Mexican Folk Art Pumpkin.

A forgotten Mexican folk art pumpkin.

In the corner of my contemporary kitchen, sits a forgotten pumpkin. Painted several years ago, it was posted on Instagram but never made it to my website. I even had to search for it in my many art folders!

This pumpkin now rests on the top shelf of my kitchen cupboards with other pumpkins, its surface painted in whimsical colours and floral designs. It suggests stories - the kind that makes me think of family holidays spent on the Mayan Riviera, on warm, sunny beaches.

This is no ordinary pumpkin - its skin is a vibrant canvas, painted lovingly in the bold, intricate patterns of Mexican folk art. Vivid sky blue dances around fiery gold blooms, echoing the colours of the stripes in this Mexican blanket we bought In Puerto Vallarta so long ago.

Now it is displayed in quiet celebration of joy filled memories. The pumpkin is a memory of a culture that sees beauty even in the

ordinary such as in the little flags that adorn Mexican stalls on fiesta night.

The artist behind the pumpkin is a quiet woman known for her love of colour and tradition.

Many memories in each painted pumpkin.

Each autumn, as the air begins to cool and the scent of pumpkin or apple cinnamon pie fills the breeze around her home, she brings out her brushes and a collection of craft pumpkins—never real, so they may endure the years.

With the same care her nonna once showed when embroidering pillow cases and doilies, the artist paints each pumpkin in vibrant motifs.

She places them around her home—on kitchen islands, in empty spaces—turning her house into a colourful fall festival.

Each pumpkin is a celebration, not just of the season, of the ancestors she honours, and the joy she finds in keeping their stories alive through her art.

For other painted pumpkins see Bold Autumn Blooms on a Pumpkin, Decorated Fall Pumpkins, Inspired by Fall and Canadian Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving to my family and friends.