ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – While some couples meet over coffee, Jennifer Jansma and Eric Shumar\u2019s love story was carved in ice.<\/p>\n
The Anchorage couple met 18 years ago while apprenticing with different ice carvers at the downtown ice skating rink.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo ours is the story of the ice,\u201d Jansma said. \u201cI was actually apprenticing with two lovely people \u2014 Susan and Roy \u2014 who brought me into ice carving … and lo and behold, that is where I saw Eric as he helped little old ladies across the ice pond downtown at the [Performing Arts Center].\u201d<\/p>\n
Their first interactions were shy conversations and shared music in the warm-up hut. <\/p>\n
Then came Jan. 19, 2008, and a fire pit gathering.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always call up the night of the fire,\u201d Jennifer said. \u201cNight of the magic. Magic and fire.\u201d <\/p>\n
Eric said they stayed out and talked all night long around the fire pit. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just knew there was something,\u201d Jennifer added. \u201dNow, two kids, three dogs, a house, and here we are.”<\/p>\n
The following year, they carved their first sculpture together and called it Love\u2019s Flame: Fire and Ice.<\/p>\n
The couple balances each other in their artistic approach. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both artists,\u201d Shumar explained. \u201cShe\u2019s the more fine, more detailed artist. And I\u2019m more like, I\u2019m doing more of the bulkier stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every sculpture becomes a collaboration, though the medium is unforgiving. Ice rarely forgives mistakes, and one wrong move can shatter hours of work.<\/p>\n
Each sculpture tells a chapter of their family story. When Jennifer was pregnant with their first child, they carved a mama bear and baby bear. When they had three family members, they created three giraffes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur ice carving is kind of like the story of our life. So each carving that we\u2019ve done has kind of been a \u2014 I guess, an example of who we are in that period of our life,\u201d Jansma said.<\/p>\n
Their children began helping with the sculptures about three years ago. This year, their two kids created totem poles to accompany the main sculpture featuring four ravens representing each family member.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was just proud,\u201d Jansma said. \u201cProud of how they worked with ice and understanding how things fracture off of it, how you don\u2019t have to be perfect at everything, how as things grow and as they form, it\u2019s something beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family sees parallels between ice sculpting and parenting, both requiring patience and the ability to let go.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to make a mistake. A mistake is not a failure. You can actually create something beautiful out of it,\u201d Jansma said. <\/p>\n
The sculptures participate in the Alaska Botanical Garden\u2019s winter display, where they join other ice carvers in the annual tradition. <\/p>\n
The ice will disappear and the sculptures will melt, but what they\u2019ve built together as a family remains permanent. <\/p>\n