Self-taught pumpkin carver from Rockford featured on Food Network show

ROCKFORD, Ill. -- It is a dream come true for a Rockford man, who taught himself how to carve pumpkins. Now, he is showcasing his skill in front of a worldwide audience on a new season of a Food Network show.

"When I started carving I said to myself, 'if I could be on Food Network doing that,'" Lincoln Bias told WIFR.

Bias is a self-taught pumpkin carver who finds himself in the spotlight among the nation's best after a casting company reached out to him on Facebook, looking for contestants.

"They wanted to know if I was interested in being on the show. I said yes, and the next thing I know, I'm on Food Network," he said.

Bias didn't always carve pumpkins.

In fact, he specializes in turning fruits and vegetables into flowers.

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He originally moved to Rockford to be a realtor, until a friend called him to ask if he's still carving.

"He says, 'I need a pumpkin carver.' And I'm thinking, 'I don't carve pumpkins.' And I agreed to it," Bias said.

Using the tools and experience Bias learned carving flowers into fruits, he learned how to carve faces.

"Once I get the basic form I want, and I just do this in the mirror, and I will look at it and I will touch my face to feel the muscles and how they react to different expressions," he said.

Bias hopes sharing his passion with others will spark the next generation of carvers.

"I think that's important that they learn to pursue that, they learn to go after something and that they learn to learn," he said.

As a lifelong carver, Bias said landing the gig on "Outrageous Pumpkins" is a dream come true.

"The whole time I've been in this industry, I'm looking at that as kind of like to measure my progress, so now I'm there," he said.