Who said work isn't supposed to be fun??

Hello there!

Summer is underway here at the gallery, and Morgan and I are having a blast working craft shows! With three shows under our belts already this season we are really getting the hang of things.We enjoy meeting new faces and seeing familiar ones so much that sometimes we forget we are even working!

Fun with Silly Sticks in North Conway

 It is also quite fun meeting other vendors and seeing the amazing level of craftsmanship on display. We love representing Harvest Gold Gallery, and we get to participate in some events that we otherwise would not have been a part of. From taking center stage at Stone Mountain Arts center to hanging out with the guys from North Woods Law at the Moose Lottery it has already been a great season for fairs, and we're just getting started!

                                    Morgan soaking it all in center stage at Stone Mountain Arts Center

You never know what you might find at a craft show!!

Part of our display at the Moose Lottery

Morgan all smiles at the Moose Lottery

Next on the list is Bethel's Independence Day Celebration. Come see us in action Saturday July 4th from 9-4 in downtown Bethel. We will be bringing some of Bill and Lynda's exquisite Jewelry, as well as a few pieces of fine art from the gallery. Hopefully Bill makes us lunch again, who knew that a brown bag lunch could be so delicious! Hope to see you there!

Lots of Love, Morgan & Ali

Harvest Gold Gallery Celebrates 18 years!

Christmas is special at Harvest Gold Gallery. It was eighteen years ago on the eve of Christmas eve when two of Santa’s elves (Bill Rudd and Lynda Rasco) moved north from Fryeburg to Lovell Maine and opened the Harvest Gold Gallery. They brought with them their hammers, mills, files, saws, vices, anvils, presses and all the tools it takes to design and create their beautiful and award winning jewelry. During the next six months preparations were made to turn the long-standing Severence Real-Estate store into the Harvest Gold Gallery.  They opened on their Sweet Sixteen wedding anniversary in May that spring.

Lynda and Bill had been creating unique, wearable gold and sterling jewelry for many years before moving to Lovell.   They traveled to the big wholesale shows in Philadelphia, Boston and many other cities.  Selling to jewelry stores and fine galleries around the country and abroad they were ready to meet the people who wore their jewelry and open a retail space.

Many of their pieces include Maine gemstones like tourmaline and amethyst mined right here in Oxford County.  Tourmaline is found in beautiful blues, greens and pinks.  Watermelon crystals are especially beautiful because they have both green and pink in the same gem.  The amethyst they use is from the famous Fourth of July find in Sweden, Maine a few years back.  They have become quite good at recycling old family gold and jewelry into new family heirlooms.  Changing the color and style of the old gold to reflect the new wearers own unique taste while keeping the sentimental quality of the piece.

                                                                                                             Over the years they have expanded the other artists in the gallery to include over 200 American artists, most being within an hours drive.  Their mission from the very beginning was to specialize in America artists and crafts people.  Now the gallery includes glass blowers, watercolorists, fine wood workers, stainless steel sculptures, oil and acrylic painters and even a pigmented pulp artist from Berlin, NH.  The fine outdoor pieces that are as functional as they are useful.  Potters who aren’t afraid of color and size, and traditional fabric artists combine to dress up the dinner table.   The book section is filled with award winning children’s stories and classic Maine humor and stories of history and folklore for the adults.

"Snow River" by Varvara Harmon
original oil 42"x 31" framed 

"Crystal Pitcher" by Jean Swan Gordon
Watercolor and ink, 30.25"x36"

Glass blown Rainbow Trout by Michael Hopko

measures 15.5"x 2.5" x7.5" 

Bill Eland "Dragonfly" Stainless Steel Sculpture

"Daffodil" Lamp by Max Howard
Marble and Stainless Steel

"Buck"
Michael Tatom Bronze Sculpture

Blue Lobster's Holiday
Children's Book Series by
Robin Taylor-Chiarello

Ceramic Pitcher by Morgan Rudd 

Oak and Walnut Checkered Bowl
Bruce May Wood Work

 

"Oakhill Farm" by Roland Simard
Handcast pigmented pulp, 23"x35" framed

Stop in when you are traveling through beautiful downtown Center Lovell and wish them a Happy 18^th!  Find out why Yankee Magazine voted them Best Gallery with a View in Maine, both inside and out.  Wonder through their seven rooms and see if you can pick which is more beautiful, inside or outside.  Located on route 5 across from the Center Lovell Inn over looking Kezar Lake and the White Mountains, open daily and on the web www.harvestgoldgallery.com

The story of us.... and our rings!

As we've mentioned on past posts and in our blog's mission, we want to share the stories behind the jewelry we design and make. So it was only fitting to share our own story! Recently on ETSY, there have been features of couples working and running their etsy store together and so we started to look back at our own story that began YEARS before etsy and has continued to grow and flourish over the past 25+ years! Above is a picture of L & B back in the day, hard at work in the studio making jewelry.



Our braided band was one of our first designs and became our wedding bands. It's a funny story behind our rings! We had the gold from L's grandmother's teeth and we repurposed it by melting and changing the alloy to the three different golds that constitute the braid! It's definitely an untraditional source of gold, one that speaks back to olden time, but when your young and just starting out- recycling gold can be a great option. We have had many customers stop by with old gold, or a grown out wedding band, etc and we have worked with them to make a brand new piece that fits their style and needs!


And a more recent photo- of L&B with Mount Washington!

We love being jewelers and wouldn't change a thing! We work well together, starting our day early and always take a break for one of B's fantastic lunches. Then it's back to the studio to fulfill retail and etsy orders! And if the sun is shining and the weather is right, we'll close up shop for a gaunt of skiing or come summer- for a dip in the lake. We have many more stories to share with you about past and present designs, so stay tuned!