An Interview with Jami Bayles, Pumpkin Goddess …by Tonya Audyn Morton

Note: Jim and I have known Jami for a number of years. She works as the TRIO Educational Talent Search Director and Grants Supervisor at USU Blanding in Blanding, Utah. A Blanding native, she’s been active in a number of community organizations. And in 2020, she wrote an excellent piece for the Zephyr about the work of Bud Frazier and Navajo Strong in San Juan County. Thanks to social media, we’ve discovered over the years that Jami is also an incredible artist. And while you might have once believed that pumpkins were just a “Halloween” thing, we think you’ll agree that her talent transcends all holidays…TS

So, the obvious first question: how did you start carving pumpkins?

I started carving in 2014. Truth is, I used to buy pumpkins all the time because I loved making my own baked pumpkin seeds. Then one day I saw an E.T. pumpkin on some website and thought it was the cutest thing ever, so I decided to try and recreate the carving. What I ended up with still cracks me up to this day. After that, I was sort of hooked. I thought, since I was buying all these pumpkins for the seeds, I might as well try to do something artistic with them before they got tossed in the trash.

Do you like that it’s just a fall-season art? Would you like to do it year-round or is it better to restrict it to one season?

Admittedly, I do like that I only have a window of a couple months to do these pumpkins. I think if they were available year-round, I would get burnt out from carving pretty quick. It’s sort of a ‘race against the clock’, which I like. It’s a challenge. And if I don’t get all of the pumpkins I want done each year, I add them to my list for the following year.

Is there any way that you could preserve these pumpkins–I’m thinking of some kind of shellac or sealant–or is there something you like about the short lifespan of the pumpkins?

There’s no real way to preserve them, unfortunately. But that’s also part of the experience of creating them in the first place – it gives me motivation to do the best that I can with them, while I have that small window. Because once you start carving, you can’t stop and pick it back up a few days later. Once the knife pierces the skin, it starts to deteriorate. The only thing I’ve found that can preserve pumpkins for a little bit longer is bleach. After you’ve carved it, you stick it in a bucket of equal parts bleach and water for a few hours. It helps prevent mold growth and preserve the firmness by killing microorganisms that decay the pumpkin, while the water helps to hydrate the pumpkin’s flesh. If you do that, they can enjoy them for another 3 or 4 days. Other than that, pictures and video are the only way to keep them alive.

How do you decide on a particular design?

Each year is different. Sometimes my inspiration comes from a show I’ve been watching like Stranger Things, Bob’s Burgers, Rick & Morty, Maleficent, Beetlejuice, Star Wars, etc. This year one of my favorite series on Netflix was Money Heist, so I carved a Dali mask.

Sometimes, when I’m having a creative block, I will ask my friends for ideas. If it’s a band they like, I will try to carve an album cover (Like the Greensky Bluegrass band). Another friend of mine had a daughter whose favorite movie was Caroline, so I carved the cat from that movie for her. Another time, a good friend of mine was running for City Council, so to show my support, I carved a pumpkin of the logo she was using for her campaign.

This year, one of my good friends suggested I carve an ‘Ursula the Sea Witch’ pumpkin. She absolutely loves Halloween and always creates the most amazing costumes, and this year was no exception. So in her honor, I carved Ursula. But I couldn’t just do a regular stenciled Ursula – I had to do something special. I had seen a cool video on how to create a ‘flaming jack-o-latern’, so after I carved Ursula, I lit her on fire.

Other times my ideas stem from simply walking around my house and seeing what items I have and could use. One of my favorite creations wasn’t even really a carving – it was just two pumpkins that I painted and then stuck a bunch of old hardware I found lying around the house like old chains, kitchen drains, and mason jar lids. I was going for a “Steam Punk” look, and I named them Mr. & Mrs. Steam Pumkin.

I really don’t stock up on materials, other than X-Acto knife blades (I got through a lot!), and maybe a can of paint that I think is an interesting color. I prefer to use what I have laying around the house, to see how creative I can get.

My most favorite pumpkins were also the most difficult to create. I created The Balrog last year (above) and it took me a solid three days of non-stop carving. I actually developed many blisters and serious backaches throughout the process. On the last day, it began to wilt, so I had to speed up my process – and I really wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish it. Again, it was another “race against the clock” situation, but when I finally carved out the last piece and stuck the light inside, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I was truly in awe.

It was the same for “The Scream”, “Starry Night”, and “The Kiss”. I have other favorites, but they aren’t as ‘technical’ as the Balrog and the famous paintings. For example, the Tom Petty and David Bowie are two of my favorites because they are two of my favorite musicians, and when they both passed away, it was my way of grieving, and wanting to pay homage to them.

However, my absolute favorite was also the most simple carving of any pumpkin I’ve ever created. I call him Javier, and I actually grew him several summers ago. It was the only time I ever planted pumpkins, and I decided to carve the silliest grin on this thing – a simple mouth and two eye holes, and it makes me laugh every time I see it.

I’ve done others that were just for fun (like Pac-Man, since I played it as a kid). Others I just wanted to explore different carving techniques (like the Crab, Snail, and Owl pumpkins). The Space Ship pumpkin was a super fun one because I carved a large pumpkin for the ship, and then three smaller ones for the little aliens, and then I put some dry ice in the ship to make it look like they just landed on Earth.

Which design was the hardest to carve?

The design that is hardest to carve are the ones that require different layers of light to them. Some designs require you to go straight through the pumpkin (like a traditional jack-o-lantern). But others require you to have layers and different depths of carving because some areas need to be lighter than others, so you have to know what areas to carve deeper, and what areas to carve shallower. The Balrog, Kiss, Octopus, Hitchcock, and Einstein pumpkins are good examples of that.

What’s the best part of the process?

My favorite part of creating these pumpkins is when they turn out better than I ever expected. There have been MANY times I’ve become so frustrated and nearly thrown the pumpkins right in the trash, even after working on them for 2 or 3 days straight. But when I power through, and then light them up for the first time and see that they’ve turned out just like I wanted, and sometimes even better, that’s the most satisfied feeling ever. I have several pumpkins that I still can’t believe I created when I look back at them. I’ve had a few times that others didn’t believe me either, which is why I started posting on Instagram not only the finished product, but pics or video in order to show my work, and that I wasn’t just finding pics on the Internet and trying to pass them off as my own.

And which part do you like the least?

Definitely the thing I hate the most about carving is the fruit flies that the pumpkins bring in. I’ve learned to time my carvings about 2 or 3 days before my weekly trashed is picked up, because when they sit in your trashcan for a few days, they get pretty rancid and gross.

Do you use this skill for any other kind of artistic medium? I have to think this skill would translate well to drawing, painting, wood-carving, etc etc…

Last year I actually started carving dried gourds. It’s something that I can do year-round, but it’s really different from carving pumpkins. It’s definitely a lot harder, but it’s also nice that I can go slow, even if
I put it down and pick it up a month later. I’ve been learning how to use a Dremel and want to try different techniques. So far I’ve carved two lamp shades and a yarn bowl.