Diary of a Fruit Carver

This site is no Longer updated!

2012-01-07T02:41:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry to announce, but for now, this blog is no longer being maintained. Buttttttt.... over the past year I have shifted more focus to my facebook page and thought it was best to suspend this blog. You can still view all of my recent fruit creations by visiting the Fruit Expectations page by clicking the link below!

This page is gone for now but it may be back in the future. Thank you for visiting over the years! Keep in touch.
~Thomas Cushing Jr.

Visit Fruit Expectations by Clicking Here

Tinkerbell

2011-01-02T11:08:00.001-05:00

My sister asked me to do a small platter for a 4yr old girl. It was her birthday on January 1st. The platter needed flowers and ferries. Who is the most famous ferry of all? Of course Tinkerbell! So thats what I decided to carve. I wish you all the best in the new year. Enjoy.

Happy Holidays

2011-01-02T11:01:00.001-05:00

First off, Merry Christmas! I had the pleasure of driving up to Midland Ontario to attend family Christmas celebrations. So I brought some fruit. The sweet smell of the fruit and the savoury smell of basil and rosemary hit you as soon as you entered the room. I don't know about you but my mouth was drooling. Some relatives from England captured the carving on video camera. As soon as I receive a copy I will edit it and post it. Here are some photos of the platter.

Baby Shower the Second

2010-10-29T19:06:00.000-04:00

Fire! Fire! Call the fireman!! Look what showed up at this baby shower. I carved a baby boy themed display for client Deborah. Complete with LEGO, a carved baby, ABC blocks and a squash firetruck!
**ALARM**ALARM**

I added two carved pumpkins as gifts; one for Deborah and one for the woman expecting. A swarm of pre teens gathered around the first pumpkin claiming it to be Justin Beiber. LOL. They looked at the second one and said it was Lady Gaga. Poor Lady Gaga, you dont look that bad! Haha

Conestoga College Pumpkin Carving Champion 2010

2010-10-29T18:24:00.007-04:00

It's true!! I won the pumpkin carving contest this year hosted by Conestoga Students Incorporated. I carved a more intricate version of my Justin Beiber inspired pumpkin carving. I had four hours to carve so I used the whole time! Complete with vines and flowers on the back side of the pumpkin. I was very pleased with the outcome.

There's more! I also won the Conestoga College Bookstore pumpkin carving contest. I tried my hand at an aquatic theme. I think it is an angel fish but don't quote me on it (I know fruit; not fish!). This contest was different than the other one. We had time to take the pumpkin home and work on it. But I picked mine up late so I didn't have much time to work on it. I had a big sales midterm on the same day as the submission.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Again, thank you to all the friends, students, and faculty that voted for me. I could not have done it without you! I'm excited because I am now classified as an "Award Winning Fruit Carver". Look out world!

Lessons!

2010-10-29T16:30:00.001-04:00

I have been teaching an intro to carving class every monday with a friend's mother. It's a great learning experience for me and for my student. I will be getting into more lessons hopefully for my mom and a group of her friends, then the public.

I just wanted to show what you would work towards on the first lesson. Starting with a basic crown, advanced crown and finally strawberry roses in a pineapple base. The second lesson is basic flower carving into melons.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins!

2010-09-27T15:47:00.000-04:00

PRE-CARVED PUMPKINS! Inquire about having a professionally carved pumpkin on your doorstep, table or at any fall event! There is only a limited number of pumpkins I, Thomas Cushing Jr., can produce so please reserve your pumpkins before they are all gone. Email tj.cushing@gmail.com with some contact info and what event your pumpkin is for. This way we can work together to find out what kind of pumpkin best suits your needs. Be as creative as you want, I can do anything from cute to gruesome. Pricing varies on the amount of detail. (an exampe of a high detail pumpkin can be seen below)

Tis' the season, to be freightful, gastly, ghoulish, [Oktoberfest if you live in the KW region ;) ], and anything horrifying. But fall is a season of rich colors including reds, yellows and oranges. Squash and gourds are harvested. Don't forget pumpkin's, the king of the gourds. So with a slash and stabbing of a knife the creature is formed. From the depths of the darkness the king of the pumpkin world arises... and looks something like this! HaHa :)

Photos By Will Jivcoff Click Here To Visit His Website

New Gear

2010-09-23T13:32:00.000-04:00

Every chef gets excited over new equipment and toys. It's a fact! Not just because they are new, but because of how they can improve performance, speed, and accuracy by utilizing a new technology or instrument. Any professional, in any feild, always has brand new equipment and the latest technologies because they know it will improve performance. OK ... Back to me being excited over new toys ;) ... I went down to S.T.O.P. Restauraunt Supply, Victoria st. Kitchener. and picked out:

Wusthof - Classic Ikon - 9" Chef Knife
Wusthof - Sharpening Steel - 10"
Wusthof - Single Groove
Two sided Melon Baller
A Couple Years Old (need a new one, but it has treated me good) - J.A. Henckels - Paring knife - 3 1/2"

HALLOWEEN IS AROUND THE CORNER! EMAIL ME ABOUT PRE-CARVED PUMPKINS BEFORE ITS TOO LATE! tj.cushing@gmail.com

I have a big orange pumpkin staring at me, waiting for me to dig in, STAY TUNED FOR SOME GOUHLISH PICTURES...

Skateboard Company Anniversary

2010-09-05T12:39:00.001-04:00

The Stickiest of the Icky which is a media blog dedicated to skateboarding is owned and operated by a really rad guy Matt Pancer. Matt travels alot and films and photographs skateboarding along the way. He was having a 1.7 year anniversary (don't ask about the 1.7 year, I guess the timing was right lol) for his blog and asked for a skateboard themed platter. Here's what I came up with :

Baby Shower Sunday

2010-08-22T15:46:00.002-04:00

Congratulations Jane, you are going to be a Grandma! What better way to celebrate than a fruit platter. This platter was definately fun to make because it was themed. I wish I had more themed platters to make, they allow me to challenge my creativity. Like this:

Day by the Pool

2010-07-21T17:55:00.001-04:00

There is hot beating sun on my forearms. There is a cool refreshing pool to my left. As well as a barbecue warming up while I go to work on a watermelon. Slicing and slashing its red juicy flesh to make something beautiful. I take the last swig of beer and finish the last leaf detail. An old door on a broken patio set frame makes a table. We center the masterpiece and station the buffet surrounding it thus proving any space can be beautiful.

FaceLift

2010-07-06T14:51:00.000-04:00

Hello friends, it has been in my mind to redesign my blog for some time now. This new design is more fitting for what I intend to accomplish from my blog. Before it was for business purposes but I have now decided to reposition my blog into a diary of my culinary endeavours. Basically I want nothing more than to showcase my talents no matter who I am carving for.

Welcome to Diary of a Fruit Carver.

No Days Off...

2009-12-25T13:28:00.002-05:00

Ya it is Christmas Day, and ya, I am still working doing a blog update! Why, you may ask? Because I'm dedicated.

December 24th I did a small house party for clients Terry and Cindy. They requested a not so crazy intracate platter and I was more then happy to give them what they want, then again, it is their Fruit Expectations. It was fun waking up early and heading down to the Kitchener Market to buy the fruit fresh that morning. December 23rd at Bingemans I did a large fruit platter and had tons of fun making it. You will see why when you scroll down! Last but not least I found a photo that I didn't know I had but I decided to throw it in, its of three simple fruit carvings.

Merry Christmas to all and I hope Santa treated you good this year. Don't forget to send me an email and we will talk numbers if you want to spice up your New Years Eve Party!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Thomas Cushing Jr.!

Happy Holidays

2009-12-22T23:10:00.001-05:00

On December 19th I teamed up with an ex co-worker Earl Guthrie, owner of a newer local catering company, Meals With Panache, and did some fruit displays for a Holiday Party he was throwing. The food was amazing. Stuff like jerk chicken, ribs, meatballs, veg trays, cheese and crackers, and a smoked king fish. Earl out did himself this time. I had tons of fun working with him and his wife all day prepping and setting up for the party. We had at least 50 guests no doubt, and no one left hungry. Unlike most events I work for, this time I got to go to the party that my fruit was at and Party is certainly what I did!! Lets just say I felt a little rough when I woke up and had go to work for 9am. None the least it was a great success. I did two mirrors for this function and unfortunately only got photos of one of the two. The center peice for the hot food table. The other was a smaller table downstairs with only cold foods on it. Merry Christmas to all!

ShRiMp ?!?!

2009-12-12T14:43:00.001-05:00

Shrimp? I thought this was for fruit carvings. Well this shrimp tray isn't your average shrimp platter. Ever wondered what 2000 pieces of shrimp look like? I added this one just because it has some fruit carvings on it as well. If you are a shrimp lover please place a napkin on your keyboard now, to catch your drool.

Easy Morning

2009-12-05T14:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was to make 2 big fruit platters. It turned out, with the schedule I was on, that I only could manage to complete one of them. Meaning I had to come in on my day off (today) in the morning to make the second platter by 2pm. Working with the fruit that was ordered deemed to be difficult. The watermelon I used yet again had mush for insides but I decided to try to carve it anyways. I wanted to mesh a flower pattern with a design pattern, so I expierimented and it looks kinda cool. Every cut I was scared that the whole thing was going to collapse in on itself. Turns out it held up ok. Who knows how well it will hold up during the delivery, crazy drivers. All in all both trays were a sucess. Enjoy.

TJ vs. TJ Photo Shoot

2009-12-03T23:35:00.001-05:00

First and foremost I am making this post after a 12 hour day at work. A week or so ago I joined forced with the best local photographer in the biz, Taylor Jackson. He was stoked for the shoot and so was I. Then what happens? The large watermelon I purchased had its insides turned into mush and was uncarvable. So I had to stick with the small melons and the strawberry bouquet. The shoot still turned out awesome. I also totally forgot I was rocking a mustache, which makes it so much better. Unfortunately it is gone now.

Tommorow I have to make two fruit platters for Bingemans. Expect new photos very very soon.

Here is the TJ vs. TJ shoot (**Note: I chose, resized and cropped these photos, Taylor would have done a much better job):

My Portfolio

2009-11-26T21:47:00.004-05:00

Hello, I thought I would just dump a ton of photos on you. This is my portfolio this far. Keep in mind that this is just a small fraction of fruit I've created. This should show the progression from early on until now. I've gotten way better than when I started and I am constantly learning more techniques.

^^ Andy Warhol function ^^

^^ Marilyn Monroe Andy Warhol Print^^

Last Minute Shots

2009-11-26T20:12:00.001-05:00

Here is the mirror that I made yesterday at Bingemans. I forgot my camera on wednesday and luckily it didnt leave before I could get some shots of it today. I believe it was going to a RIM product launch.

Welcome...

2009-11-26T00:52:00.006-05:00

Thank you for dropping by to check out my blog. I have decided to start off with a couple of platters I made a few days ago at Bingemans. The photos will only get better from here, so stay tuned!