Harvest Gold takes pride in our homemade gold, silver, and gemstone jewelry. We recognize it as one of the earliest art forms in the world. Jewelry has different meanings and significance to everyone.  So, enjoy this post about the early days of jewelry- from ancient times to today.

The earliest traces of jewelry found were in what is now called Iran around 3,000 to 400 BC. These pieces consisted of simple items, like stone amulets. Then came the Egyptian tombs, which is where they found mummies from 3000 BC with necklaces, rings, headdresses, earrings, crowns, and pins. The Egyptian jewelry featured many types of gemstones such as amethyst and turquoise.

The Greeks and Romans came next with their jewelry. In the Greek society, jewelry items with gemstones showed wealth and societal importance- sometimes they would wear up to 75 pieces at a time. However, the Romans enjoyed their jewelry for myth and magic purposes of the gemstones.

The crusades are what brings ancient jewelry to modern times. Jewelry in the Middle ages were meant for only royalty to enjoy. Each piece had a different meaning or purpose. As stated on GemSociety:

1. “Ecclesiastical rings, worn by clergy and laymen as sacred emblems.
2. Curative rings, meant to cure ailments and diseases.
3. Rings of romance, the wedding ring on the left second finger because of its closeness to the heart.
4. Gadget rings, including brass knuckles, compass rings, pipe stuffers.”

After this time period (Ending in the 17th Century), colorful gemstones started to lose their importance in fashion and diamonds began to rise in popularity.

If you have been to Harvest Gold before, you've likely seen Rebecca's abstracted landscapes. These paintings are much more abstract than most paintings you'll find here, but are still representational of places you probably recognize. Rebecca hopes that as an artist, she can begin to move in the direction of total abstraction. 

Harvest Gold recently acquired a few new Klementovich paintings. One is an abstracted landscape, and the other is completely abstract. When Rebecca visited us to drop off the paintings, she was excited to experiment with her more abstract pieces to see how they would be received in the gallery. She assured us that she would be back very soon with more abstract paintings. We can't wait to see them! 

We love puzzles here at Harvest Gold! Here's an excerpt to learn about our "Zen Puzzles":

"We handcraft our heirloom-quality, eco-friendly, wooden jigsaw puzzles one at a time from start to finish in the foothills of Western Massachusetts. With each new puzzle we create, we strive to give you the most memorable, unique, jigsaw puzzling experience possible along with an enjoyable opportunity to slow down amidst a fast-paced world. Enrich your life with the challenge and charm of our wonderful whimsical pieces, the beautiful imagery of our puzzles, and the devious trickery we design into most of our puzzles, such as false borders and false corners! Enjoy tranquil solitude or togetherness with family and friends as you discover the nuances of each new puzzle you choose for your collection! As both a profit and a mission-driven company, we use eco-friendly materials, collaborate with non-profits, and donate a portion of our profits to social and ecological causes.

These puzzles differ from the usual puzzle: these puzzles include whimsical pieces (or “Whimsies” in England), are one of the major features that differentiate the premium, wooden jigsaw puzzle from the die-cut, cardboard puzzle. They were included in wooden puzzles cut in throughout the 20th century.  For instance, the clown fish is immune to the poison of the anemone in which it lives; so in determining the figural pieces for our Chocolate Clownfish Zen, we based our research for the figural pieces on that fact, and, after some rather specific and lengthy research, we decided the figural pieces for the puzzle would all be fish that were also immune to the poison of the anemone."  

Going through our files I found some notes that we took during a plein air event last summer and thought it would be fun to share how much we learned about underpainting! 

An underpainting is a preparatory sketch or simple painting that serves as a base over which the artist then layers their final work. The underpainting often is used in oil and acrylic paintings to do a loose mock up of the layout of the piece, and will mark major light and dark points. The coloration and extent of the underpainting varies from artist to artist, as each has their own preferences on how much the underpainting affects or shows through to the final piece.

To someone like myself who has no technical or academic background in painting, it might seem like common sense to do an underpainting in black and white, or perhaps green if you were doing a landscape. A color that would blend into the overpainting I thought, or rather, a color that wouldn’t clash with the overpainting.

So imagine my surprise when I learned that many artists of landscapes use a bright orange to do their underpaintings! Using the color burnt umber can look muddy when layers are placed on top, whereas using yellow ochre stays a clear golden honey color. 

The finished product comes out with vivid bright colors 

Be sure to follow our social media accounts so that you don't miss out on this summers plain air events!

First photo

“Underpainting: Why You Need to Do It.” Jerry's Artarama Online Art Blog, 4 Apr. 2016, www.jerrysartarama.com/blog/underpainting-why-you-need-to-do-it/.

Windy days can bring about a symphony of music with these delightful Music of the Spheres wind chimes. These chimes are made from aluminum-alloy tubing that will never rust. Designed by Larry Roark, who founded Music of the Spheres in 1989. They are tuned to A 440, the standard orchestral pitch and are available in in 8 different musical scales including: pentatonic, Chinese, aquarian, gypsy, Hawaiian, balinese, Japanese, as well as whole tone. 

                            Click on the Picture to Learn More!

The alto chimes above consist of 1 1/2" diameter tubing with an overall length of 50".

                                 Please Click on the Picture to Learn More!

The chimes in the tenor octave are 60" long and are made of 2" tubing. 

                                Please Click on the Picture to Learn More!

The bass chimes are the largest and consist of 2 1/2" diameter tubes and are 90" tall.  

The different octaves of the various sizes provide the perfect harmony when played together. The sounds blend beautifully in the breeze and these chimes are the perfect addition to create a sense of peace and tranquility within your garden. Please stop by the gallery and listen to their unique sounds!

Take a walk through Harvest Gold Gallery and you’re bound to encounter several of Smus' woodland creatures, whether they are made of wood, bronze, or copper; whether they are miniature or life-size. David Smus is one of our artists who specializes in bronze sculpture, and recently we added several more of his pieces to our collection! From little puffins to a nearly life-size blue heron, David’s sculptures express an obvious love of nature and a clear knowledge of animal anatomy.

So the next time you find yourself at Harvest Gold, keep an eye out for a beaver whittling away at a tree stump, a blue heron with wings unfurling, three little bear cubs playing happily on a log, and a bobcat tiptoeing curiously across some rocks. When you find them, see if you can recognize the sense of spirit that David has so skillfully crafted into each creature.

To see more of Smus' beautiful work, visit our website or stop by the gallery to see it in its full glory!

We are lucky enough to get to experience an amazing view at Harvest Gold. If you follow our Instagram, you'll see that Lynda often posts photos of the sunrise and sunset. Every now and then, Lynda captures a shot of the mountains bathed in a vibrant, pink light.

This is known as the Alpenglow Phenomenon. Alpenglow (from the German word "Alpenglühen", meaning "mountain glow") refers to sunlight reflected off clouds just before sunrise and after sunset. 

Just up the street is a farm named Alpenglow Farm, overlooking the mountains. We have a painting by Thomas Merriam depicting the farm, with the mountains in the background. Just like us, they must often see this beautiful natural phenomenon. Pictured below is "Jackie's Farm, Alpine Glow" by Thomas Merriam.

Another work in the gallery that depicts alpenglow is "Snow Walk on Kezar Lake" by Rebecca Klementovich.

Follow us on Instagram to see our view in all of its varying states of beauty, all year round!