Easter bunny, and it had cracked due to stress. So the owners of the old company were going to try and carve a block of ice, I told them I was a carver and offered to give them pointers. They instead hired me to carve the bunny, we would eventually go into business together with another partner Joel McCrae primarily focusing and sculptures carved by hand and engravings and logos that were made with a CNC machine.
This company, Ice Magic Atlanta became a massive company with a huge plant and customer list. Though this was a great business I was not happy with the direction the company was going and was having trouble communicating to my partners on how we could grow and still create beautiful art. In October of 2001 just after 9/11, I left Ice Magic to create my own company ICE sculpture INC. I left a very successful company with only a truck and a chainsaw, I was starting over and with nothing but my skill and determination and I faced many hurdles in the next few years. One obstacle I did not have to face was my old company, it had become a giant.
After September 11 the hospitality industry went in the tank for a couple years and that giant collapsed. The new owner decided to close the company altogether and liquidate all of its assets. This allowed ICE sculpture INC. to thrive and grow.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I basically stated my main struggle in the last part, however when I started competing on the world stage in the Ice Art World Championship in Fairbanks Alaska new challenges did arise. My company ICE sculpture INC. was thriving and I wanted a way to push myself further, so I called my old friend Joel McRae. We had always talked about competing for a world championship in Alaska. Just the idea of participating and surviving the 6-day competition was overwhelming. In multi-block you get ten blocks of ice, the only difference is instead of the blocks weighing 300 pounds, they weigh 5,000 pounds. The teams are comprised of 4 people each and within six days of carving for as long as you want each day, you get to create your sculpture. The facility helps the teams by having heavy equipment on hand to move, lift and hoist the blocks and sculptures into place.
I competed in my first multi-block in 2011 with a team the Joel and I put together, we came in fourth place that year and got the attention of the other teams. We kept coming back for more each year and had our ups and downs. In 2013 we actually came in the last place, when our team captain Victor Dagatan and I got on the plane for the ride home we told each other that was not going to happen again. The next year 2014 multi-block was a turning point for all of us on our team. It was not without challenges. We were doing well and holding our own, on the last day of competition in the morning Jess Parrish and myself were standing below the sculpture and exposure to sunlight caused a weld to fail and a wing to fall from the piece, hitting me in the head without warning.
I would take a trip to the emergency room via ambulance. I received six staples across the top of my head, internal bleeding. 11 cracked teeth and a concussion. I was able to actually fake my way thru to have Ice Alaska allow me to finish the competition. I was back at the sculpture site by around 2 pm. The team regrouped and we worked to repair the wing and an arm and a foot that it hit on the way down. The guys then finished the sculpture and I did what I could in my injured state to help them any way I could. We won the gold medal that year against some of the best in the world. The piece is titled ‘Maidens of the Birch” and you can see it in the gallery of Ice Alaska or www.icealaska.com. I have unfortunately had more adventures good and bad competing.
In 2015 I was working on a new team with my friend Aaron Costic on a piece named “Moonlit Courtship” it was awesome, we took the silver medal. After the awards ceremony made a poor personal decision and drove the rental car back to the hotel, not noticing in the snow and ice I was on a one-way street I got pulled over by a state trooper and was arrested for DUI. I got to spend the night in jail and missed my plane home. The decision I made was a bad one and I would pay in many ways for my mistake. After I returned home I was later sentenced long distance by the court in Fairbanks to serve 5 days in jail. The judge scheduled my incarceration 6 days before the World Championship the next year. He told me he would allow me back in the state if I never got in trouble again.
So I flew to Alaska 7 days prior and turned my self in and I did my time. Aaron Costic, who visited my the first night I was in jail after the award ceremony picked me up and we went and watched a dog race, we were competing together in the single block competition on a piece called “Concentration”. I picked up a cold in jail but it did not matter, I was happy to be out and had a new outlook on the entire competition and the state of Alaska. I was sick but happy. Aaron and I would compete for three days, and we won the gold medal in a realistic single block. This would be my second world championship title. You could say we kept the celebration very low key after that award ceremony, we scored the highest score in the history of single block that year and I am thankful to have a friend who would pick me up twice from jail.
Every year after the competition all of the competitors go to a hot spring named Chenna Hot Springs, it is where the Ice Museum is. In 2017 We were with the other carvers in the spring when Shinichi Nakamura came over and asked me a question. He is the right-hand man to Junichi Nakamura one of the most decorated carvers in history. Shinichi asked me if I would like to come to Japan the following year to work with Junichi in The World Championship competition in Asahikawa. I accepted the invitation as it was an honor to work with both Junichi and Shinichi. The trip to Japan was amazing I was there for about 18 days total. I competed in one individual competition in Obihiro I won a bronze, we then went to Sapporo to work on a huge ice festival it was amazing.
We left Sapporo to travel to Asahikawa for the last competition the World Championship. Junichi came up with an amazing design, it was a redo for him. If you google “ice sculpture falling” or anything like that you will see a video of a woman stretched out holding a bird, when Junichi cut out the final temporary support it crashed to the ground, that was “Blue Bird”. The sculpture we were about to make was “Lucky Bird” A redesign of Blue Bird. The competition in Japan was the most difficult I have ever participated in. I did not know it until after but Junichi was preparing me for this the entire time. The competition gave each two-person team about 7,000 pounds of ice and 48 hours to compete.
We started in the evening after the opening ceremony, we would work for the next two days, stopping to eat and to sleep for about 3 hours each night. When the competition was over I walked around looking at the other entries, there were so many at least 60. All of the sculptures were incredible I had no idea where we stood. The next evening was the closing ceremony and awards banquet. They kept calling up team after team and handing out awards and trophies. The gold medals were last, I looked at Jun and he gave me a nod. They then called our names we had won the competition and the cup, it is in our position until next year, when we will return it in the opening ceremony. I received an award from the Prime Minister of Japan, my greatest achievement to this date.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Ice Sculpture Inc. – what should we know?
We make the best Ice Sculptures in Atlanta and the Southeastern United States. I am very proud that ICE sculpture INC. has become a leader in the ice industry. I am looking forward to my next venture, a new company called Ice Carvings Everywhere or ICE for short. This is going to be a nationwide company the ships small centerpiece size carvings thru the mail to your home or office.
I plan to launch www.icecarvingseverywhere.com by September 1, 2018. We should have 75% of the country online when we do go live, with the west coast market being serviced in 2019. Ice Carvings Everywhere will be the fresh new alternative to floral or gift delivery for your next party or event.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I would say it is my work ethic and the attention to detail.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1781 Jamerson Road Marietta Ga 30066
- Website: www.icesculptureinc.com
- Phone: 770 384 8977
- Email: jim@icesculptureinc.com
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