STONEWALL, Okla. ( KFOR ) — The victim is carefully chosen, but the approach is random.
Daniel Miller often doesn’t have a specific idea of what he might carve into a particular pumpkin.
He lets the shape decide, then the thickness.
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“More often than not you’re doing a kind of forced perspective,” he explains.
Believe it or not, Miller comes from a background in Fine Arts, painting and wood carving.
“I used to put stuff in galleries and shows,” he recalls.
But he found an extra kick in pumpkin carving, watching someone demonstrate on TV, then diving in himself.
He remembers thinking, “Man. I’m going to do that.”
Miller likes the performance part of it now, flinging peels at spectators while answering questions.
“I’m throwing pumpkin guts everywhere but making something really cool.”
He might spend as much as four hours on one pumpkin, way less than other artist friends.
“You get to the fun part,” Daniel states, “then you have a chance to fix thing you did while getting there.”
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He carves as many as 150 of them a year.
Daniel likes the temporary aspect of his work.
Mistakes disappear.
“In three days,” he smiles, “unless you want to show someone the picture, no one will see it again.”
The next project is always nearby, spooky or funny. Miller likes to keep them looking like pumpkins though.
“I like to leave the stems on so you know it’s a pumpkin.”
The rest is all in the peeling, cutting, gouging, and even stabbing.
It’s not an end to life, but a creative beginning.
“I’m supposed to be a little off,” he chuckles, “because I’m carving pumpkins.”
Miller is one of 14 contestants competing this month on a Food Network series called, ‘Outrageous Pumpkins’.
During the month of October, he carves pumpkins for festivals and commissions.
In November he switches to competitive ice carving for the winter.
For more information on ‘Outrageous Pumpkins’ visit the website here .
And to see more of Daniel Millers carvings visit his Instagram page here .
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