Carving for a Cause

For many years, pumpkin carving has been a beloved Halloween tradition that began with the Irish, who carved scary faces into turnips and potatoes to ward off dark spirits. Irish immigrants brought this tradition to the U.S. where it was discovered that pumpkins were a much better canvas. Eric Jones, Guinness World Record holder and award-winning pumpkin carver, has firsthand experience with this, as he has carved everything from salt potatoes to cheese to butter to ice to sand, and everything in between!

“My favorite by far is pumpkin,” he said, speaking of his preferred carving medium. “They’re easy to get a hold of, they’re inexpensive… and everybody seems to love them, especially the kids!”

Check out the fun for yourself this weekend during Ellicottville’s Fall Festival, where Jones will be carving and auctioning off pumpkins for a great cause!

The NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities is sponsoring Jones’ pumpkin carving at the Village Gazebo on Sunday, October 13th beginning at noon. Jones explained, “I’m going to be pre-carving a pumpkin sculpture to bring to Fall Fest, and that will be auctioned off, and all the funds will go to the town of Ellicottville for creating the all-inclusive playground.” Jones is passionate about using his talents to help others, as he has his own 501(c)3 charity, Sculpting for Smiles, through which he creates sculptures out of snow, sand, wood, and pumpkins to bring smiles to the faces of children hurting and struggling with cancer and disabilities.

Jones added, “I will also be carving three or four pumpkins throughout the day, just for people to enjoy the process and see how that works and just have fun with it. Everything I carve will stay there and be auctioned off for people to purchase.”

Sunday presents an exciting opportunity to see one of the best pumpkin carvers in the world at work! Jones was the winner of Food Network’s third season of “Outrageous Pumpkins” and has also competed on previous seasons of the show, as well as on Food Network’s “Halloween Wars.”

The professional pumpkin sculpting world is relatively small, but they are a well-connected group. “There’s about, I would say, 40 to 50 of us that are carving on television and doing shows like Halloween Wars, Outrageous Pumpkins, and other Food Network television shows,” he said. “Most of the tools we use are modified and come from pottery sets, but some of them are a little more robust and are actually created by other professional pumpkin carvers. We kind of have our own little community of carvers, and we help each other out with tips and tricks and tools.”

Jones has been an artist his whole life and specializes in caricature drawing and digital illustration, which comprise his online business. “I started getting into 3D sculpting just to try to refine my 2D skills,” Jones explained. “And I fell in love with it. I started doing pumpkins and made a couple of big television appearances, and then eventually made it to the Food Network, where I do it now.” After conquering pumpkins, Jones began studying snow sculpting and - when the snow melted - began working in sand.

While he doesn’t grow his own pumpkins, in his words: “I’m the worst pumpkin farmer in the world!” Jones is world famous for other feats, like carving the largest jack o’ lantern in history. Last fall, he became the Guinness World Record holder for sculpting a 2,749-pound pumpkin in Buffalo. “That took about three days of sculpting to create that, and we actually created that to raise money for veterans with PTSD,” he said.

So what can Fall Fest visitors expect from Jones’ carving this weekend? “They’ll be 50 to 100-pound pumpkins,” Jones said. “I’ll probably do a series of Halloween-type faces - the kids like to watch that, and Buffalo Bills themed ones always raise money. They’ll be either Halloween themed or Buffalo Bills themed.”

To learn more about Jones’ work, visit www.ericjonesstudios.com or follow him on social media.

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