Kenai sculptor tackles giant gourd

By Jenny Neyman
Redoubt Reporter
A jack-o’-lantern just won’t do for this job. An extraordinary pumpkin demands an extraordinary design.
That’s the attitude Kenai sculptor Joy Falls will use to approach the 319-pound pumpkin she’ll be carving at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center this week.
“I’m a sculptor and it will be sculptural; kind of a 3-D character,” Falls said. “It’s too wonderful a pumpkin to just make a jack-o’-lantern out of it.”
Beyond that, though, she wouldn’t tip her hand about what design she’ll be creating.
“I think you’d better be surprised,” she said. “You’ll just have to come take a look.”
The pumpkin was grown by master horticulturist J.D. Megchelson, of Nikiski, who has been producing giant pumpkins for the Alaska State Fair — and winning state titles for his efforts — for years.
An off growing season this year resulted in a smaller-than-usual pumpkin for the state fair weigh-off.
Well, small by Megchelson’s standards, anyway. It’s a mere 319 pounds, versus previous years’ pumpkins that have tipped the scales at more than 500 pounds.
Having a somewhat smaller specimen may actually be beneficial for Falls, though, since it’s got a more rounded, typically pumpkin-like shape and smoother outer skin than the giant pumpkins generally do.
Last year, the giant pumpkin carving was the centerpiece of Halloween festivities at the center. Tlingit carver Benjamin Schleifman, from Southeast Alaska, came to Kenai and carved a Native design into Megchelson’s state fair pumpkin from last year.

This year, local artist Falls was asked to tackle and transform the gourd. She’s already taken a look at it.
“I went up to Nikiski where it was residing and looked at it to see what shape it was and what design might work best with it,” Falls said. “The first thing I’m going to do is hollow it out and see what it looks like inside; see how thick it is and go from there.”
Her carving kit is ready for whatever challenges the pumpkin may present.
“I’ve got all kinds of tools — clay tools, woodcarving tools, anything that looks like it might come in handy,” she said. “I put a saw in my box this morning to work on it and get it opened up.”
Falls has a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the University of Alaska and a master’s degree in sculpture from the University of Montana. She also spent a year in Italy studying stone carvings.
“So a pumpkin should be no problem,” she said.
Unless she just cursed herself.
“I shouldn’t have said that, huh? I might have to eat those words,” she admitted. “I sure hope it’s done by Friday. I may be up really late on Friday night.”
Falls will be carving at the visitors center from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday. The finished pumpkin will be on display from 10:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Visitors are encouraged to come in costume and trick-or-treat, and there will be a limited number of small pumpkins to give away.
Whatever the finished product ends up looking like, Falls is looking forward to the experience.
“Oh, I love carving pumpkins,” she said. “I think we should carve all of our vegetables. Play with our food, you know?”

Contact the writer
Posted by Newsroom on Oct 28th, 2009 and filed under More News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.