Speaking of pumpkins, there is one guy who excels in the art of vegetable carving, Ray Villafane. A champion pumpkin carver, born and grew up in Long Island started his career as an arts teacher to K-12 students in Bellaire, Michigan in 1993 to 2006 two years after graduating from New York’s School of Visual Arts in 1991.
In the United States, Halloween is widely celebrated throughout the country. People put creepy decorations in their houses or business establishments, and dress themselves with scary costumes knocking on their neighbors’ doors saying “trick or treat.” But there is one thing or should I say a character that can always be seen everywhere during Halloween and that is the jack-o-lantern, placed mostly by the windows or in front of houses.
Originally, the jack-o-lantern is made out of a carved pumpkin with all of its inside tissues removed making a hollow cavity. A candle is put inside the cavity to make it look more terrifying. It looks something like a grotesque head with two eyes, a nose and a mouth carved with geometrical shapes. Nowadays, a lot of toy stores sell jack-o-lanterns that are made of plastic and make them the most best-selling item of all during Halloween.
Speaking of pumpkins, there is one guy who excels in the art of vegetable carving, Ray Villafane. A champion pumpkin carver, born and grew up in Long Island started his career as an arts teacher to K-12 students in Bellaire, Michigan in 1993 to 2006 two years after graduating from New York’s School of Visual Arts in 1991.
Actually, it was just a project for his students which then became a hit among his students’ parents in the long run, requesting him for custom-carved pumpkins. And from that, he began to offer his works to restaurants and hotels.
Ray became well-known for his artistic carving renditions by creating numerous images out of pumpkins and almost all of them are freaky in appearance perfectly suited for Halloween.
In 2007, he won in Food Network’s Challenge Show in all three rounds making him the grand prize winner over four professional pumpkin carvers. Defending his title, he won again the grand prize for the second time in Food Network’s Challenge Show II in 2010.
From then on, his following grew and still growing, and was even featured in different magazines. He also had the chance of getting to greater heights of exposure by having his artistic creations displayed at prominent venues like Bermuda’s Sousa’s Gardens, and best of all, at the White House.
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