The cold weather is bringing out the creative side of one New Jersey resident.

Earl Covington says he was a teenager when he first started to carve ice and creating sculptures for a restaurant.

He became a champion sculptor, competing around the world by turning ice into elaborate sculptures.

Covington says it was a good career, but he stopped working on sculpting ice a few years ago.

A few weeks ago, he found his way back onto the ice.

“It’s like turning into a community where we can all get together again,” Covington says. “Something we haven’t done. We can still social distance.”

The Highland Lakes resident is currently furloughed from his sales job due to the pandemic, but the icy weather has brought him back to his roots. Covington says he’s also found some creative neighbors in an area that he’s new to.

He is creating a swan to add to the igloo, sofa, coffee table and the family of other figures frozen in place.

Covington is hoping for a long, cold winter to keep his sculptures around for a while.

“It feels real good to have a chainsaw back in my hand, doing what I really have a passion for,” he says.