COLUMBUS, Ohio — A Grove City pumpkin carver is showcasing his skills on national television as he competes on the Food Network’s, “Outrageous Pumpkins.”
Week after week, Brian "Tator" Edwards shows off the sculpting skills that he’s spent decades mastering. Tator is one of seven participants this season — every week someone gets eliminated.
“It relieves stress, everything in life seems to fade away when you're just into a pumpkin or into a block of ice,” Tator said.
Every fall, Tator will spend a few days a week entertaining crowds at Pigeon Roost Farms with pumpkin carvings.
“I got started in culinary school, I was carving like watermelon roses, beet roses, different little floral arrangements that were Thai style carvings,” Tator said.
It’s a skill he picked up from his mother at a young age, growing up in a family who loved fall and everything pumpkin. He became a collegiate national champion in 2012 and has been carving ever since.
"I love it, I don't think there's anything else I'd rather to do than sculpting,” he said.
Tator said it can take him anywhere from 20 minutes to eight hours to perfect a pumpkin. The time isn’t dependent on the size, but rather, the detail of the request.
It was a friend that made him aware of the competition on Food Network, where he sent in a not-so-normal video submission.
“I turned in this casting video where it was more like 'I don't need to be on your show, you need me on your show,” Tator said. “It instantly grabbed their attention.
One of the best parts of carving, to him, is putting on a show. He said he’d love to continue sharing his love for sculpting with the world, inspiring not only central Ohioans, but young people everywhere.
"A lot of carvers, when they're sculpting or carving a pumpkin, they're so focused on what they're doing, they can't stop to look up. And that's just not my style, it's more, how does the crowd get involved,” Tator said.
To see more of his work, visit his Instagram page.