About Us
Clive & Sharon
Why “Sparksfly Design”? The whole idea of sparks flying conjures images of energetic creativity with bright ideas literally flying through the air! And it does seem to be true that the sparks have always been flying in our household, as new ideas for creative projects seem to spring forth daily. From extreme pumpkin carving & watermelon carving, to graphic design, fine arts, furniture design, crafts and all kinds of sculpture – SparksflyDesign.com is the new home of our wide variety of creative projects!
Clive Cooper – Extreme Pumpking Carving – (and more!):
Throughout my life, I have always enjoyed exploring art in its various forms. Although I’ve had no formal training, this hasn’t stopped me from trying various mediums, such as watercolours, pen & ink, lino boards, digital art, furniture design, cartooning and, lately, pumpkin and watermelon carving.
In 1996 my employer ran a charity pumpkin carving contest and I decided to enter and present an unusual, novelty pumpkin. My pumpkin won the contest and received a lot of positive attention . . . and it was then that the “spark was lit”. Encouraged by this, I have continued to submit a pumpkin at work each and every Halloween since. In 2004, an “extreme pumpkin” was entered by a colleague who had obtained it from an outside carver, called Bruce Waugh. As I had never seen this style of pumpkin carving before (fully skinned), I was curious to meet this carver and so I made contact. After getting to know Bruce, he invited me to join him and others to carve some very large pumpkins at a fundraising event in a local mall. At that event I was also introduced to David Billings and other renowned sand, snow and ice sculptors. These guys are highly professional and do wild, crazy and amazing pumpkins. Inspired by their talent and dedication, I decided to take a creative leap forward and do much more than just one pumpkin carving a year. With unique ideas and a constant desire to improve my carving skills, I also began sculpting watermelons, since pumpkins, as a medium, are only available seasonally. I now am able carve throughout the year, often supplying my creations to charities and local shops for their window displays. Thank you to Bruce for opening up my “Pumpkin Peepers” to the limitless possibilities. Here are some links to some fantastic pumpkin carvers:
| David Billings: | www.sandemons.com/pumpkins.html |
| Bruce Waugh: | www.sandemons.com/news.html |
| Scott Cummings: | www.pumpkingutter.com |
| Ray Villafane: | www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins |
Sharon Cooper:
Being artistically inclined, in my case, seems to be genetic. With a father who was a bit of an electronics genius and who played piano in a swing band (a boogie player) and a mother who is a prolific painter, being creative was for me, inescapable. And like my husband Clive, adventures in art are just daily fare. I started off with an interest in fashion design and illustration but, unfortunately, was less interested in the sewing part! Other than the few dog costumes you’ll come across on the site, I’ll take designing over sewing any day! I also dabble in conte crayon, watercolour, pen and ink, etc. but on the whole seem to lean towards a more commercial, graphic art style. I’ve been employed as a graphic designer for a large company for many years, working with Quark, Indesign, Photoshop and Illustrator programs and as well, am a bit of a PowerPoint and MS Word guru, if I do say so myself. I often take on after hour assignments and can provide the following modern-style graphics, to suit a variety of different tastes: • Magazine Advertisements • Bookmarks • Brochures • Bulletins • Cards (Holiday, Birthday, Thank You, Pets) • CD Covers • Forms (MSWord or Adobe .pdf) • Gift Boxes (stuffed with chocolates and/or dog cookies if you like) • Golf Programs • Invitations (Wedding, Party, etc.) • Manuals (online pdf’s with bookmarks) • Menus for Restaurants • Mousepad, Coasters • Misc. Promotional Designs • Posters • PowerPoint Presentations (awesomely animated) • Name Tags • Tag lines (maybe even storylines for commercials?) • Web Headers, Buttons, Banners • Wedding Favors • Lots more! Click here to browse some examples or Contact Us to discuss your project
Cooper The Dog:
Best-dressed dog in town and top-model for Sparksfly Design. To view more Cooper photos, click here.
