The ‘Picasso of pumpkin carvers’ brings art to a Halloween tradition

Carving pumpkins is a Halloween tradition. Mike Valladao has turned it into a joyful art form. Known as the ‘Picasso of pumpkin carvers’, Valladao has been carving faces and whimsical creatures into large pumpkins for more than four decades.

This year, ‘Farmer Mike’ is celebrating 40 years of Halloween art at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, best known for its giant pumpkin weigh-in. Valladao has no formal artistic training, but his art has taken him to various parts of the country, including an appearance on “The Tonight Show”. He has received requests to carve pumpkins at venues such as San Diego Zoo, the California Academy of Sciences and the Texas State Fair.

When autumn arrives and the leaves begin to change colour, Mike Valladao, a systems engineer at a cyber security firm, slips into the role of his alter ego, ‘Farmer Mike’, also known as the ‘Picasso of pumpkin carvers’

For over four decades, Mike the farmer has been carving bizarre faces and comical creatures out of large pumpkins. Wearing his trademark orange overalls and farmer’s hat, he has carved hundreds of pumpkins, transforming them into macabre faces, coastal landscapes, witches, dragons and pop culture characters such as Yoda and Charlie Brown.

Valladao has no formal artistic training, but he is always on the lookout for inspiration. His ideas come to him whilst looking at art in a museum or simply walking down the street.