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Genoa City woman finds art in pumpkins

Photo

Photo by Kyle Bursaw

Dori Davis-Beck carves into a pumpkin, cross-checking her progress with a small drawing of how she wants the final product to look.The Genoa City artist has been doing the special, seasonal carvings for about 10 years.

Photo

Photo by Kyle Bursaw

Dori Davis-Beck carves into a pumpkin, cross-checking her work with a small drawing of what she wants the final product to look like. This particular pumpkin is going to be a lake scene.

Photo

Photo by Kyle Bursaw

An unfinished lake scene carved by Dori Davis-Beck glows with possibilities.

Photo

Dori Davis-Beck

GENOA CITY — Forget everything you know about jack-o-lanterns.

Forget the triangle-shaped eyes. Forget the triangle-shaped nose. And forget the toothy, jagged mouth.

These pumpkins are cut and carved works of art.

Dori Davis-Beck, 34, of Genoa City has been transforming the ubiquitous orange fruit of fall into illuminated advertisements, centerpieces and gifts for family, friends and local businesses for more than 10 years.

As a little girl, she carved pumpkins with her siblings, never caring if she got messy from scooping out the squishy, stringy guts. Then as an adult, she wanted to try carving pumpkins using the new tools and stencils available in stores.

Davis-Beck had found a hobby—and a small moneymaking business she could run out of her home. She called it Custom Carved Creations.

At first, her customers were limited to family and friends, who asked for simple designs, such as a name with a Halloween scene around it. But then, after Davis-Beck had a booth on Main Street in Lake Geneva during the Oktoberfest event, her customer base grew to include local businesses, which asked for designs that incorporated their logos.

Some memorable projects include carving the creepy skeleton logo of the Milwaukee Admirals into a 120-pound pumpkin; the curly-cue writing and fountain logo of the Golden Oaks Mansion, and the glittering cityscape design for Bistro 220.

To watch Davis-Beck carve pumpkins is to watch an artist in action. The in-between stages of her designs are as interesting and intricate as the finished projects. But the pièce de résistance is to see the carved creation illuminated.

"I won't look at it until I'm all done and I can light it up," she said. "I can visualize what it's going to look like until then, but I won't do it because I'm so excited to see it when it's done."

Davis-Beck has pumpkin carving down to a few (easy for her to say) steps.

First, she selects a pumpkin that is the appropriate size and shape for the project. She cuts a hole in the bottom and the top; removes the seeds and guts, and scrapes the flesh until it's about a half-inch thick.

Next, she draws a rough sketch of the design using a dry-erase marker so she has a guide to follow while making her cuts and scrapes. She spends hours poking, cutting and scraping, usually from the middle of the design to the outside of the design, until the design is complete. She uses an arsenal of store-bought and homemade tools.

Then, she sprays the design with Listerine to kill germs, wipes it down and rubs petroleum jelly on the cuts to help preserve them.

And finally, she lights it up.

Davis-Beck has yet to be flummoxed by a complicated design.

"So far, in all these years, I haven't miscarved a pumpkin," she said. "I'm always up for a challenge."

But Davis-Beck still is stumped by nature.

She has spent years trying to figure out a way to preserve her pumpkins. She's tried lacquers, dips and sprays, but nothing sticks very well. She's even tried freeze-drying, but the pumpkins end up molding before the process is complete.

"If I can figure out a way to preserve them, this is something I could do all the time … this is what I will do," she said.

Davis-Beck carves dozens of pumpkins in the fall, and she spends hours on each pumpkin—anywhere from four or five hours for a simple design to nine or 10 hours for a complicated design.

Although it might seem like a lot for a busy wife and mother of three girls, ages 1, 3 and 12, it's not.

"I don't see it as my work," she said. "I find time to do it. It's a release for me. It's relaxing."

Davis-Beck someday wants to have a shop, where she could display her carved creations—pumpkins, watermelons and gourds customized for Halloween, Thanksgiving and other special occasions, such as weddings, baby showers and birthday parties.

For now, she's happy to work in her kitchen, filling the countertop with tools, sketches and wadded up paper towels and filling the floor with pumpkin shrapnel.

"It's very rewarding," she said. "Not only do I enjoy doing it, but so many other people love it, too. And that's what's so cool about this."

Halloween safety tips

-- Choose a safe costume. Make sure all clothing fits properly and is highly visible and flame retardant, and make sure masks allow for good vision.

-- Choose safe props. Make sure knives, pitchforks or wands are smooth and flexible so as not to cause injury if fallen on or broken.

-- Bring a flashlight and a cell phone to light the way while trick-or-treating at nighttime.

-- Adults should accompany children while trick-or-treating. Make sure children know how to get help if they get lost. Make sure children, especially younger ones, have a card with emergency contact information on the inside of their costume and that they know to tell authorities where it is if they get lost.

-- Obey traffic signals and stay on sidewalks or the left side of the road, facing traffic, if there are no sidewalks.

-- Slow down on the roads and be aware of trick-or-treaters.

-- Clear obstructions from steps, walkways and sidewalks so trick-or-treaters and accompanying adults do not trip and fall.

-- Inspect all treats before they are eaten.

-- Get a designated driver if attending a party where alcohol will be served.