Fife pumpkin carving artist shows off his finest designs as he reveals ‘big plans’ for his work

By Sheanne Mulholland

October 26 2022, 5:34pm

Pumpkin carving expert James Phimister with some of this creations.

A Fife pumpkin carver whose work has grabbed the attention of experts in America has announced ‘big plans’ for his Halloween creations.

James Phimister, from Kirkcaldy – also known as Pumpkin McFife – has been perfecting his art for a decade, gifting his work to friends and family along the way.

But now he says he is ready to turn his ‘obsession’ into a business and has started putting plans into place to launch handcrafted ‘everlasting pumpkins’ onto the market.

He said: “I’m doing it as a hobby just now but I have big ideas to turn it into a business.”

Pumpkin carving expert James Phimister shows us some of his designs. Image: Steve Brown / DC Thomson.

James, 43, first carved the Halloween-associated fruit for a family party when his two sons were young, at the request of his wife, Tracy.

And what quickly became an obsession, turned into a unique artform and James now creates his artwork on pumpkins made from foam.

He said: “You never used to be able to get foam pumpkins in the UK but I’ve got a supplier now which means I can do it all year round.

“I do it to relax. My youngest son is autistic and I care for him and my wife is unwell and I care for her too, so pumpkin carving gives me some time to myself to unwind.”

How do you do pumpkin carving?

James says it all started when he saw a photograph online of Mario, from Super Mario Bros, on a pumpkin and wondered how it was done.

James with some of his pumpkin carvings. Image: Steve Brown / DC Thomson.

Being in the early days of the internet, he found information hard to locate and ended up performing an ‘ancient technique’ involving pins and flour.

He said: “I pricked holes in it, then put flour on it to get an outline, then cut it out with a knife.

“Some people still think that’s the way to do it but I wouldn’t recommend anyone does that technique.”

Soon after, James was gifted a professional pumpkin carving book and tools from America and started creating haunted houses, castles and witches.

Stencils and a scalpel knife helped him achieve intricate designs before he moved onto creating his own designs.

James has spent 10 years perfecting his pumpkin carving technique. Image: Steve Brown / DC Thomson.

James said: “I can work out from an image how to create a design – where to shade lighter or darker and where to cut out.

“You can use a computer to help with that but you need to have the knowledge to know where to cut or bits will start to fall out or it might not look defined.

“It takes days to make them, paint them and carve them, and it can be days to create the design too.”