LAST UPDATED 11/03/2005

In September of 2002 I opened a company (FlisKits, Inc.).  The months of preparation for that opening followed by 3 years of operations have kept me from carving much in the way of pumpkins.  Even worse, it has prevented me from finding the time to post pictures of those pumpkins here (or perform much of any other web updates on my personal site)

This then is a photo album of all of my pumpkins from 2002, 2003 & 2004 with a special section for 2005 pumpkins.  I also (for 2005) have my son's (Joe) very first pumpkin carving as well as one of my daughter's (Jen).  Jen has done many pumpkins over the years and I hope to get the rest posted here soon (so keep watch!).

If you see a photo that interests you, and you would like a high resolution copy, feel free to send me email and, time permitting, I will email a copy to you.  These high resolution images are around 1600 X 1200 pixels, jpeg compressed and are 250KB - 500KB in size.  Family and friends get precedence of my time when requesting high res copies.  In all cases, the image is provided for personal use only (no businesses without prior written permission from Jim Flis) and any use must provide recognition of myself as the carver and the photographer.

To view the images, just click on the thumbnail image on the left.  Use your browser BACK button to return to this index.   The images are about 30KB - 40KB and will take a few seconds to load.

ENJOY!

	We share our neighborhood with an assisted living home for the elderly.  Every year I select a group or business, out of the blue, and do a pumpkin for them with their logo.  This year I decided to do one for our neighbor, Rose Haven.  Here is the un-lit version of the pumpkin
	Here it is lit.  It is hard to capture good images of these pumpkins, but you get the idea.  Needless to say, they were thrilled to see this addition to their Autumn decorations
	I also did this pumpkin for a friend of mine who works at the local White Hen store.
	This is probably the 5th Jimi Hendrix pumpkin that I have done.  It is a favorite carving of mine and for the many people who get to see it.  It doesn't take long, maybe a couple of hours to draw and carve.  This is the pumpkin un-lit
	Lit, the Jimi Hendrix pumpkin takes on a whole new persona.  Jimi virtually leaps out at you!
	I wanted to try something new this year so I carved a second Jimi pumpkin.  Same artwork only blown up to cover NINE pumpkins!
	While this was a first attempt and some technique work is needed, I consider this quite the success....
	This close-up provides a little more of the detail.  Needless to say, this stopped some traffic on my street! LOL
	This is another Jimi Hendrix pumpkin that I carved.  Very easy, actually, only spending about 90 minutes, start to finish.  This un-lit version is in fact complete, but as with most portrait pumpkins, it is very hard to make out the design until it is lit
	Lit, Jimi becomes much more familiar...
	And what would a Halloween pumpkin be without a little devilish fun thrown in?
	This is the first bat carving I have ever done and I am rather pleased with the result.
	Much better lit, the image of the bat, wings outstretched, captures motion and intent in one image.
	My most complex pumpkin during this period (2002-2005), this battling skeleton radiates evil intent not to mention one heck of an angry attitude!
	Lit, he is even MORE foreboding.
	I thought it would be interesting to show how I do a logo pumpkin.  While this doesn't go into details such as the technique and use of the tools, it shouldn't be hard to figure out.  Here I show a pumpkin with the logo traced onto it.  In this case, the Milford, NH Pumpkin Festival.  For all logo's I trace so as to get an exact reproduction.
	The next step is to carve the design.  If the foreground of this picture you will see the pumpkin waste (small orange shavings) along with the tools of the trade, a pen, X-Acto knife and a selection of wood carving chisels.
	All cleaned up and ready for display.
	Lit, they are simply beautiful.
	Here is the image on the other side of this same pumpkin.
	Lit, you can clearly see the church clock tower, the gazebo and the pumpkins and Fall leaves that decorate the "Oval at Milford" during the annual pumpkin festival.
Pumpkin's by Jim - 2005
	While I didn't do very many pumpkins this year, I did a few and I had fun doing them.  This first one is one I did for Kathy to bring into work at the Weathervane where she works.
	Lit, it is wonderful and was a great addition to their Autumn decorations.
	Wanting to add more to the Weathervane pumpkin, I also carved a image of the sun on the side.
	As with most carved images, you have to see it lit to appreciate it!
	Kathy and I spent 3 days up in Pittsburg, NH on a short get-away.  We stayed at the Bear Tree cabins. We so enjoyed ourselves that I decided to carve our hosts (Georgie and John) a pumpkin.   This side shows a woodland scene with a moose in the foreground
	Here you can see the moose in better contrast.  I felt is was a suitable subject as moose are one of the main attractions of this area.
	The other side of the pumpkin contains this image of their logo from their web site.
	It is a cute image and was very much suited to a carving such as this.  Georgie and John were thrilled to receive this gift.
	A friend of mine asked if I could do a pumpkin of Harry Potter for her son Kenny.  Well, I came home and told Jen (daughter) about it and she begged me to let *her* carve this fun and exciting topic into a pumpkin.  So, here is Jen's handiwork.  The right side has the Hogwarts shield
	The face has a movie poster showing the main characters
	The left side shows the logo along with the Golden Snitch.  Jen had a ball carving this pumpkin and Deb and Kenny (and Ken too) just loved it!
	Joe (my son) and his room mate (Jesse) were entering a pumpkin carving contest and Joe decided he would give my technique a try.  He showed me a very elaborate drawing he had done of "Electra", I believe from Marvel comics.  I even went so far as to say "if you have problems bring it over here and I will help you carve it"...   ...As you can see, he didn't need any help!  GREAT JOB JOE!
	Lit you can see the intricate detail of this carving.  Truly and impressive job for a first time carver.  They took first place with 97 of the available 100 votes.
With this I am now caught up on my pumpkin photo albums! (well, with the exception of the rest of Jen's carvings, which I hope to get to eventually...)  I hope to have more ambitious projects for next year and will work very hard to find/make the time to do them.  'Til then...

Copyright, ©1998, James M. Flis