An Ohio artist spent 10 hours painting Taylor Swift's face on a 399-pound pumpkin for Halloween
Jeanette Paras
- An artist in Ohio has painted a giant 399-pound pumpkin with Taylor Swift's face for Halloween.
- Jeanette Paras has been painting celebrity pumpkins since 1988, and she unveiled Taylor SwiftKin last week.
- Paras is a two-time breast cancer survivor, and her project is part of a fundraiser for breast cancer research.
Say hello to Taylor SwiftKin — a giant 399-pound pumpkin that's been turned into Taylor Swift for Halloween, thanks to the efforts of an Ohio artist.
Jeanette Paras, 68, has been painting giant celebrity pumpkins since 1988, per her website. She's painted pumpkins in the likeness of Kanye West, Donald Trump, and even Baby Yoda before. This year, it's Swift's turn.
In an Instagram video uploaded on Tuesday, Paras unveiled Taylor SwiftKin — a massive pumpkin on her front porch that's been painted to resemble Swift's face.
Paras told Insider that she decided to paint Swift this year because she was a hot topic in the media.
"Taylor Swift led the pack with her incredible concert tour, concert movie, and merchandising. I mean, she is an economy by herself," Paras said. "Oh, and of course, her dating life with two-time Super Bowl champion, Travis Kelce, made her a standout to be 'pumpkinized.'"
To create Swift's likeness on the pumpkin, Paras draped the gourd in nine blonde wigs and used large sweet potatoes for the ears, per local news channel WCMH.
She even added a smaller pumpkin that's been painted to look like a football on the side — a nod to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce, whom Swift is dating.
The entire process took about 10 hours of work, Paras said in the caption of another Instagram post that showed a timelapse of her working on the project.
A media representative for Paras told Insider that Paras doesn't grow her own giant pumpkins for the project, but "is plugged into a network of people who do."
"And the growers all know her work too and love to be a part of the fun," Paras' representative said.
The pumpkin project is part of a partnership with the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center — a cause that is close to Paras' heart.
"My goal through the attention of my Paras Pumpkins is to increase awareness and help fight this awful disease. Everyone knows someone with or has had breast cancer," Paras, a two-time breast cancer survivor, said.
She added that she would match the first $2,500 donated to the fund dollar-to-dollar.
While her giant pumpkins typically get a Christmas holiday makeover after Halloween, SwiftKin will be getting special treatment this year, she said.
A local radio station in Columbus, Ohio, has reached out to her with plans to "raise SwiftKin up on a crane and drop her onto a pumpkin that says 'cancer' to smash cancer," she added.