By Bella Erakko

Beloved cartoon character Peanuts may cavort in his beloved Halloween pumpkin patch, but Josh McCurdy, the September guest artist at the Alliance Art Gallery, creates a world of highly sculpted ceramic pumpkins for his “patch” and they are wildly successful. It began in college when the assignment was to press clay into two bowls then meld them together. Josh’s looked like a slightly squashed pumpkin, so he “faced” it not with the typical grin or scowl, but with weird-like humanness. He took it to an art show, a young couple loved it, and a film maker wanted to use it as a prop. Today, with the enthusiastic nudging of his fiancé Katie, Josh unleashes his inner child into incredibly sculpted unique ceramic pumpkins festooned with highly individualistic stems. His pumpkins are highly collectible. One family bought their first one when their son was a baby; today, this teen-ager annually picks his own. Josh’s other passion is raku. “It’s like Christmas. It’s abstract.” He puts it into a canister filled with burning newspapers; smoke pours out; and the clay transforms into its own pearlescent beauty. Though he began his artistic career in stoneware pottery, his pumpkins and raku pieces always leaped out of the booth. People just love them. Probably even Peanuts.

An opening reception will be held on Saturday, September 11 from 4 until 7:00.