STANBRIDGE EAST, Que. – Among the grizzled grey vines of fall pumpkins and gourds sit some funny faces.
A cowboy Santa Claus accompanied by reindeer heads is painted on a dozen gourds in one part of a sunlit patch. Resting among a pile of stacked hay bales are more characters, all creations from the imagination of Maureen Piette.
She started painting pumpkins four years ago after seeing the craft demonstrated in a magazine.
“I called my mom and said ‘I’m going to be a pumpkin farmer.’ She said I was crazy,” said Piette.
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But the crazy craft has grown into a 10-acre garden, most of which is planted with the gourds and pumpkins that serve as her canvas. She also grows peppers, ornamental grasses and multi-colored Indian corn, which are displayed in her craft store, now open year-round.
The exuberant Piette speaks English without an accent and spent some years in Calgary before settling in this southwestern corner of Quebec with her husband Michel and children Jessica, Mitchell and Samantha.
Price varies with size
Her painted characters include cartoons, roosters, maple leaves, Indians, ducks, apples, sunflowers, as well as cow and barn scenes. It takes half an hour to complete each scene but she usually paints two or three identical ones at the same time. The adorned pumpkins sell for $8 for a six-inch-wide vegetable and up to $24 for an 18-inch creation.
“I paint hundreds. I start the end of August as soon as they start popping.”
Piette uses acrylic paint and finishes off with a lacquer spray so the picture won’t wash off. The pumpkins are then ready to guard a porch or sit in a kitchen window. A couple have even graced wedding receptions, adorned with top hat and veil.
This is a temporary art form since the cool frosty nights harm the pumpkins. Piette must cover her displays every night and even a hard rain can bruise them. But last year she kept one outside that lasted until New Year’s day.
Her products’ fragility means she does not attend farmers markets or other events, preferring to have customers and school groups visit her site.
“It’s a lot of work loading up the truck and shipping. You can’t bang them around.”
