Jack-o'-lantern faces, made by food carving

Pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween
© Thinkstock

It’s OK to Play with your Food

Doorsteps, stores, and fields bask in the glow of orange at the moment. It’s pumpkin time again. Good for pie making. And good for carving.

The art of creating scary jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween has been a longstanding tradition for food carving fans. But pumpkins are just the tip of the garden. Now I see creative expression in a whole genre of  food art, and it’s evolving at a rapid pace.

Have Your Art and Eat It, Too

O yes, I C a whole new world. We make art out of wood, stone, metal, animal hair, hide, cloth, paper, canvas, water, mud, snow, and more—just about every element you can think of. So why not food?

Watermelon in the shape of a rose, made by for carving

Watermelon carving
© Thinkstock

Fruit and vegetable carving has been an art in Asia since ancient times. Now we have chocolate sculptures, biscuit cities, life-size butter figures, bok choy fish, eggplant penguins, and linguini portraits gracing our art and culinary worlds.

Pumpkin with a fish bas-relief made by food carving

Pumpkin bas-relief
© Thinkstock

Food artworks are fleeting. A natural decomposition, of course, takes place. This transience makes the work all the more beautiful.

For example, like British artist Andy Goldsworthy’s magnificent environmental sculptures, which last only as long as gravity, wind, and rain permit—time changes everything.

The Imagination Ingredient

The variety of materials in the food art medium is limited only by the imagination. And, as you can see by the creative work of the Hungarian artist Tamás Balla in this video, the imagination has no limits.

 If the video does not display, watch it here.

While you watched, did you hear your parents saying, “Don’t play with your food”? Or, did you marvel at the the creative expression of an artist who works with food?

For me, in this tug of war, the artist won out, and my  Oh, I see moment was clear—search for the artist within and carve away.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

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\"Jack-o'-lantern

Pumpkins carved into jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween
\u00a9 Thinkstock<\/p><\/div>\n

It’s OK to Play with your Food<\/span><\/h2>\n

Doorsteps, stores, and fields bask in the glow of orange at the moment. It’s pumpkin time again. Good for pie making. And good for carving.<\/p>\n

The art of creating scary jack-o’-lanterns for Halloween has been a longstanding tradition for food carving fans. But pumpkins are just the tip of the garden. Now I see creative expression in\u00a0a whole genre of \u00a0food art, and it’s evolving at a rapid pace.<\/p>\n

Have Your Art and Eat It, Too<\/h4>\n

O<\/strong> yes, I C<\/strong> a whole new world.\u00a0We make art out of wood, stone, metal, animal hair, hide, cloth, paper, canvas, water, mud, snow, and more\u2014just about every element you can think of. So why not food?<\/p>\n

\"Watermelon

Watermelon carving
\u00a9 Thinkstock<\/p><\/div>\n

Fruit and vegetable carving has been an art in Asia since ancient times. Now we have chocolate sculptures, biscuit cities, life-size butter figures, bok choy fish, eggplant penguins, and linguini portraits gracing our art and culinary worlds.<\/p>\n

\"Pumpkin

Pumpkin bas-relief
\u00a9 Thinkstock<\/p><\/div>\n

Food artworks are fleeting. A natural decomposition, of course, takes place. This transience makes the work all the more beautiful.<\/p>\n

For example, like British artist Andy Goldsworthy’s magnificent environmental sculptures<\/a>, which last only as long as gravity, wind, and rain permit\u2014time changes everything.<\/p>\n

The Imagination Ingredient<\/h4>\n

The variety of materials in the food art medium is limited only by the imagination.\u00a0And, as you can see by the creative work of the Hungarian artist Tam\u00e1s Balla<\/a> in this video, the imagination has no limits.<\/p>\n