"San Jose resident Paulina Goff Stovall began her career as a professional pumpkin carver at age 18, just out of high school, when she carved a 600-pound pumpkin in the shape of a funnel web spider for a gathering at the home of a local corporate CEO. "I was so intrigued by the opportunity to carve live for entertainment," says Stovall."
"She began carving with an X-Acto knife, a tool she pays homage to in her logo for her events company, Carved FX. For the last 15 years, though, she has mainly used ceramic sculpting tools, as well as clay and woodworking tools. She sources most of them at Clay Planet in Santa Clara, saying, "You could order these online, but I would rather support local businesses. I love the owners.""
"A big supporter of Spina Farms in south San Jose, from which she sources all her giant pumpkins, she estimates she uses about 20,000 pounds of pumpkin each year. "They find exactly what I need," she says of Spina Farms. For a Filoli garden party last year, she created a series of garden bugs over seven nights, carving the sculptures at nightfall."
Paulina Goff Stovall began professional pumpkin carving at 18 by sculpting a 600-pound funnel-web spider and now carves live for events, festivals and workshops. She has drawn since childhood and grew up carving Jack o' Lanterns with siblings who became tattoo artists and a muralist. She started with an X-Acto knife but for 15 years has favored ceramic sculpting and woodworking tools sourced at Clay Planet. She sources giant pumpkins from Spina Farms and uses roughly 20,000 pounds of pumpkin annually. She creates large, often mythical-themed sculptures — including a five-foot snail and 3-D insects — and appears on Food Network's Halloween Wars.
Read at The Mercury News
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