Cutting-edge artists of the cool and transitory

Walk into the studio of Eric Fontecchio and Alfred Georgs and you get a deep chill.

It's a nippy 25 degrees in this giant freezer where the floor is a carpet of ice shavings, leftovers from the duo's latest ice sculptures.

These artists ply their craft at the Brookline Ice Co., where they saw, chip, cut, and chisel giant 300-pound blocks of ice into some of the bigger-than-life works featured during Boston's First Night.

Whether it was the 30-foot-high Cinderella sculpture in Copley Square last year, the colossal Noah's Ark ensemble moored by Trinity Church the year before, or the 25-foot-high Neptune with St. George slaying his dragon in 1999, their ice sculptures have become integral to the First Night festivities.

''It makes being a little cold outside worth it," said Joyce Linehan, a spokeswoman for First Night Boston, which also features ice-sculpture artists from Andover and Rockland. Fontecchio and Georgs spend the weeks before First Night designing each sculpture on paper, then sawing slabs of ice to begin their transformations.

They use saws, chisels, and routers to shape the blocks into the fine details that define their creations.

Two days before First Night, they transport the sculptures in shrink-wrapped segments to Copley Square, where they add their final touches in preparation for the big day.

This year they are carving two scenes from the story of Hansel and Gretel, depicting them as the children approach the gingerbread house and meet the witch. The artists expect to use 32 tons of ice for the job.

''We try to get themes that kids enjoy," said Georgs, a 70-year-old retired chef from Reading.

He loves the use of ice as art because ''you are seeing images you are not used to seeing every day in translucent light. It creates an ambience of fantasy."

And their fantasy factory is a mezzanine-level freezer on Brookline Avenue, or the ''Ice House," as it's labeled on a beam above rows of large cubes of ice.

While giving the finishing touches to a 3-foot-tall sculpture of a martini glass with an olive on top, intended for an office party, Fontecchio added: ''They bring out a sense of aura. It's a medium that allows you to use illusion."

The midwinter holidays are the busiest time for these guys. They produce an average of five pieces a day through January.

Overall, the pair whip up about 500 sparkling sculptures a year, many of them used as logos for company celebrations or centerpieces for banquets, weddings, and office parties.

They have designed swans, dolphins, and cool portraits of the likes of Beethoven and Einstein.

On this weekday, besides the martini glass, they created a miniature delivery truck that will hold shrimp for party guests.

As much as the men enjoy the art of molding ice, they admit there are drawbacks to what they do.

''Most people don't want to work in a freezer," said Fontecchio, 41, who wears gloves, a snow cap, a thick jacket, and boots while pursuing his craft. As he talks inside the freezer, puffs of white steam follow his every word.

He has been an ice sculptor since he attended the Massachusetts College of Art in 1982 to study sculpture.

A summer job as an ice artist at Brookline Ice at age 18 led him to a full-time job, and he's been here ever since.

He and his partner know their work is fleeting, creations that will melt with Mother Nature or be torn down if they become unsafe for passersby.

''This is a short-lived vanity," Georgs said.

So they photograph their most outstanding pieces and keep their images intact inside a photo album.

''If they didn't melt," said Fontecchio, ''I would be soon out of a job.

''It's a living."

A n-ice one at that.

For more information on First Night Boston, visit its Website at www.firstnight.org or call 617-542-1399. First Night buttons, which cost $15, are also available at Shaw's, Store 24 and Li'l Peach stores. Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com