KTVA News 11 – by Heather Hintze
FAIRBANKS – It was an overcast, foggy day in Fairbanks for the second day of the World Ice Art Championships.
Thirty-five teams were hard at work in the single block competition. From start to finish, they have about 60 hours to complete a piece start to finish.
It was this very competition that brought Keven Laughlin and his wife, Deline, together.
“We’d known each other for a year and a half, two years almost, prior,” said Kevin. “We did the single block together and that sealed the deal.”
Now, 15 years into their marriage, they’re still carving partners.
“She’s got a good attitude. She’s beautiful,” Keven said of his wife.
Deline calls their shared passion a “great glue for the relationship.”
A few ice blocks over, Ohio team Sarah Costic and her husband, Aaron, also met during a carving competition.
“I was working, and he walked past and every neck hair stood up,” said Sarah. “I noticed that was odd and it had never happened before, and the rest is history. Seventeen years later, now, we’ve been married.”
A competition of this caliber takes a lot of teamwork. Aaron could be seen focused on carving out the bulk of their sculpture while Sarah worked on the accent pieces.
“It’s something we both value quite a bit,” Sarah said. “It’s an honor to share that with my husband.”
A few sculptures down, it was a love of science that connected Ronald Daanen from the Netherlands and Ina Timling from Germany. The two met at a training in Finland.
“Ten years we’ve been carving now,” Daanen said with a laugh. “And, sometimes, it creates stress, I can tell you that.”
He and Timling live in Fairbanks now. He’s a hydrologist for the state; she just finished her doctorate in biology.
Their piece this year is a representation of the water cycle with a massive tree, clouds and a lake. They say the goal is to make a work of art that’s also informational.
“One year, our sculpture has something to do with biology, and that’s basically my sculpture,” said Timling. “And the other year, it has something to do with hydrology or permafrost, and it’s his sculpture.”
Like a marriage, they say carving takes commitment and communication.
“There are always ups and downs in these three days,” Timling said. “But it’s part of the whole deal. This is basically extending your marriage to the ice park.”
http://www.ktva.com/married-couples-love-of-ice-keeps-them-carving-together-524/