You never know who is going to come through the bright purple door of the gallery, and today we had someone special walk in!

Lynda and I were sitting at the front desk, stringing necklaces and chatting when all of a sudden the doorbell rang. We looked at each other in surprise, because usually from our vantage point at the desk we can see customers as they walk through the gardens up to the front door.

We stood up, and were just catching the lights when an older fellow burst through the front door.

“Hello! My goodness,” he said, “I just can’t believe this is happening.” With a big smile he started to twist his head side to side clearly searching for something.

“Aha! Oh gosh, right there! I want to see that vase right there!” A bit flustered, we headed over to the white gold case and pulled out the blue and green vase the man was so excited for.

“My apologies,” the man said, “I was so excited to see this that I completely forgot my manners! My name is Tony Egan, and my son made this vase nearly 20 years ago! Ya know, I am staying just down the road at Quisisana. This is my first year staying here, but I had cousins who came up every summer so this year I decided to join them. And look,” he pulled out one of our rack cards, “look! Imagine my surprise to see one of my son’s blown vases pinned up on the board at the resort! Can you believe it? I had no clue that he was showing any work anywhere up here!”

We love hearing this type of story at the gallery, it is always interesting to hear what our artists have been up to since we saw them last. Tony’s son, Michael Egan, is a glassblower out of Vermont. His work was some of the first to be shown here at the Gallery, and we had that particular vase Tony was now holding for at least 18 years! The vase is a favorite of the staff here at the Gallery, and is often on prominent display in one of the front rooms.

“I knew it was Michael’s,” Tony said, “I just knew it! I recognized the blues and greens of the rods, and of course the unique bubble shape! Heck,” Tony rubbed his neck sheepishly,  “I think even twenty years on we still have some scraps from this project lying around the workshop back home. Gosh, you can just never imagine where you work will end up!”

Tony Egan, posing with his son Michael's handblown vase

And that is so true! We love hearing tales of where our jewelry and art goes with you: to new jobs, to new homes, to new families. So we encourage you to share your stories with us by emailing us at harvestgoldjewelry@gmail.com, or by chatting with us when you next stop in! Hope to see you soon!