My Story
How It Began ...
Since youth, Mike Pickett's favorite holiday has been Halloween. That coupled with his artist talent has brought Illuminated Carves to where it is today.
Mike is a PGA Golf Professional originally from Northeast Ohio and currently residing in Painesville, Ohio, he has two beautiful children, a daughter, Ella Brynn and a son, Griffin Alexander. One good thing that came out of 2020 was that Mike also married his longtime partner, Elizabeth.
Mike has always had a strong passion for the arts and enjoys creating enjoyment in others. The uniqueness of Illuminated Carves is the light.
Mike has always enjoyed carving pumpkins around Halloween time. When he moved down to Columbus, he met a fellow artist and who also turned out to be a close friend, Neil Ingle. Neil also carved pumpkins but was even better at pencil portraits and painting. Having a huge competitive spirit, Mike challenged Neil to a pumpkin carving contest in the Fall of 2007 and the golfers from Cumberland Trail Golf Club would vote on the winner. Half way through, Neil was easily winning the contest. In an effort to try something new, Mike experimented with carving a portrait into an artificial pumpkin. It took a couple of test carves but the finished product turned out to be a picture of his two year-old daughter (Below).
Over the next few years, Mike and Neil continued to carve pumpkins and continued to out do each other. In the Summer of 2011, our good friend and artist Neil Ingle suddenly passed away. Later that Fall, Mike had more motivation than ever to carve up some pumpkins not only to continue what he and his close friend Neil had done in the past but to get better. It seemed that with every pumpkin Mike carved, he was getting better and better. Using new techniques and using new tools to carve, Mike wanted to take it to the next level. By looking at the pumpkin gallery, you can even see the evolution in carving detail through some of the photos. After custom carving and selling over 40 pumpkins that year and with the overwhelming support from friends and family, Mike decided to create this website and move forward with it.
Now, Mike carves between 300-400 pumpkins per year and his work appears on local, and international media platforms every Fall!
Are You Interested In A Carve?
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