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Stone, bronze and clay.

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Well, for most sculptors, the material of choice is something that will last a lifetime, if not longer.

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But one man is carving out a totally different niche.

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In this week's "Entrepreneurs Only," James McDonald traveled to Canada to take a look at a cool take on contemporary sculpture.

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Taking giant slabs of frozen water and turning them into eye-catching ice carvings for private functions and events.

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For a family company in small town Canada, it's more than art; it's a business.

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Time is money in this job and if you do something better, faster...

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you can do that, you're going to stay profitable.

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It takes a hearty soul to wear shorts in a refrigerator.

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Julian Bayley has been in the ice industry for nearly 20 years.

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His Ontario-based company has become a multimillion-dollar business with an international reputation.

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But for the former caterer, it started as a hobby, carving ice punch bowls for weddings.

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But then, someone asked us to produce ice for ice carvers,

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and we started with one machine, and now we're up to 150.

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Machines are everywhere, like an ice lathe and a computer ice 3D carving system that handles sophisticated sculptures in no time.

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Technology developed in-house has helped the company tackle big projects like ice lounges and this giant maze.

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Still, dealing in frozen goods can be tricky.

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One of the biggest challenges is the fact that the ice melts, which sounds rather obvious,

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but when you're designing a sculpture, you have to take into consideration that it'll be in public for eight to twelve hours at times,

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so you have to know what it's going to do in that eight-hour period.

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You can't have it falling over.

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The big chill goes on year round here, no matter what the weather's like outside.

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It's minus eight degrees Celsius inside this freezer, where the ice is chiseled and carved into art, ready to be shipped all over the world.

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Ice Culture even exports full blocks to places as far away as Australia and South Africa.

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So why can't they make their own ice?

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Well, you can, of course, go right back to the ice tray in your refrigerator.

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But it's not crystal clear.

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Here, water is frozen from the bottom up.

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Bubbles rise to the surface and you end up with a block that's pure, achieving a glassy finish.

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This clarity has been key to bringing in new and unexpected clients.

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We did a lot of work with NASA on their return-to-flight program for the shuttle.

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We had to create ice projectiles for testing against the skin of the shuttle.

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Bayley and his daughter Heidi, who now runs the company, are still finding new ways to sell ice.

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Well, this is a 10,000-square-foot freezer...

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He plans to turn this into a tourist attraction, showcasing the best of their sculptures, another way to turn ice expertise into cold, hard cash.