Art Glass Pumpkins – Art and agriculture on my mind

In my other life I go to a lot of boat shows. Every fall the classic United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland, calls it’s swan song to those of us in the marine biz and we all trek to the shores of Chesapeake Bay and one of the cutest little towns anywhere. Problem is, almost every year this show happens the week the fall leaves are at their best color in the mountains of northern New England. Never fails.

When I get home after Columbus Day my only consolation is that I can usually make the local pumpkin weigh-in at Frerich’s Farm in Swansea, MA. There are some BIG pumpkins, in the field when I get there, trucked in from all over. Seriously big--hundreds of pounds. Huge. To grow one of these behemoths requires creativity, patience, skill, and innate pumpkin knowledge. To win, well, that’s just way too much pumpkin know-how to even consider with a big dash of luck thrown in for good measure.

But what in the heck does this have to do with the Red Elephant Gallery other than our family makes up part of the weigh-in audience? Not a lot, but something important. Artists, whether they grow pumpkins or blow art glass, are in constant evolution from where they began through where they are in their craft, to where they’ll end up. When we check in with them at a particular time and place, they are somewhere along that evolutionary trail and the fact is we don’t know where. That’s the fascination. How does one person gain so much knowledge that they can grow a thousand-pounder or caress molten silica into something as glorious as Luke Adams’ under-a-pound art glass pumpkins,. What life events brought them to this point? How will they evolve?

As much thought as I’ve put into the behemoths in Massachusetts I’ve put into the fine detail of the delicate specimen on our windowsill. I stare at Luke’s work and wonder how he came to be in the place that he is and how lucky we are to be in the right place and time to enjoy it. How does he do what he does? I don’t know. It’s magic for all I care. Fascinating, beautiful magic.

So do hit the link above and check out his work. And if pumpkins aren’t your thing, they’re not all he does. But take some time with the pumpkins this fall. They’re very cool.

--Michael