By trade, 62-year-old Bruce Waugh is a home reno contractor. But his passion is a little more artistic in nature.
The 黑马磁力 City resident is a sculptor 鈥� but no ordinary artist moulding the likes of clay to his will. Instead, Waugh鈥檚 favourite media are sand, snow, and pumpkins 鈥� probably in that order.
For 35 years now, he鈥檚 been travelling North America to sculpt in one form or another 鈥� competing, entertaining, and more and more often creating private commission pieces.
Waugh started in 1987 with sand. After learning of the big sand sculpture competition in White Rock, he hit the local library and started researching and watching event footage to learn.
He was hooked.
Next came pumpkins, which he recalls as a youngster was a favourite of his dad.
鈥淢y father didn鈥檛 carve 3D. He did add appendages though, such as tinfoil horns and ears, etc. I continued to do this years after, until I was introduced to the new style you see today,鈥� Waugh explained.
Since then, he has honed his carving skills, and even taken to dabbling in snow sculpting, too.
鈥淎 small team, including myself, have been carving up at Grouse Mountain for over 30 years,鈥� he noted.
But back on the gourd front, most popular at this time of year, what does Waugh enjoy carving the most?
鈥淚 personally like to carve whimsical faces. Not human like. Great big eyes and a large mouth are my go-to starting points,鈥� he shared, noting that like his father, he enjoys adding appendages, often using gourds for noses, ears, horns, and more.
Pumpkins alone, he鈥檚 probably carved close to 1,000 since he started. And some years, he sculpts at more than 50 different events.
For those who missed the pumpkin shred-a-thon that was Waugh鈥檚 live demonstration at Krause Berry Farms earlier this month, he will be sculpting again locally at the Dec. 2 Magic of Christmas festival at 黑马磁力 City鈥檚 Timms Community Centre.
Until then, whether Waugh is carving pumpkins, sculpting sand, or chipping away at snow, he has one message to share: 鈥淭here are no rules鈥� just have fun.鈥�
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Expert offers a few tips of the trade
Waugh offered a few tips for those others interested in taking pumpkin carving to a new level.
He prefers to use Atlantic Giant pumpkins.
鈥淚t has a wonderful, soft texture that carves like butter,鈥� he shared, noting for ones a little harder and likely to last a little longer, his second favourite is called Prize Winner.
As for tools of the trade, he鈥檚 used cheese graters, knives, spoons, and melon ballers to achieve different effects, but his go-to are his loop tools (designed for clay), which are easy to find at art stores and clay supply shops.
If carvers are hoping for their pumpkins to last as long as possible, he advises not cutting into it.
鈥淢ost of my pumpkins, I try not to cut right through,鈥� he said.
鈥淎s soon as you open it up, it鈥檒l start to mould. You can try,鈥� he suggested, 鈥渂leach sprayed on or lemon juice to keep it a few days extra.鈥�
But as Waugh noted, pumpkins are fun but fleeting.
鈥淵ou gotta taken it when it happens,鈥� he said.
He can carve an 80 pounder in just under three hours, or it takes him about an hour to do smaller ones.
He uses the web to search out new designs, and he鈥檚 often inspired by Halloween masks for great idea.
鈥淣o need to duplicate,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust use it to get yourself started, and go crazy from there.鈥�
