The Krypt’s Weekly Vendor Spotlight - Ian Fetterman
Welcome everyone to The Krypt's first ever Vendor Spotlight - our weekly look at different artists & vendors in the horror and pop culture community! Having spent quote a few years slinging my art at various Horror and Comic Cons, I have met and made friends with so many amazing and talented people that deserve your attention. First up is my good friend Ian Fetterman. Ian is an artist who hand carves foam pumpkins with amazing and elaborate designs for just about anything your heart desires. Take it from me, I personally own one that was so well-crafted that my father bought two himself that he keeps out all year round.
Business name?
Ian’s Pumpkin Carvings Who are you?
Hi, my name is Ian Fetterman
Location?
I am in Easton, Pa
Tell us a little about yourself, background and how you got started?
Well I grew up in Easton, Pa. As a child I was fascinated with the holiday Halloween, along with everything that comes with the holiday. I remember when I was either 3 or 4 during the Halloween season, Halloween was playing on tv, so I sat down and watched it, needless to say it scared me out of my mind and I was hooked! I had the coolest parents for allowing me to watch horror flicks in the 80’s. My dad took me to see my first horror film in 1985 in theaters and it was A nightmare on elm street 2. So from then on I’ve been a collector of mostly Michael Myers/Halloween items, including posters, figures, masks, pins, etc. I got started on the pumpkins at a young age. Every Halloween I would always carve a real jack-o-lantern. Each year I progressively got better at carving. Then 2012 my Dad told me that I should go to Michael’s craft store to pick up one of their foam pumpkins. At the time I had no idea what that was, but I checked it out. I carved two pumpkins for friends that were living in Seattle at the time and posted them on social media and started to go to convention and it took off.
Do you have a favorite piece/product?
I do not really have a favorite piece. I just love carving and trying new carvings. Luckily when I started to grow as a carving, I would get some requests that didn’t have stencils for, so I would have start creating my own, which was a challenge at the time. Then I started reaching out to artists like Justin Osbourn, Jason Edmiston, Gary Pullin, and Chris Garofalo to ask them for permission to use their artwork as the basis for pumpkins. They all said yes and were all so gracious to allow me to do that. Now I’ve become friends with all of them and they’re all amazing people and everyone should check out their work online.
Personal highlights of your work/business?
I have two personal highlights. The first was having 3 pumpkins featured in the Halloween 15-disc complete box set from scream factory/anchor bay. Sean Clark (Horror's Hallowed Grounds, Shout Factory & Convention Agent to the stars) came to me asking what I could do for a Halloween H20 themed pumpkin? It turned out that he was working on the special features for the upcoming ultimate box set and needed 3 pumpkins to be featured in the interviews with each actor. That initial phone call was on a Thursday afternoon and he needed the pumpkins in his hands that coming Tuesday, but he knew I could do it. I had the designs for Halloween 4 & 5 but for Halloween H2O I had to create a new design from scratch which then had to be approved. I did a first design that was turned down but thankfully my second proposal was approved and I went to work and for next 3 days straight. I finished the pumpkins and that Monday shipped them overnight to Cali. And the rest as they say, is history.
The 2nd personal highlight for me was working with Ben Scrivens from Fright-Rags. Fright-Rags releases licensed t-shirts of horror franchises and other pop culture entities. He commissions artists who design and create new artwork for this products. I proposed an idea of having a licensed t-shirt & pumpkin combo deal that would be extremely limited and never carved again. He loved the idea. The first year we did a Trick ‘r Treat themed combo limited to only 31 which to my surprise sold out in less than a minute. The following year I teamed up with Justin Osbourn to work on a design for the 40th anniversary of the original Halloween. We released 40 of the combos and they sold out in 15 mins. Last year we did another run only 10 of our Trick-R-Treat design and they sold out very quickly also. I am very thankful that Ben took a chance on me and I can never thank him enough for doing so.
Do you vend events? If so, which?
I vend the 3 Monster-Mania shows each year which include two in Cherry Hill, NJ and one in Hunt Valley, MD. I used to do more conventions, but each year more and more company’s come to me with projects which take a lot of time for me to complete and I just don't have the time for more shows. I will say, I miss my con family and cannot wait to see them again very soon!
Any new projects/products coming you can tease?
I might have one coming up this fall, but it is too early to tell right now. At the moment, I have been getting a ton of customer orders so that’s been keeping me pretty busy.
Check out some of Ian's work below and be sure to follow Ian on social media:
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/ianspumpkincarvings
IG - @ianspumpkincarvings
Twitter- @ianspumpkincarvings
