His breathtaking sculptures have wowed audiences in cities and towns all over the world. From sand sculptures in the centre of Bradford, to an ice hotel in Finland, artist Jamie Wardley has certainly achieved a wide and varied audience for his work.

But few who know of his talent will realise that some of the artistic genius displayed by the ice and sand sculptor was honed in Ilkley.

For Jamie, who is now 30, used to live in the Denton area of the town and it was during his time here that he decided to take life drawing classes – a move he says that helped him tremendously with his work.

He said: “I had been working on ice and sand sculptures for years when I did the classes but they definitely made a difference to my sculptures.

“I remember wishing I had taken life drawing classes years before, but all of the artists who worked alongside me at the sessions – held at Christ Church – were so warm and supportive it definitely helped my work.” Jamie, who was born and raised in Bradford, ‘fell into’ his career as a sculptor during a visit as a student to Norway six years ago.

He was studying environmental science at the time and when he visited the city of Trondheim he noticed a sculptor Daniel Foyer hard at work with some sand outside a local church.

He said: “I saw him and became very curious about what he was doing. I stood for ages staring at him and then I left. I had to return to see how his creation had come on and I was amazed by what I saw.

“I got chatting to him and he told me to have a go with some left over sand he had sitting there.

“I did and he seemed to really like what I had done even though I thought it was useless!” In fact Jamie’s work had impressed the sculptor so much that he invited him to use his studio and learn the craft.

Jamie flew back in the summer and spent two weeks sleeping on the floor of the studio with little more than a fridge and a pile of sand to play with.

He said: “I had such a good time. I had always been good at art but had never done any kind of sculpture before. I just found that I could do it.

“It was quite strange because with painting and drawing you gradually get better and better but with sculpting I just instinctively knew how to do it. When I look back at stuff I did back then, I have improved a lot but still, I seemed to take to it really quickly.”

Daniel called Jamie up a short time later explaining that he was about to do some work in the UK. He asked Jamie if he would assist him. Jamie took the leap and before long found himself touring festivals in Portugal, Belgium and Holland making sculptures.

“It taught me so much. I was doing it blind, so to speak but I just decided to go for it and give it a try,” he said.

“That’s my philosophy and advice to anyone else out there hoping to do something. Just try it.” Through his work with sand, Jamie soon uncovered another sculpting material – blocks of ice.

He met with a group of men in Belgium who were ice sculptors and asked to join them in their work. He then travelled to Finland where he worked for an expert in the field.

He said: “We went into the middle of no where and cut blocks of ice from the lake. It was about minus 14 at the time so there was no chance of it melting!

“We then went on to compete against 14 teams from all over the world and won first prize with me helping.

“It was fantastic. I was able to say I was a world champion ice sculptor” Jamie, whose work on the sand Darwin sculpture in the centre of Bradford last summer caused a stir, has just finished work on an ice nativity scene at the Peace Hall in Halifax.

He said: “Ice and sand are two very different mediums. With sand you can really get expression into whatever you are creating. Darwin displayed a very subtle emotion in his face.

“With ice I just wouldn’t be able to achieve that. Ice is more like a moment captured in time – those sculptures have an energy, a dynamism. It is the pose that portrays the emotion in ice and as a sculptor you have to work very fast to achieve it.”

Jamie carried out his work on the nativity scene in a big freezer in Sheffield. The sculptures were then transported to Halifax in a freezer truck. He also did some live carves at the Peace Hall using blocks of ice weighing 120 kilograms – about one and a half times his own body weight.

He said: “For me I suppose sculpting is lots and lots of drawings put together. That’s the way I work. I do a drawing from the front, the side the back then put them together.”

Seeing his 120 tonne sand sculpture of Darwin displayed in his home city of Bradford, was a proud moment. He has also created features that are eight to nine metres high and did a Mayan temple in Portugal using 600 tonnes of sand.

He is now due to go and work on an ice hotel where he will be responsible for carving the inside of the ‘building’ to bring some magic to the place. Asked what he would do if he was ever commissioned to work in Ilkley, Jamie said he would definitely try to incorporate the ‘rugged’ beauty of the surrounding moors and wildlife.

He said: “Ilkley is gorgeous. It was lovely taking walks and seeing red kites and deer. The moorland is very harsh but very beautiful – especially in spring when you see all the blue bells popping up all over the place.

“I think if I did anything in Ilkley it would have to somehow reflect that.”