The much-welcomed warming trend over the weekend made the work of a Fox Valley artist a little more challenging on Valentine’s Day. Beginning at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, artist Joe Gagnepain was busy at work outside Bocaditos Cafe in Batavia carving a Valentine’s Day-themed ice sculpture with a chai nsaw. He said he started doing ice sculptures over 15 years ago. “I started sculpting with college colleagues in Michigan and then later, the city of St. Charles asked me to do something for a winter function and I just said yes and later I talked to a chef and he told me what tools to use,” Gagnepain, of Batavia, explained before he began carving Saturday. “I use a chisel and a grinder and the chainsaw.” The ice sculpting event was organized by Silvia Sanchez, co-owner of Bocaditos, who said she knew that Gagnepain was a local artist “who has done many other things here in the downtown” and that “creating art with a chainsaw is absolutely amazing.” “It’s just amazing he can carve something like that and that’s why we want to have him at our place in this space,” Sanchez said a day before the event. “We thought people would like to see this as it’s something they’re not used to. I know on Valentine’s Day people think about flowers and candy but this is something unique.” Gagnepain shrugged off any weather-related issues due to Saturday’s temperatures in the 40s, saying that there have been times “I’ve been cutting ice when it’s been over 90 degrees.” “The thing is usually keeping the sun off the blocks and working in the shade,” he explained on Saturday. “When it’s above freezing and the sun hits (the ice) it will kind of crack and fracture far faster. Being in the shade or under the clouds like we are today it won’t disappear as fast.” He said he wouldn’t have to work faster due to the weather. “I’ve carved ice in 90 or 100 degrees and it’s like rivers of sweat coming off the block,” he said. Gagnepain said he doesn’t have a go-to design for an ice sculpture but rather sketches out ideas beforehand “that are kind of tied to the event.” Saturday’s design for Valentine’s Day featured two cupped hands pointing upward and wrapped around a heart. “I needed something heart-related and it just popped into my head – making like a heart shape with hands and I knew that was a winning design,” Gagnepain said. “It all depends on the project.” Carol Schmitt of Geneva said Gagnepain’s work was “amazing.” “It’s hard to imagine being able to do this,” she said while watching the artist work. Children watch artist Joe Gagnepain carve a Valentine's Day-themed ice sculpture Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, outside Bocaditos Cafe in Batavia. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News) Mike Wentzloff of Batavia brought his two children Xander, 9, and Olive, 6, and admitted he “had never seen ice sculpture in person, just online.” “Cutting something with a chainsaw seems pretty cool. My wife told me about this last night and I was wondering how do I get into something like this. It’s something I’d actually like to try and do,” Wentzloff said. Kim Gartlan of West Chicago stopped by the cafe and said she has seen ice sculpture before in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, as well as in Naperville. “I think this is amazing,” she said. “It’s art, and it’s the perfect winter kind of thing.” Danny Schmitt of Batavia admired the artist’s work on Saturday. “I hope it stays cold enough so things don’t melt, but as far as the design I could barely do that with a pencil and paper much less carving it out with a saw,” he said. David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News. ...read more read less