For artist Jack Pine, the Circleville Pumpkin Show is not only a place to display his hand-blown glass pumpkin creations, but also to help raise money for cancer research.

For nearly 20 years, Pine has created a limited edition pumpkin of the year for the show. This year, half of the proceeds will go toward the Gene and Immune Therapy Program at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center-Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital, where Pine’s mother is being treated for colon-rectal cancer.

“We were stunned to find out, and my mom said, ‘I just wish I would have gone to the doctor when I had symptoms earlier on,'” Pine said. “James [Cancer Hospital] has been wonderful, and so I thought this time of year I would like to donate a percentage of the sales. Not only is it for a good cause, but also for education and research.”

The Circleville Pumpkin Show is nothing new for Pine, an Ohio native who grew up in Tarlton, just outside of Circleville.

“When you’re growing up there as a kid, you can’t wait to get out of there,” Pine said. “But now that I’ve traveled around, I’ve discovered that southern Ohio, particularly the Tarlton area, is so beautiful, and I didn’t realize how beautiful it was until I moved away. This is always a special time of the year there.”

Pine’s childhood home was a log cabin, near a creek.

“The people there are so genuine and very community oriented,” Pine said. “A handshake means something, people take you on your word, and those are the kinds of values that have been ingrained on me all of my life. It’s definitely attributed to my success as an artist. I appreciate nature growing up in the country all those years like I have.”

After graduating from Logan Elm High School and a tour of duty in Germany with the U.S. Army, Pine graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Columbus College of Art and Design.

“I knew I had to get a part-time job, and I knew I wanted to go somewhere I hadn’t been and explore the country,” Pine said. “I had about $200 in my pocket and landed in the city of Seattle in the summertime. I was almost a bum living in the parks out there, but I met up with some nice people.”

Pine was working in a deli when he met a man who told him about a glass studio called Ornamental Blown Glass.

“I got my start, fell in love, and it didn’t pay a whole lot, but it was just so cool with the fire and all of that, and I was instantaneously in love from that point forward,” Pine said. “Glass blowing is just continuously challenging, and you can never learn it all for sure. There’s a romance to it I would say — you’re almost dancing with the glass if you will.”

Pine used his eye for color and design to stumble upon the creation of the pumpkins, after being asked to blow a glass pumpkin for a friend years ago.

“It was this beautiful orange, and I thought that would be really cool for the Circleville Pumpkin Show, so a friend and I in the evenings after work would work on pumpkins for the pumpkin show, and sure enough we made it fly,” Pine said. “It was pretty scary because we blew all our budget on trying to make these little pumpkins but it was a huge success.”

Pine estimates he has made over 700,000 pumpkins nationally. He has a huge fan base at the show.

The show is now open in Circleville and runs through Saturday night. Pine is also raffling two pumpkin sets with proceeds going to the Gene and Immune Therapy Program. Tickets are $5 for a four-piece set that is worth around $500, Pine said. The drawing will be on Saturday night.

Pine has a studio downtown on East Fifth Avenue, but the retail portion is not open yet. For more information on Jack Pine Studio visit jackpinestudio.com.