Maniac Pumpkin Carvers Are Sick. And A Successful Business.

MANIAC Pumpkin Carvers have turned the art of carving a pumpkin into quite a business. Creating 'promotional' and 'custom' pumpkins, their artful work is often used at Hollywood industry parties and movie launches, company events, hotel and restaurant lobbies, retail establishments and more.








Marc Evan and Chris Soria are the masterminds and talent behind Maniac Pumpkin Carvers. Lifelong friends and colleagues, both are graduates from Parsons School of Design who started creating together at the age of 12.








Outside of October, Marc and Chris are professional creatives, involved in art, illustration, murals, photography, and visual innovation, but during the month of Halloween, these guys rule the pumpkin carving realm.






Hand crafted with detail and attention in a full creative studio, Maniac Pumpkins bring fascination and allure to any home, lobby, bar, restaurant, club, or social environment.




Specializing in intricate carvings, Maniac Pumpkin Carvers turn ordinary pumpkins into glowing portraits, pictures, logos, lettering, wraparound designs, and all manner of monsters.






Maniac Pumpkin Carvers are committed to being environmentally responsible. They use locally grown pumpkins and green practices whenever possible. All of their promotional materials are printed by Jakprints with soy inks on recycled paper.

Custom pumpkins carved from photos:


These works of art make the perfect centerpiece for any social gathering from halloween and birthday parties to weddings and corporate events, attracting attention and leaving lasting impressions.



all images and info courtesy of Maniac pumpkin carvers and Wired Magazine.

There is a limit to how many carvings they can do each year so make your reservations now!

Don't forget to thee amazing pumpkin carvings out, too:

Pumpkin Carving Continues To Grow Even Geekier

Scott Cummins Doesn't Carve Pumpkins, He Sculpts Them

Just In Time For Halloween; More Wild Skulls By Artist Damien Hirst

above: one from each of Hirst's series; Hypnotic, Transcendent and Hallucinatory Heads.

A lot of blogs have been covering artist Michael Leon's colored gypsum skulls lately and I've seen many a post on everything from crayon skulls to skull flash drives. But if you're an art fan and a skull fan, I can't think of a more fun combination that the series of Damien Hirst's 'spinner' painted skulls.


above: Hirst with his diamond encrusted skull

I'm sure most of you are familiar with artist Damien Hirst's diamond and platinum skull. Lauded as the singularly most expensive piece of sold art at 100 million dollars, the skull, titled "For The Love Of God".


above: For The Love Of God, the 100 million dollar diamond encrusted platinum skull by Damien Hirst

A common theme in his own, as well as many other artist's work, Hirst has created several other versions of skulls that you may not know about and that are available for purchase.

In this latest series of 50 painted skulls are three categories manifested as three variations of form: Hallucinatory Head, Hypnotic Head and Transcendent Head, with each skull a unique result of the now famous and highly sought after ‘Spin’ painting technique.

The skull is one of a number of recurring motifs not only in Damien Hirst’s work but also in the history of art, and in this special edition has been reworked back in to his signature. The technique is simple but the result relies on complex ideas about mortality and the history of mankind, touching on specific anthropological and historical readings, with compelling, celebratory and seductive results.

A suggested memento mori of a more uplifting and contemporary slant, Hirst’s proximity to the subject of death is ever fresh, rewarding and daring, seeking to challenge the often morbid art historical approach to the subject. His skulls engage, they fix us with their own kind of gaze, imploring us to see the comedy within them. Here, the image of death is less unknowable, more approachable, a little lighthearted, even, whilst possessing something of an ancient relic or offering to the gods. Influences of the Mexican celebration, Dia de los Muertos, fuse ritual and anthropology with ornament, demonstrating the crux of Hirst’s practice wherein the philosophical and eternal become part of the vocabulary of modern life and modern aesthetic.


The Hallucinatory Heads


These are multi-colored glossy spinner paints on partial plastic skulls (no lower jawbone):




The Transcendent Heads


These are multi-colored glossy spinner paints on plastic full skulls with eyeballs:





The Hypnotic Heads


These are black and white glossy spinner painted plastic heads of full skulls with empty eye sockets:



specs for all:
210 x 140 x 140 mm
Household gloss on plastic skull

all information and images are courtesy of The Other Criteria, which is the only place where these skulls shown above can be purchased.

Other Must See Skull Posts:

• The Sensory Deprivation Skull:

read about it here.

The Limited Edition Bell & Ross Skull Watch:

read about it here.

Dan Aykroyd's Crystal Head Vodka:

Read about it here.

If you like skull items, be sure to check out the over 135 skull items I've posted on This Next

Latest Ghoulishness From Photographer Joshua Hoffine

Ah, it's that wonderfully creepy time of year again, All Hallow's Eve. Therefore it's time to bring you more gory creepy photography (and now jewelry, too) from the talented horror photographer Joshua Hoffine.



If you didn't see my post about his wonderful work and creepy photo prints for sale last year, you can, and should, read that here.

Here's a few more recent chill-raising images Joshua has added to his portfolio since last year.

New for 2009:
Lady Bathory

details:




The Babysitter:

details


See these prints, purchase them and more here.

New jewelry
Joshua's wonderful photos are available for purchase as well as jewelry he has begun selling that incorporate some of his images into gothic pendants:


buy his jewelry here.

See more of Joshua's horror photography and learn about the process here.

If you like gory art, be sure to check these out:
All the posters created for the SAW series of movies here.
Dexter Inspired Bloody products