As we get closer to Halloween, the resident pumpkin carver at New York Botanical Garden, Adam Bierton, is hoping to inspire visitors to think beyond your average jack-o’-lantern.
"I love pumpkin so much, it's such a unique medium to work with,” he told NY1.
For Bierton, every pumpkin is a work of art just waiting to be revealed.
“Under this thick, orange skin is this beautiful, soft material,” Bierton said, gesturing towards one of his soon-to-be creations.
Using sculpting tools at his station at the New York Botanical Garden and the help of a few other vegetables, each character takes shape.
“I’ve been designing these little characters with potato and carrot eyeballs, and potato teeth. And these are some of the most fun I've ever had with pumpkin,” Bierton explained.
The result is a 3-D effect that sets his pumpkins apart from the rest.
Bierton uses his art school training to transform gourds from the spooky to the sublime.
His work was even featured on the Food Network's “Halloween Wars,” where he won the grand prize in 2015 by relying on his limitless creativity and his love for what he calls his favorite time of year.
"I go nuts and I'll carve a pumpkin almost every single day this month, sometimes multiple,” Bierton said.
He'll also spend a lot of that time sharing his pumpkin carving secrets with curious kids.
"I scooped these and I got a whole bunch of different eyeballs in here, isn't that creepy?” Bierton said, entertaining the children who congregated around his workshop.
Visitors will be able watch him in action this month as he creates from scratch and shows kids the most important step in pumpkin carving.
"I think picking the right pumpkin is a number one,” he told NY1. “Each one of them is unique, it's kind of like a snowflake and they all have these different shapes and sizes and textures and that is a challenge that I love.”