**Jamie Hauser: The Art of Pumpkin Carving at Dollywood**
**Introduction**
Jamie Hauser, an artist and pumpkin carver at Dollywood, introduces himself as a unique figure in the theme park industry—Dollywood's only pumpkin carver. With over 6000 pumpkins carved in his lifetime, Jamie shares insights into his craft, passion, and the journey that led him to this distinctive role.
**Journey to Becoming a Pumpkin Carver**
Jamie's journey began as a hobbyist, carving pumpkins like everyone else. His talent was noticed by Dollywood during their first "Pumpkin Lumina" event. Initially carving 300 pumpkins, the festival has since grown exponentially, with Jamie now responsible for thousands of carvings.
**Techniques and Tools**
Jamie's carving process is a blend of creativity and precision. He uses various tools: China markers for stencils, wood carving knives, linoleum cutters, and even power tools like Dremels. His preferred method varies between freehand designs and stencils he creates himself. Notably, Jamie uses light bulbs inside pumpkins for brighter illumination, a technique that enhances the carved details.
**Design Process**
Each pumpkin is a canvas for Jamie's artistic vision. He selects pumpkins based on their suitability for specific themes, such as those inspired by Dollywood's new roller coaster, Big Bear Mountain. This thematic approach ensures that each carving complements the park's attractions, featuring elements like sunflowers and bears.
**Challenges and Scaling Up**
Preserving pumpkins is a challenge Jamie addresses by avoiding complete cuts through the shell. He carves from the back to prevent rotting, ensuring longer-lasting displays. The scale of production has increased significantly, with Jamie carving up to 10 pumpkins daily, even achieving 60 in a single day for special events.
**Passion and Ambition**
Jamie's passion lies in creating detailed, themed designs that go beyond simple jack-o'-lanterns. His ambitious goal is to carve famous paintings, pushing the boundaries of pumpkin artistry. This drive keeps his work fresh and exciting.
**Advice for Beginners**
For newcomers to pumpkin carving, Jamie recommends starting with basic designs like jack-o'-lanterns before attempting complex patterns. This approach helps build skills and confidence gradually.
**Impact on Visitors**
The highlight of Jamie's job is seeing visitors' reactions to his carvings. The sense of accomplishment and joy from creating something that brings happiness to others is immeasurable.
**Call to Action**
Jamie concludes with an invitation to engage with his work, encouraging viewers to like the video and subscribe for more expert tips, ensuring continued learning and inspiration in pumpkin carving.
Through Jamie's dedication and creativity, Dollywood's pumpkins have become a beloved feature, showcasing the blend of artistry and tradition in every carve.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI never expected I would get paid to carvepumpkins.I'm actually not certain how many pumpkinsI've carved in my lifetime, but it is over6000.My name is Jamie Hauser.I am an artist and pumpkin carver forDollywood.And I am Dollywood's only pumpkin carver.I was brought in as a carver.The very first pumpkin Lamanites.And now I'm the only carver that they use.I do prefer to work alone.That way I can control exactly what it lookslike.I've honestly done art my whole life,whether it be drawing, painting, and I juststarted carving pumpkins like everybodyelse, and I was pretty good at it.And then Dollywood contacted me with thefirst pumpkin luminais.The first year, I think we had probablyabout 3 or 400 pumpkins on par carved and nowthousands. I can carve usually on average 8to 10 pumpkins aday. But the most I've ever carved is I did60 lanterns in one day.I started with the plastic kits thateveryone gets, and I realized I couldn'treally do what I wanted to do.And I actually watched other pumpkin carversand saw what they use and started tryingdifferent things. I freehand my designs.Sometimes I do make a stencil with pumpkins,but I draw the stencil myself.Oh. I use a China markerand I draw the design on it, and you canactually use a cloth to wipe it offafterwards. Whatever's not cut.Put the light in it and start carving it.I use a real light, a light bulb in thepumpkin, because I feel like the candlesdon't bring enough light to it.You can use kitchen knives.I use a lot of wood carving knives.I use a linoleum cutter.That's probably one of the different thingsthat I use.It's a little bit unusual, and I do havesome regular pumpkin carving tools too.These are actually wood carving knives.That's what I usually cut through the backwith.And these are different pumpkin carvingtools.You can see they're kind of beveled.I would just start cutting in and cut asdeep as I can on the eyes, because you wantthat to be the brightest point. Now shave itwith the light on.So you see the it's like almost likepainting.It's like layers of depth.I do use different tools and differentprocesses for the foam versus the real forthe foam. I do cut the top off.I can usually draw on the pumpkin, and thenI use a dremel to cut through or the shape ofit and the real one.I come up with an idea of what I want tocarve, and just pick the pumpkin that bestfits what I'm trying to do.Then I cut the hole in the back.I don't cut from the top on a real one.I cut from the back. It makes it last a lotlonger.That way the light doesn't shine through thethe cuts to.And that's why you should never pick apumpkin at Potsdam.If it breaks, it'll make it rot faster.I go ahead and scrape out all the insides,and I do use the plastic scoop out of thepumpkin kits. But I do know there'sattachments you can attach on to a drill.Or you can use just big kitchen spoons toremove the inside of the pumpkin.As far as preserving the pumpkins, I'venever found anything that really works wellother than not completely cutting it througha carve all the artificials before thefestival starts. And then during thefestival I am there carving real pumpkins onfark. As of right now, all the carvedpumpkins on park are foam.They are all hand carved by me.But we do have a lot of uncarved realpumpkins in park.The festival's got much bigger than we everthought it would.This year I started calving in April andI've carved probably 3 or 400 since June.Our design process is we have like an areawe want to tie into the theme of it.So this year we have a new roller coaster,Big Bear Mountain.So we're trying to design the flower beds totheme them with that like sunflowers,butterflies, bears, stuff that ties in withwhat we're doing there.This is the largest pumpkin I've evercarved.It does not fit through a door.I have to carve them outside or in thisbuilding.I'm actually carving another one like this.It's a claw mark with a bear looking throughit.I do not feel famous when I was park, but Ido feel proud.Like when it's all together, it's kind ofamazing how many I've actually carved thatare on park. It's one of my favorite thingsI like to do is draw different animals andcarve different animals. It's a little bitmore challenging than just like a flower or ajack o lantern. I see the work at Dollywoodis a fun challenge.It doesn't. I don't find it overwhelming.It's fun to think of new ways I can carvesomething to fit in with the park.The pumpkin carving is just a fun.I just enjoy it.It's just a different way to express art.I'm very ambitious with carving.I would like to try more masterpieces likefamous paintings.Honestly, I think for somebody that's notreally ever carved a pumpkin, I would juststick with the jack o lantern to begin withbefore you try more complex designs.I think my favorite thing about thisfestival is just seeing people's reaction toall of our stuff, because we put in a lot ofhard work for this festival, and just to seehow happy it makes people.If you like this video, give it a thumbs upand subscribe to handmade for more experttips.\n"
