thinking outside the block since 1999

Bill Covitz is the owner of Ice Matters™, an ice carving company he opened in 1999 - however, ice was not his first calling.  Bill is a former Chef and a 1991 graduate from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.  As a Chef, Bill spent several years working in fine dining restaurants throughout the United States, specializing in French Cuisine and also worked as a Private Chef in both France and Belgium.  

Fulfilled with his career as a Chef, he went looking for a new avenue to explore his artistic calling - leaving the hot kitchen for the cold freezer.  He now works in a 12 degree studio creating ice masterpieces for country clubs, hotels, banquet facilities, restaurants and individuals throughout Connecticut.  

At the 2004 National Ice Carving Association's Nationals he was the Grand Champion, placing first on both days of the 2-day competition.  This honor was the icing on the cake for Bill as he was undefeated in local competitions for several seasons.  

In March of 2006 he placed second in the world at the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska.  

In February 2009, after taking several years off from competing, he returned to the National Ice Carving Association's Nationals and placed 2nd with his Praying Mantis design. 

Creating ice instruments on a mountain top in Norway, January 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 has been an exciting challenge and he hopes to continue making ice music possible in the years to come.  

On a personal note, he loves golf and archery, is the proud father of two boys and husband to the office girl, Jen.

Matt Matters:  Matt is also a Chef-turned-Ice Carver and has been working full time with the Ice Matters™ family since May 2005. 

We were so lucky to find him! 

His friend worked at a place we did business with and recommend him to us!  Although he had never carved ice before, Matt was an artist in his own right, and his friend thought this would be a good fit for him.  

As it turned out, ice was a natural medium for him to work with.  Lucky again! 

He continues to work closely with Bill perfecting his ice artistry.  He is a hard worker and does whatever it takes to get the job done (pictured here knee deep in November 2006).  He is Bill's right hand man and an all around great guy.  Sorry, ladies, he's married!  

And here I am, the office girl/owners wife/mom, Jen, with my two assistants!  Yes, I am so busy I need two assistants!  Sometimes it's noisy, but it is a family business and I do my best to take calls when it's quiet in the house...but it's never a guarantee! 

In addition to raising these 2 boys I handle everything but ice and snow for Ice Matters™. 

I love being able to work from home and wouldn't trade it for the world, unless of course I won lottery - then I would work from wherever I happened to be vacationing at the time!  I'm sorry...are the waves crashing in the background too noisy! 

Dependable Friends Matter

Gary Matters:  Gary has been a part time member of the Ice Matters™team for years.  Lucky us!  His full time job is as a Chef Instructor at the Lincoln Culinary Institute here in CT.  He works for us whenever we need help, doing demonstrations, delivering ice and at the shop programing the machine.  He is married, with children, pictured here with his youngest of 2 daughters.  He is hard working and forever a great guy to have around.  We are lucky to have him share his talents and friendship with us! 

JP Matters:  JP is as awesome as he is tall!  And he is the most optimistic person I know!  He is a hard worker and is very talented in both the ice and culinary arena.  He always surprises me with the things he knows and is always willing to share his knowledge and outlook on life!  JP is a free lance Sculptor and Chef, going where the business is.  We would love for that to be with the Ice Matters™ family more often!  JP has worked with us for several years doing demonstrations and large projects...but our goal is to be busy enough to keep him grounded right here.  (I know that wouldn't be fair to the rest of the world, but I'm selfish when it comes to JP!)

Kenny Matters:  We met Kenny while he was employed by Southern New England Ice and Oil where we rent space.  After High School he was moving on to greener pastures and we hired him to work for us!  Kenny was a full time employee with us until December 2008 when he moved on to even greener pastures.  He is still part of the Ice Matters™ family, working whenever we need extra help wrapping or delivering ice.  Kenny is a great guy and we would love to have him back again full time so please order a lot of ice so we can lure him back to the freezer! 

Mike Matters:  We met Mike when we hired him to work on our barn-to-house conversion project.  He  is an awesome carpenter and owns a construction company, R3.  Mike has been helping the Ice Matters™ family since 2007 and has been on some really big set ups with us!  But that didn't scare him away - he's still always there when we need him!  He is married with children, as they say, and is an all around great guy to have around!  His awesome family agrees!

Tom Matters:  Tom might be the newest member of the Ice Matters™ family, but he already has 3 nicknames!  He answers to "Master of the Angle Grinder", "King of the Freezer Drops" and "Fill in Dad".  (He is pictured here with our youngest son.)  Or you can just call him Tom, he answers to that too!

Tom is a husband, father and partner in 3 businesses (and counting).  He is always there when we need an angle grinded or a sculpture freezer dropped!  He balances a happy family and business like no one else! 

TEAMWORK MATTERS:

Finding people who work well together is worth the work.

We are all people, working together, creating a full circle. We're using what nature provides, sculpting its frozen form into something unexpected, then returning it to nature...while making the process in which that all happens our business, our family, our living.

Thank you for supporting the art of life!

Ice Matters™!

To order one of our Ice Sculptures or to inquire about our Ice Carving Demonstration services please call or e-mail Jen at 203-271-3736 or icematters@netzero.com