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

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! 

Shopping in Philadelphia

We went to Philadelphia last week to see what  is new at the Buyers Market of American Crafts. Its fun to see some city life after being in the Maine woods.

 A walk from our hotel takes us through Redding Market and terminal and on into the convention center filled with artists and their works.

 Lynda and I found Don Drumm and Cricket Forge sculpture exhibit and got to talk with Don and staff about his work. We've carried their work in the gallery for 16 years. Both companies offer artistic sculpture for indoors and outdoors. Don Drumm uses Francis Vega's Cricket Forge shop to make some of his designs. He creates whimsical sculpture and functional kitchen wares. Francis's work is more representational designs in metal for the garden and home.

 We also visited with Diane Kline at the show. Her acrylic floral paintings are featured in our gallery, and at Arabica coffee shop in Portland Maine. Diane,s "Poppies" is a beautiful impression, giving the feeling of spring just around the corner.

  Diane has some new figure paintings on exhibit at the show this year.
 We spent three days looking over the show ordering new items from familiar artists and discovering new artists to present at Harvest Gold Gallery in 2013.

 See you again Phili :)

Stop by Harvest Gold gallery whenever you are in beautiful downtown Center Lovell, overlooking Kezar Lake and the White Mountains.

Michael Tatom showing at Harvest Gold Gallery

Harvest Gold Gallery is happy to present the wonderful work of Michael Tatom.  His captures the spirit of the animals.  The quick look from the grey fox.

Michael Tatom has been a sculptor for more than twenty years. He was born in Los Alamos, NM where he was surrounded by a family of artists and designers. 

In 1994 Michael started sculpting his series of bronze animals, each with their own magical shape and movement. Using simple and graceful lines he has become a successful sculptor.  The quiet fawn resting in the wood.  The lurking cougar stalking.

Michael Tatom quotes: "The main focus of my work is to translate into bronze the essence of the animal, to capture some movement or instinct and present it in a simple, stylized form. 

The last and one of my favorite parts of the process is the patina. There are so many variables when working with patina. The different colors and textures have a dramatic effect on the feel of the finished sculpture."

 Stop by when passing through beautiful Center Lovell, Maine, overlooking Kezar Lake and see them all.  New ones are expected soon!