A Christchurch ice carver has made the cut to create a bespoke room in one of Sweden's most famous hotels.
Dennis Taylor was among 12 artists selected to carve a room in the IceHotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi, 200km north of the Arctic Circle.
The resort, now in its 37th year, is built in the winter using blocks of ice carved out of the nearby Torne River before melting and flowing back into the water each spring.
He told 1News the opportunity is the pinnacle of his carving career to date.
"Every morning, I pinch myself. It's still hard to believe," he said.
Taylor and his wife Michelle will travel to Sweden in late November and spend 14 days creating the room.
"Fourteen days in up to -20C. I think it's going to be a bit challenging, so we'll just have to work out how we do it," he said.
The room, the Emperor's Suite, will include 41 penguin sculptures.
"The penguins themselves will come up to 900cm or 1m high, so we'll do one penguin and then another 39 or so. We'll be good at them by the end," he said.
Taylor's training his wife to help with the huge undertaking.
"I'm feeling a little bit nervous but also excited. I have confidence in Dennis that he'll be able to guide me," Michelle Taylor said.
Taylor began carving at the Park Royal Hotel in Christchurch in the 1980s and has continued to hone his skills in the ensuing decades. The projects, both here and overseas, has taken him to Sapporo in Japan; Harbin in China; and Lubeck in Germany. His latest project has seen him help create the first ice bar in Fiji.
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