NEW YORK — When Thomas Brown breaks the ice, he takes a chainsaw to it.
On this day, he’s carving an ice sculpture of a frog — a process he loves:
What You Need To Know
- Thomas Brown was expecting to carve ice for major events like the Tokyo Olympics this year, but the market for ice sculpture dried up during the pandemic
- With few art materials at his Brooklyn apartment, Brown tried his hand at carving avocado pits
- Brown had many failures but found a whole world of avocado pit carving online to learn from
- He's back doing some ice at Okamoto Studio Custom Ice in Queens, but is also finding a great response and customers for his avocado art through his Instagram, @ThomasBrownAffair
"I think the transformation, it's a really cool to start out with these blank blocks, these stacked up squares, and then watch it come to life, especially if it's an animal or human," Brown told NY1 while carving.
Originally from Kentucky, Brown came to New York more than a decade ago to carve at Okamoto Studio Custom Ice, which creates ice art for all kinds of festive events.
"For the winter holiday season, we're usually jamming, carving ice around the clock around this time," said founder Shintaro Okamoto.
Instead, business is just starting to trickle back. The studio was basically closed for most of the coronavirus pandemic.
That’s when Brown went in the polar opposite direction. At home, out of work, with no art supplies, recovering from wrist surgery and a bit depressed, he started carving something completely different: avocado pits.
Turns out, avocado pit carving is a thing. After a few failures, he found tutorials and a whole world of avocado pit carving online.
"This is something that I'm able to share and there's a little bit of joy in that and that really helps me," he said back at his apartment, working on a small pit that he carved into the face of a dog.
Brown was pleasantly surprised how quickly his pieces started creating buzz and business.
One couple was thrilled to get hand-carved works of their two pets. Husband and wife Ray Rizzo and Traci Timmons of Bushwick are customers.
"What struck us was the realism," Rizzo said, "and his eye for capturing the animals he was doing."
"The resemblance is uncanny," Timmons said, holding up the couple's cat and one of their avocado pits.
Still, enthusiasm hasn’t waned at the studio, especially for the beauty and challenge of making clear ice come to life.
"It's wet, it's cold, and slippery, but we get to have fun every day," said Okamoto.
And moving the sculpture to the freezer is precarious. It looked like the frog was going to slide off the dolly. Once inside the freezer, Brown told me it was about 13 degrees inside.
Brown says he loves ice carving, especially at live events. But the avocado pit artworks are the ones that are mostly paying the bills, for now.
The miniatures, which start around $200, offer another source of inspiration: "It's a good way to get through a hard time," said Brown.
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