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They're not your average pumpkins. When you see them you can’t help but laugh – they're big, colourful and resemble well-known figures.
Jeanette Paras from Ohio in the United States immortalises politicians, celebrities and cartoon characters but the thing that makes her art stand out is that she uses pumpkins as her canvas.
The mom of three started her creative endeavours in 1988, when her husband had the idea to paint pumpkins for Halloween rather than carve them.
They bought 40kg of pumpkins at the Circleville Pumpkin Show in central Ohio and were keen to put them to good use.
Inspired by what was happening in the news at the time, Jeanette painted the pumpkins to look like the then governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, and President George Bush.
“Those were the first celebrity pumpkins,” she recalls.
She's been painting themed pumpkins for the past 35 years in her garage and then showing off her masterpieces at her front door.
“I just pumpkinize whoever is visible in the media over the time," Jeanette says.
She immortalized former US president Donald Trump on a pumpkin in 2015 leading up to the elections.
During the Covid lockdown her Baby Yoda pumpkin inspired by Disney's The Mandalorian was a big hit. “I want people to look at Baby Yoda, smile, appreciate his cuteness and enjoy a moment away from everything going on in the world today,” she said in 2020.
Now it's her Taylor Swift pumpkin that's causing a stir.
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The pumpkins she paints on range from 90-220kg and are sourced mainly from the Southern Ohio Giant Pumpkin Growers Association.
“It’s a science and a talent to grow pumpkins this big,” the self-taught artist says.
She starts of with a sketch which she transfers with a washable marker onto the pumpkin.
"Then I scour it and paint."
This is the trickiest part because of the bumpiness of the pumpkin, she says.
Throughout the years her designs have put smiles on many people’s faces.
“It’s so fun to do something that makes so many people laugh,” she says.
“People knock on my door saying, thank you for doing this. A lot of people look forward to this every year, and that is really special.”
Her art has also helped Jeanette, a two-time cancer survivor, through some tough times.
In 2015 she was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time and had to go through a nine-hour operation which included undergoing a mastectomy and a reconstruction of her breasts.
Soon after her surgery she was back to designing and says having a purpose helped with her recovery.
Jeanette still enjoys the painting and has no intention of stopping any time soon. And she doesn't have to look very far for inspiration – it's all around.
