Ice sculpting at Discovery Green in Houston

There's more than skating going at Discovery Green; there's also ice sculpting-- but only this Saturday (January 10). I heard there was going to be seven artists sculpting so I drove down there to check it out.

Unfortunately, I was a little early as the ice was still in big cubes. But I did get to see them chisel away and chain saw some of the ice. There were ice chips flying everywhere!!

BREAKING OUT THE CHAIN SAWS

I highly recommend checking it, because these ice guys aren't want-to-be artists who are doing this for the first time. The guys are actually famous in the ice sculpting world.

In fact, the artists include Ben Rand (who just happens to be the #2 carver in the country), Dawson List, Vegas Iceman, Rich Bubin (Guinness Book World Record holder), Dan Rebolze, Robert Childres and Buddy Rassmussin.

The ice guys started carving away at 10 a.m. this morning, but when I got there at noon (yes, I was really early), they were just starting to chip out designs. They are going to be carving all afternoon and then at 5 p.m. the judging will begin.

THE SUPER COOL PART

I know that ice is already pretty cool, but the super cool part of the night is taking place at 6:15 p.m. That's when Reverend Butter of DLG Ice Factory is going to perform a 45-minute carving to live music by the band Downfall 2012.

If you have never seen Reverend Butter, I totally recommend going. He's an artist, entertainer and all round cool dude.

As you can tell, I love him. I had the chance to meet him at the Red Bull Art of Can exhibit in July 2008 and instantly became a fan of his work. It's not just his talent that will win you over, but his personality. He's a character - a true Texan with a style all his own.

CHECK IT OUT AND SEND ME YOUR PHOTOS

Even though I went early to the event, I took a bunch of photos. The only problem is I can't take the after shots as I'll be at the station. So...if you go, email them to me and I'll add them to the slideshow. I'd love to see what the final cubes of ice look like!

Email your photos to michelle@michelleponto.com.