The properties of garbage pail plastic: not so stretchy. The properties of water turning to ice: a phase change that releases lots of energy, and needs to expand. I know that.
A friend recently promised to teach me how to use a chainsaw on a block of ice. Though the promise was made “under the influence” at a warmup-by-wine gathering last week, it will be kept because I’m going to an ice carving festival in March, to enter the amateur category.
Chainsaw booked, the next thing was to find a nice block of ice to carve. Or to make one. Last Saturday I poured about 40 litres of water into our outdoor garbage pail, thinking the industrial plastic would have some flex to it. Wouldn’t that be an easy mold to use and reuse! I thought.
It was a beautiful minus 27 for most of that day. I broke the mold’s icy crust a few times as it formed, to release air bubbles and pressure.
Should have stuck with that approach.
Lesson learned. (Complete with mental kicking of self, that’s why the other sculptors use wooden forms!)
But I will still try and demold this thing in a couple of days, to use the ice block that the plastic sacrificed itself to make.
meg walker 
nice!
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