ZAC'S JACKS
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Hallowe'en!
Zachary Flavelle. Pumpkin Carver.
I've been carving pumpkins since the ripe old age of three, making squares and triangles in the vague visage of a face. When I was twelve I discovered a love for carving images that actually resembled something, and the joy I felt when people would trick-or-treat to our house and see the rows of carved images glowing up our steps. In university I realized that I could push myself further by creating photo-realistic images of friends, celebrities, comic book heroes... Anything I wanted! Each time I sit down to create a new work I learn something new about the craft and about my patience.
There is something about a carved pumpkin or watermelon that intrigues people. The unlit fruit looks boring with some holes and scratches here and there, but once illuminated from within, the mind struggles to comprehend the transformation. Having a loved one, a favourite celebrity, a guest of honour, or a terrifying monster carved into a piece of fruit is truly a unique way to compliment the atmosphere.
I have created customized designs for outdoor festivals, farmer's markets, fundraisers, weddings, parties, restaurants, dances, and family events. I've partnered with wonderful organizations, including Pumpkins After Dark, Sandbanks Provincial Park, Santa's Village, Storm Crow Manor, and the Royal Ontario Museum. I've won a number of carving contests and have even had my carvings featured on TSN's Sports Centre, CP24 Breakfast, The Good Stuff with Mary Berg (CTV), and The Morning Show (Global).
I take great pride in doing quality work that commands attention and inspires fascination.
Photo by Cassandra Popescu
The Origins of the Jack O'Lantern
Stingy Jack, as described by Irish Folklore, was a bit of a jerk. He loved to play pranks on people – be they friend, foe, or even his own mother – and he was such a nuisance that even the Devil took notice, wanting to claim Jack’s soul for himself.
One evening Jack was drinking alone at a local tavern (because who’d want to hang out with him?), when a stranger sat down next to him. It was the Devil, who calmly told Jack that his time was up and he would be escorting the prankster down to Hell. Jack took this news surprisingly well, and after emptying the dregs of his glass asked the Devil if he would extend the kindness of joining Jack to have one final drink before his trip to eternal damnation. The Devil acquiesced, and Jack reached into his tattered pockets to find he’d spent the last of his money. Always resourceful, and stingy, Jack asked the Devil to transform himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks, and once the coast was clear, the Devil could easily transform himself back. The Devil agreed and with a sulphury “pop” morphed into a coin that clinked onto the table. Jack quickly scooped up the infernal currency and slid it into his pocket next to a small, silver crucifix, which trapped the Devil in his current form, preventing him from changing back. The Devil was outraged, and protested from Jack’s pocket, demanding to be released from his confinement. Jack made the Devil promise that he wouldn’t come for his soul until ten years had passed. Outraged, but without any alternatives, the Devil agreed to Jack’s terms. The trickster removed the coin from his pocket, which turned itself back into an irate Devil that returned to Hell.
Despite the knowledge that his sinful ways had caught the Devil’s attention, Jack did little to repent or alter his behaviour in the following decade. If anything, he made the last ten years of his life more prank-riddled and sinful than ever. After an evening of drinking at a tavern, Jack was stumbling his way home along a forested path when he was met by the Devil again. Shocked that a decade had come and gone so quickly, Jack agreed to accompany the Devil to Hell, as per their arrangement. However, Jack was quite hungry and eyed up a delicious apple hanging from a nearby tree. Ten years ago, Jack would have been able to climb the tree to grab the fruit, but now he was quite old and not as spry. Jack asked if the Devil wouldn’t mind climbing the tree to get the apple for him, and the Devil, enjoying the irony of Jack eating an apple – the forbidden fruit – on his journey to Hell, agreed. As the Devil swiftly climbed the trunk and reached out to the branch with the dangling fruit, Jack pulled out a pocket knife and carved a crucifix into the trunk of the tree. Once again, he had trapped the Devil. Powerless to descend the tree, the Devil was furious and commanded Jack to release him. Jack made the Devil promise that he would give up on collecting his soul and wouldn’t take Jack to Hell. Ever. Without any other options the Devil gave his word that he would never take Jack’s soul to Hell, and Jack used his knife to destroy the crucifix carving. Now firmly on the ground, the Devil gave Jack a glowering look before vanishing in a plume of hellfire.
Many more years passed before Stingy Jack finally died. His soul arrived at the Pearly Gates of Heaven where he was met by Saint Peter. Jack was informed that his life of trickery, nastiness, and indulgence in sin was too great to allow him access to Heaven. Soon after, the Devil arrived to collect the souls rejected from paradise, and for the third time he came face to face with Jack. The Devil explained to Jack that, due to the deal they made while he was alive, Jack’s soul couldn’t be taken to Hell. Unwelcome in Heaven and Hell, Jack found himself trapped wandering the earth as restless spirit. In a rare display of pity, and perhaps out of respect at how Jack had outsmarted him twice, the Devil gifted Stingy Jack with some hot coals from Hell with which he could use to light his way as he wandered through the world. Even to a spirit the coals could burn the hands, so Jack hollowed out a turnip to use as a lantern, placing the glowing coals inside. From that day forward Stingy Jack was forced to walk the earth without a place to go, now known as “Jack of the Lantern” or simply “Jack O’Lantern”.
On All Hallow’s Eve (October 31st), the night before All Saints Day (November 1st), the Irish would hollow out turnips, gourds, rutabagas, beets, and potatoes, then place a light in them to ward off evil or wandering spirits, like Stingy Jack. These humble vegetables were the very fist jack-o-lanterns. During the 1800's, many waves of Irish immigrants began to make their way to North America where pumpkins were common. The immigrants found pumpkins to be much larger and far easier to carve than the previous mediums, and so the pumpkin became the ideal canvas of the jack-o'-lantern.