Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Rick Bernier makes an ice sculpture in downtown Houghton Saturday afternoon.

HOUGHTON — As pedestrians turned to look and drivers stopped in the street to snap pictures, Rick Bernier turned ice into art.

Bernier, of Land o’ Lakes, Wisconsin, carved ice sculptures with a chainsaw in front of the Douglass House Saturday morning and afternoon as part of Winter Carnival festivities. He subbed for carver Rich Pethtel, who has made the sculptures for several years.

A woodcarver for the past 25 years, Bernier only began ice carving recently. He used an electric saw rather than the gas one he uses for wood.

He didn’t notice much difference between ice and wood carving, he said.

“It cuts like glass, but it’s smooth, fast,” he said.

The designs came out of his head. Early Saturday afternoon, he had made an eagle and was working on a husky. He wasn’t sure what would follow, but was considering a bear and a fish.

Bernier’s interest in animals carries throughout his professional life. He works as a taxidermist and also makes items such as fish-shaped coffee tables, which he paints to resemble a realistic fish.

“They buy them fast,” he said. “I can’t keep them stocked.”

But his ice carvings were the star Saturday.

“A lot of people gave me compliments on stuff today,” Bernier said. “It was pretty cool.”