Every fall, dozens of glassblowers from the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio create hundreds of glass pumpkins for a travelling show called the Northwest Glass Pumpkin Patch. Each handmade pumpkin is signed by the artist and is sold at various locations around the Puget Sound. I’d never been, and the show was coming to Bellevue, so I popped by the Northwest Arts Center and checked it out.
The exhibit consisted of only two small rooms, but they were packed with pumpkins. And people were picking them! Visitors had their baskets filled with glass orbs, which ranged from $35 for the wee ones to well into the hundreds for a basketball-sized one.
There were a lot of orange pumpkins, but to my surprise, there were other colors too. Something for everyone.
I watched a video about how the gourds are made. It’s a really neat process and it takes teamwork. Two glass blowers work together to heat the glass, blow the shape while spinning the orb, and intricately fashion a stem from a taffy-like string of hot glass. It’s amazing to think that the glass is so hot it turned to liquid.
The show hits two more cities before it ends, so if you’re in the area, check it out. I’ve heard about similar events in other areas. If picking hand-blown glass pumpkins sounds like a warmer, less muddy way to get in the Halloween spirit, go online and find a patch near you.
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