"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow!"

"Flowers are earths way of laughing"

Signs are popping up everywhere that spring is just around the corner here in the valley and we've got a bit of spring fever! here are some of our favorite spring quotes to help us and our dear friends through the final stretch!

"March winds are like the mornings yawn,

 the land, awakening with bluebird skies 

and the promise of new life."

"Lupines in Sunrays" by Varvara Harmon

"Spring Chestnut" by Thomas Merriam

Hoppy Spring!

"come the spring with all its splendor, all its birds and all its blossoms"

"Spring Migration" by Thomas Merriam

Spring forward!

Stop by when you are passing through beautiful downtown Center Lovell, overlooking Kezar Lake and the White Mountains of western Maine and New Hampshire.

Plein Air Demonstration Hosted by Harvest Gold, July 26th!

Plein Air Demonstration

at Harvest Gold Gallery, 1082 Main Street, Center Lovell

Saturday, July 26th

10:00 AM-3:00 PM

The phrase “en plein air” is a french phrase that literally means “in the open air”, which describes a type of painting done outdoors. Artists have always painted outdoors, but this style became especially important for the impressionistic and barbizon styles of painting, popular in the mid-19th century. Masters such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir often painted en plein air and advocated for the method. The plein air approach is still popular with artists today despite the technological advancements in photography that allow many paint independently from the outdoors. Several artists displayed at Harvest Gold Gallery are avid plein air painters and on Saturday, July 26th, we will be hosting a demonstration from 10am to 3pm. We are expecting Kristen Dill, Thomas Merriam, and Nancy Trider to lead our second annual plein air demonstration and are excited to have such talented and diverse artists try their hand at capturing our lovely property overlooking Kezar lake.

Kristen Dill is an accomplished and vibrant artist, working mostly in watercolors and oil paints. She graduated with a B.A. from University of Southern Maine in 1978 and since then she’s lived in Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina. Kristen spends her summers on Moose Pond in Bridgton where she works from a porch studio overlooking the water. Her subjects are often bright floral arrangements and still lives painted in her eye-catching impressionistic style. In her artist’s statement she says she wishes to “capture the ephemeral quality of nature and make it a shared visual experience”, which she certainly does, especially in her plein air work.

"Morning Glory Mountain"

Thomas Merriam, a Maine native, grew up in York Harbor to a father who was a draftsman by trade. For hours on end his father would have him copy images from National Geographic until they were to his liking, and stressed that his son to pay attention to detail. Tom apprenticed for three years with George Carpenter who claimed to be the last surviving member of the Whiskey Water Colorist Association, and taught Tom how to use watercolors in the cold Maine outdoors. Tom is a graduate of the New England Conservatory in Boston and is a self-taught artist who has been painting for over 30 years. His plein air work is exceptional and detailed, and his style is perfectly adapted to reflect life in Maine.

"Shave Hill Farm"

Few artists capture the spirit of Maine so accurately as Nancy Trider; a lifelong artist and Leeds native. Trider was a self taught artist until she began showing her work professionally in 1981, from which point she continued developing her work with additional training. Her experience helped her gain recognition and awards, and in 2011 Nancy was accepted as a member of Oil Painters of America. Nancy currently paints with the Western Maine Plein Aire Group and says she prefers oils to watercolors for her plein aire work for their durability in the Maine outdoors. Her careful, thoughtful approach and familiarity with all her subjects is clearly visible in all her work. Nancy is a mother of three, grandmother of eight, great-grandmother of eight, and recently celebrated her 60th anniversary with her husband David.

"The Carrabassett"

For more information about our Plein Air event or the artists please visit Harvest Gold Gallery at 1082 Main Street, Center Lovell, go to our website www.havestgoldgallery.com, or call us at 925-6502. We hope to have a great turnout for the demonstration and hope to see you there!

Nathan Macomber Blown Glass

Nathan Macomber first blew glass at Mass College of Art in 1995. His education in glass continues and includes classes at the Corning Museum of Glass, The Penland School of Arts and Crafts, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and a self designed B.A. in glass from Prescott College which he received in 1999.

Nathan has not only taken numerous classes and workshops, he has also taught dozens of individuals in private lessons, as a co-instructor for Prescott College, and has served as a T.A. and instructor for The Corning Museum of Glass and Snowfarm- New England Craft.

Nathan spent the first seven years of his career working in Prescott, Arizona, where he helped build and manage a glass blowing studio.

 In the Spring of 2002, he bought his family's old farm in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There, he has set up his own private studio where he can be found almost everyday blowing glass, metal working, teaching, or maintaining the hundred year old farm which has been in his family since 1949.

Nathans line of Blown Glasses have been running out of the shop and currently we only have 3 of these wonderful glasses left! But don't worry, we have more on the way, plus a wide variety of nathans glass spiders, bowls, and outdoor and indoor art ! Here at Harvest Gold Galler in Lovell, we invite you to visit and view the selection of Nathans work we have in the Gallery along with many other local artists. 

Big Fish sighted in Center Lovell

Geoff Herguth Design outdoor art now at Harvest Gold Gallery
A recent addition to our Gallery is the new Sculptures by Geoff Herguth Design. Geoff Herguth and his assistant Jessie Redlon create custom sculptures including mermaids, fish, sharks, crustaceans, dogs, birds, and a three dimensional representation of the Maine State quarter. GHD also fabricates decorative iron work, sculptural signage, furniture, and cabinetry while also operating a commercial marine welding service providing custom boat building, repair and restoration.
Specializing in cast aluminum, stainless steel, copper and bronze, Geoff has been designing, welding and creating with metal for over 30 years. His sculptures and signage can be found as feature decor at restaurants and retail stores along the East Coast, and here at Harvest Gold Gallery.
Geoff uses a method of casting called Lost styrofoam casting. Lost styrofoam casting is a sand casting process where the original pattern is carved in styrofoam. The finished pattern is "rammed" or "packed" in casting sand in a container called a flask. Casting sand is a fine sand mixed with oil to allow it to pack tightly. The molten metal is poured into the flask and the styrofoam is vaporized and displaced. After cooling, the sand is broken away to reveal the cast metal. The Petrobond sand used is fine enough to pick up a finger print. A value added element to lost styrofoam casting is that each pattern is hand carved. Even if the subject is repeated it will be unique as no two patterns can be identically reproduced. The rough cast piece is then finished by a variety of techniques, sand blasting, grinding, polishing and "chasing" (hammering) the surfaces of the piece.
In our Gallery we are fortunate to have 4 of Geoff's origional pieces including the Mako Shark, Mermaid and Moon, Swordfish, and Mermaid. Each piece is original, although he make make a similar one, he creates and molds each one individually so no two structures are exactly the same. 

Mermaid

Swordfish

Mako Shark

Mermaid & Moon

Please feel free to stop by our shop anytime and check out the Biggest fish you're ever seen in Lovell, and our Mermaids! Can't make it to town? Check out our Website at http://harvestgoldgallery.com. 
And don't forget to check out the view! 

Varvara Harmon comes to Harvest Gold Gallery to teach a Plein Air class

Varvara Harmon is a Russian artist who moved to Windham Maine in 2001.  She graduated from art school in Russia over 20 years ago and has been painting since she was a little girl. Her work is all made in different mediums and she creates it in a series of small paintings or drawings that are connected by a common subject or theme. We are proud to have an award winning Maine artist showcased here at Harvest Gold Gallery, and even more proud to have had her teach a Plein Air Class here at the Gallery. 
Plein Air is a French expression which means "in the open air," and is particularly used to describe the act of painting outdoors, which is also called peinture sur le motif ("painting on the ground") in French. 
This past saturday Varvara set up her easel and paints and got straight to work here at the gallery using our beautiful Center Lovell View. 

The beginning of Varvara's Plein Air class, and the paintings are starting out great.

By noon Varvara has already accomplished so much. She is amazing to watch in action!

This photo is after 5 hours of dedicated painting. 

This is the end result! It's absolutely beautiful! We are so proud to say that Varvara Harmon painted the view from Harvest Gold Gallery. 

We just had to share Varvaras pallet and organization! Love these colors, they really express the shades of Maine in the summer.

Feel free to come and see more of Varvaras work and check out the view here at Harvest Gold Gallery in Center Lovell, Maine.