Pro pumpkin carver turns giant gourds into spectacular sculptures

By Ben Barry via SWNS

A professional pumpkin carver spends up to eight hours turning giant pumpkins into sculptures of animals, Hannibal Lecter and the evil queen from "Snow White."

Gus Smithhisler, 52, has been carving pumpkins for 20 years and turns the giant vegetables into characters including Santa Claus and the Grim Reaper.

It can take him between four to eight hours to carve each pumpkin - some of which weigh up to 1,800 lb - with the biggest job yet taking him two days to complete, a wolf with a full moon.

Gus from Columbus, Ohio is now setting himself the challenge of carving a 2,300-pound pumpkin.

"It all started over 21 years ago in 2001 at the Indiana State Fair Pumpkin weigh-off," he said.

"I grew pumpkins for fun and entered them in the competition.

"After it was over, I thought that all these gigantic pumpkins shouldn’t just go into the compost heap.

"Someone should carve them - that's where my pumpkin carving career started.

"I can spend anywhere from four to eight hours on a pumpkin, depending on the size.

"The biggest one I did, I spent two days doing it, it weighed 1,800 lb and it was of a wolf with a moon behind it."

Gus works with Atlantic giant pumpkins and most of these weigh around 500 lb - but some have grown to be almost 2,000 lb.

He estimates that he carves 25 giant pumpkins a year over his 20-year career.

Gus carves all year round, including cheeses, fruits and vegetables, his work tends to pick up around Halloween in the September and October months.

As well as being a professional pumpkin carver, Gus is an engineer for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and said Halloween is his busiest time of the year.

Gus gets his pumpkins from pumpkin growers across the US and travels across the country for work.

His work has been featured at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the Ohio State Fair, Circleville Pumpkin Show, Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago, and The Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Gus said it is hard to choose a favorite design but that he loves designing pumpkins for the zoo.

"Some of my favorites have been adult and baby giraffes, gorillas, eagles and dragons. I like the natural form or the animals to carve," he said.

"The first thing I do is I sit them upright to try and give myself a bigger canvas.

"I then look to see what the shapes give me and then I sketch out my design and start carving.

"I love my career because I love making people happy, people love seeing the big pumpkins, and it is fun to interact with people."