William “Ice” Bloom, known as Ice to his colleagues and clients, began his study in leather and costume design at the very young age of 5. His father and uncles were all professional leathersmiths specializing in riding gear(chaps, leather jackets, wallets, saddlebags, scull caps, belts ect…) which Ice found fascinating. His uncles taught him how to braid, form, cut, shape and dye and treat leather but once he was shown how to tool leather there was no turning back. His mother, being a master seamstress, taught him how to sew and his grandparents both sold custom women’s clothing, exposing Ice to myriad sales techniques and tailoring methods. Ice attended Algonquin College and studied fine art and contemporary still life methods to bring more depth and realism to his art. At age 19, he started a Gothic design business with Mother Deth (his mother, Shelley Bloom) called ‘Deas Q-Tag’ and in 2005 it was transformed into Ottawa Gothic Designs. Ice’s designs in cosplay, fetish, fantasy armour and Gothic fashion have earned him awards from dozens of conventions and has resulted in appearances in local movies and television broadcasts. Ice’s hands on specialty, beyond design, is tooling. He takes simple pieces and tools incredible detail into them making each piece a work of art. He has since learned to how to perfect 3D leather portraiture and adapted the use of an airbrush to command effects and detail rarely seen in the leathercraft industry. Ice is currently furthering his education into the fields of vaccuuforming and special FX techniques.