Ray Villafane
 |
Ray Villafane | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 or 1969 (age 55–56) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Sculpture artist |
| Spouse |
Tammi Schmidt (m. 2003) |
Ray Anthony Villafane (born c. 1968)[1] is an American sculpture artist. Most famously known for his 3-dimensional pumpkin carvings, Villafane also sculpts action figures, collectibles, and sand.
Early life & education
Ray Anthony Villafane was born in Queens, New York, and was raised on Long Island. He graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1991.[2]
Career
Villafane worked as a K-12 art teacher[3] in Bellaire, Michigan for 12 years. He began to carve pumpkins when one of his students brought a pumpkin to class and asked him to carve it.[4]
He started working part-time in 2003 as a sculptor in addition to teaching. After creating a wax sculpture of the Marvel character Wolverine and posting an image of it online, he was contacted by a company selling products licensed by Marvel; they offered to produce his work.[5] He resigned from teaching in 2006 to pursue a full-time sculpting career.[6]
In 2007, Villafane was contacted by Food Network and asked to appear on Food Network's Challenge Show for a segment called "Outrageous Pumpkins". He competed against three other professional pumpkin sculptors and won all three rounds, winning the grand prize. In 2009, he was invited back to Outrageous Pumpkins and won the show a second time.[7]
In September 2010, Villafane competed in the World Championship of Sandsculpting in Federal Way, Washington,[4] taking third place in the doubles category alongside his partner John Gowdy.[8]
In 2011, while attending a display at the New York Botanical Garden, he carved the world's biggest pumpkin to resemble a zombie apocalypse.[9] He also carved pumpkins for Heidi Klum's annual Halloween party in Las Vegas in 2011.[10]
Media
In 2010, CBS News with Katie Couric sent their segment producer Steve Hartman to record one of his "Assignment America" segments on Villafane's pumpkins, where he refers to Villafane as "the best pumpkin carver in the world".[citation needed] In addition to the Food Network Challenge shows, Villafane also participated in the Food Network mini-series Halloween Wars that aired in October 2011. Villafane was also a guest on The Martha Stewart Show in 2011 to teach Martha the 3-D pumpkin carving style, and where she referred to him as "the Michelangelo of pumpkin carving."[11]
Readers Digest featured Ray's pumpkins on their website in 2010 and the Today Show website featured his pumpkins in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, one could find photos of Villafane and/or his pumpkin(s) in People magazine,[12] Star,[13] and Men's Health.[14] He was also featured in the Wall Street Journal, the front page of the Las Vegas Sun and over in the UK in such publications as The Sun and The Telegraph. In 2010, his pumpkin photographs were featured in Rosebud Magazine.[citation needed]
Personal life
Villafane married Tammi Schmidt in 2003.[6] They have a blended family of six children.[2]
He is allergic to pumpkins.[15]
References
- ^ VanDenburgh, Barbara. "Pumpkin carving master Ray Villafane turns pumpkins into works of art". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ a b Gamerman, Ellen (2011-10-22). "Ray Villafane, the Picasso of Pumpkin Carving | Creating - WSJ". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-04-01. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ Ramirez, Vanessa (2020-10-30). "Arizona man sculpts masterpieces in pumpkins". 12news.com. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ^ a b Coffey, Laura. "Great gourds! Take your pumpkin carving to new level". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 2011-10-27.
- ^ "The great pumpkin carver". www.royalgazette.com. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- ^ a b Craven, Scott. "See it: The man who turns pumpkin-carving into art". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- ^ "It's "The Great Pumpkin Carver", Bermuda". Bernews. 2011-10-28. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- ^ "Lines in the sand: Artists' sculptures boggle the mind". web.archive.org. 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
- ^ Chalk, Andy (25 Oct 2011). "The World's Biggest Pumpkin, Carved Into Zombies!". The Escapist.
- ^ "Incredible (and freaky!) pumpkin carvings". Connecticut Post. 2011-10-25. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- ^ The Martha Stewart Show (October 19, 2011).
- ^ People (October 24, 2011), p. 90
- ^ Star (November 14, 2011), p. 6.
- ^ Men's Health (October 2011).
- ^ Hartman, Steve (2010-10-25). "Meet the Edward Scissorhands of Pumpkin Carving". CBS News. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
External links
