NILES — Those wondering how a Texas resident finds a passion for carving sculptures from ice need only to ask Dean DeMarais for the answer.

While studying to become a chef at El Centro Community College in Dallas, DeMarais said students learned a bit about sculpting from ice to add aesthetic to their food dishes. The Dallas resident said after one class he knew that he wanted to take his career in a different direction and explore carving art from ice. 

“I never looked back,” DeMarias said. “Art is something I have loved since I was kid. Once I found this, it just made sense.”

Since that fateful day, DeMarais has built a 30-year career and his own business, Dallas Ice FX, from sculpting ice. The artist said he enjoys many things about the profession, but particularly, he loves getting to visit the Niles Hunter Ice Festival, where he has helped to craft sculptures for the past six years.

“I’m looking forward to getting everything out,” DeMarais said. “Hopefully the weather cooperates.”

The 14th annual Hunter Ice Festival kicks off Friday and lasts through Sunday, and will debut more than 80 ice sculptures crafted from renowned artists across the U.S. The Niles DDA Main Street organizes the event and local business owners help to sponsor the sculptures that will be placed around downtown Niles starting at 5 p.m. Friday. A “fire and ice” ceremony will follow at about 7:30 p.m., where people can watch a sculpture be set ablaze.

DeMarais is among several sculptors that have been hard at work since 128 ice blocks arrived from Pennsylvania Monday.

On Thursday, DeMarais wielded a chain saw in the Riverfront Park parking lot, as he worked to shave down a block of ice for his next sculpture. Around him, machines buzzed as other sculptors worked nearby on their own creations.

It took him about 10 hours to create a four-foot-tall castle, with a detailed stone façade and sign that read “Hunter Ice Festival.”

As a longtime sculptor, DeMarais said he has crafted a variety of sculptures from castles and even a 40-foot pirate ship that he carved for a world championship contest in Alaska in 2015.

“I’ve created stuff that will make you cry and stuff that will make you cringe,” DeMarais said.

DeMarais works with other art mediums as well, including painting and sculpting with other material that doesn’t slowly melt away. The Lone Star sculptor said he is used to seeing the elements slowly melt his art, but DeMarais said it’s only disheartening if people do not get to see it and appreciate it before the ice melts away.

This year, he said he is hoping for better weather than last year’s unprecedented 60-degree warm spell that hit the Michiana area. While temperatures are not expected to get quite that warm, things are expecting to heat up with temperatures in the upper 30s Saturday and in the 40s Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

DeMarais encouraged people to visit Niles and appreciate sculptors hard work.