TELMA, RUSSIA

Ivan is a foundry patternmaker by training. Ivan brings over 25 years of experience as a wood sculptor and ten years of ice sculpting to this Fairbank's competition. He holds numerous silver and bronze prizes and People’s choice awards from ice competitions in Russia, Alaska, and China. In 2011, he has two second prizes competing in wood carving in Irkutsk and sand sculptures in Bratsk, Russia.

Ivan restores historic Russian Orthodox Church interiors: door frames, altars and wood carvings. He spends weeks and months every year searching Irkutsk’s taiga for interesting pieces of wood to carve, and also gathering pine cones, mushrooms, berries and everything edible. He serves as a taiga expert and rescue guide when there’s a need to find someone in the vast taiga. Ivan dreams of bringing home an Alaskan Husky as his taiga wandering companion.

...2015/jcs