Warning: reading this Associated Press story about the guy who might be the world’s best pumpkin carver will either inspire you to carve a gorgeous jack-o’-lantern in the few days left before Halloween, or make you toss the one you already carved into a woodchipper. Either reaction would be appropriate once you’ve seen some of the work of the guy known as the “Picasso of pumpkin carvers.”
Mike Valladao is a cybersecurity systems engineer. But when the fall season rolls around, he transforms into his alter ego, Farmer Mike, a chisel-wielding maniac who has spent the past four decades turning giant pumpkins into stunning, sometimes grotesque, Halloween masterpieces.
According to the AP report, Valladao has no formal art training. He’s just a guy who takes the weird facial features he encounters in day-to-day life and then transposes them into the faces of dragons, pop culture icons, and original characters. He uses the gourd’s thick skin to create the illusion of depth, making eyes sink back into the skull and noses jut out at weird, unsettling angles.
This Man’s Pumpkin Carvings Are So Detailed, They’ll Make Your Jack-o’-Lantern Look Embarrassing
Where the real Picasso preferred a thicker weave of cotton canvas, like linen, to paint his masterpieces, Farmer Mike prefers Atlantic pumpkins because they have plenty of thick skin for him to carve into, creating intricate, expressive caricatures.
He started this niche hobby back in the mid-80s when he grew some massive pumpkins at home and didn’t know what to do with them other than stab them with a knife until they were pretty. Four decades later, his skill has taken him far beyond the local Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, to the San Diego Zoo, the California Academy of Sciences, and even The Tonight Show, where he shows off his skills.
While the real Picasso’s art lives on in museums all around the world, Valladao’s turns into a pile of fly-covered rot within days, but such is the nature of his medium. It’s temporary, like the season in which he gets to show off his skills.
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