Not Your Average Jack-O’-Lantern
It’s tough to miss Russ Leno, a 15-year institution at the Puyallup Fair.
The 57-year-old mechanical engineer can usually be found dressed head to toe in black and orange, carving away at a giant pumpkin.
Leno’s pumpkin sculptures hardly resemble the typical Halloween jack-o’-lantern. Rather than carving primitive eye and mouth holes into his pumpkins, he carefully sculpts them with fillet knives.
His achievements include intricate renderings of goblins, ghouls and real-life animals, as well as the occasional elaborate battle scene.
Leno said he started carving pumpkins about 20 years ago as a pastime, but it quickly evolved.
“This was just a hobby, but it turned into a fun job,” the Everett resident said Sunday. “Now it makes money.”
Photo by The News Tribune.
Jaclyn Wells on September 27th, 2009 3:11 pm
That is one huge pupkin! I can’t even imagine carving a pumpkin that big.
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