Arts & Entertainment Community

Pumpkin carver whittles away at Uptown

Russ Leno is an artist, and his canvas is the largest pumpkin you’ve probably ever seen.

Leno, of Shelton, was at Uptown Gig Harbor on Monday turning a vegetable into a work of art. It’s an annual trip for Leno, a well–known figure in the world of pumpkin carving.

This year’s subject: King Kong. Though he was only about one-quarter of the way through his work when Gig Harbor Now stopped by, Leno’s vision was already becoming clear.

Passers-by watch carver Russ Leno create art out of a massive pumpkin at Uptown Gig Harbor on Monday, Oct. 31. Vince Dice

Why does he love it?

“Everybody carves a pumpkin,” Leno said. “In life in general, it’s probably one of the last things you do, if you’re not an artist, that’s art.”

Leno has been carving pumpkins for more than 30 years, including the annual trip to  Gig Harbor for at least 20, he said. The vocation has taken him around the world, carving for corporate events, community festivals, fairs and the like.

The face of King King begins to emerge from a giant pumpkin at Uptown Gig Harbor on Monday, Oct. 31. The artist carving the figure is Russ Leno. Vince Dice

“I just like the way it carves,” he said of working on pumpkins. You can do a lot of different designs. You meet a lot of people … everybody just seems to like it.”

For the Halloween event at Uptown, kids were invited to drop off their home-carved pumpkins. Leno was to award prizes to his favorites later that evening. None of them, doubtless, would be as big as Leno’s pumpkin.

Russ Leno pauses while carving a King Kong figure in a pumpkin at Uptown Gig Harbor on Monday, Oct. 31. Vince Dice

All of them combined might not weigh as much as the Atlantic Giant Pumpkin on which Leno whittled. They needed a forklift to lift the monstrosity onto the podium set up inside Uptown’s pavilion.

How much did it weigh? Guessing that was part of the fun. Passers-by were invited to take a selfie with the in-progress pumpkin, guess its weight and send their guesses to [email protected]. The winner will be announced on Thursday, Nov. 3.

The finished product, photographed on Nov. 1. Vince Dice