Originally from Palo Alto, California, Gay made her way to Maine almost forty years ago. Inspired by her artistically inclined family to pursue a creatively driven career, Gay attended Moore College of Art in Philadelphia to study sculpture and design, and entered the work force as a landscape and interior designer.

Gay’s experience as a technical designer shows itself in the carefully considered color schemes of each of her paintings. Her ability to create a subtle and cohesive marriage between soft and vibrant hues in a single painting amplifies the emotions of her subject to the viewer. Her love and respect for all animals and their sentient, emotional characteristics overwhelms her subject matter. “You have to have your heart in whatever you are doing,” Gay said, “be it painting or a desk job, you have to feel it. That’s what brings the subject to life and keeps it from being just a copy of a photograph."

"Heartbeat" by Gay Freeborn

Animals of all sorts are sculpted in paint: pigs, ducks, chickens, horses, and especially dogs. Gay is deeply interested in capturing the relationship between the owner and the animal, in accurately representing the physical and emotional likeness of the creatures, and in bringing forth the unique personality of each creature. She begins her creative process by taking hundreds of photos of her subjects. From these photos she might find a color that works better in one than another, or a body part that works with another photograph, like adding a tail when one wasn’t wagging when the shutter clicked. The paintings become a compilation of ideas which tell the story of the animal. She can pull from them the moment in time when the light was perfect and when she and the animal fell into a rhythm together.

“I then convey the motion, shape, and love for the animal with loosely applied sweeping brushstrokes or a pallet knife,” Gay told us. “Using glazing mediums, wax, chalk dust, and thick layers of oil paint I sculpt the subjects on the canvas: I bring them to life in an unconventional form.” While Gay does switch between different styles of painting to attempt to avoid falling into a creative rut, Gay says that painting loosely with large brushstrokes and bright colors is her favorite style. “To paint is a constant process of learning. The paint often tells me what to put on the canvas and I try not to disturb an unexpected brushstroke once it is applied. I keep in mind the movement and shape of the animals more than the realistic image the photograph shows me. This helps to stay loose and less realistic: which is what I strive for.”

While Gay has been focusing mostly on painting recently, her deep love of animals goes far beyond just the canvas and paint. She grew up with many dogs around the house, and worked in a veterinarian’s office for some years. She also is a breeder of Labrador Retrievers, and a frequent participant in dog shows all around New England. With a fair knowledge of anatomy under her belt, Gay can focus on capturing those details which really bring her paintings to life: the sparkle in a pet’s eye or a dog’s body language that her audience can immediately recognize if they too are pet owners.

Loop-de-Loop Hoops: A fun twist on a classic style, Loop-de-Loop Hoops can be made in both synclastic and anticlastic styles. 

Top: Synclastic style in 14k Gold        Bottom: Anticlastic style in Sterling Silver

These quirky hoops add a bit of pizzazz to any outfit! Available in both sterling silver and 14k gold, these earrings can be made in a variety of sizes to best suit your style! If you are looking for a gift that a jewelry lover may not already have, look no further than these fascinating earrings. Made of one piece of metal that has been twisted into form, these earrings will be a talking point on every outing!

      Kathy Angel Lee is the only textile artist creating fabric collages here at Harvest Gold Gallery! While taking an applique class in the 1980's she was introduced to quilting and completely fell in love with the art. What's even more incredible is that she mainly taught herself what she knows about textile art and quilting. Kathy sees her work as ever evolving- her current work that we show in the gallery in much more artistically creative than where she began as a quilter. Today she mainly creates fabric collages using Persian Embroidery. This technique
"is a form of applique using 'fussy cut' printed elements to create a scene on a background fabric. Fabric collages is a style of art where a variety of materials are stitched to form a scene."

Kathy often starts with a photo that has been printed onto fabric, then adds stitching and other fabric pieces to create her finished piece. The result are these beautiful fabric collages- often nature scenes or animals. If you would like to see Kathy's work for yourself, stop by Harvest Gold Gallery!

Arnica is a flower that has been used for centuries to cure a range of issues people face, from chronic arthritis to soreness after a sport- arnica helps with bruising, aches and soreness. The arnica plant naturally contain chemicals that helps activate the body's circulatory system which reduces inflammation and bruising. Here at Harvest Gold Gallery we carry the whipped arnica cream as well as arnica rub sticks and bath salts! These products also have a more natural scent which is great for people who don't like products with a strong smell.

Tom Stoenner is the incredible artist behind these beautiful blown glass cups! A beautiful aspect of blown glass is the true uniqueness behind each piece. Even if the same style, materials and colors are used, each piece is still one of kind simply due to the nature of glass blowing. 

Tom says, "I create glass that adds to the pleasure of the drink"- with his glassware epitomizing the meaning of functional art. He continues to say that "I have always believed that things made by hand offer a shared experience between the maker and the user. A simple object can forge connections."

Houle studied art at Plymouth State College and in 1998 was awarded his degree in Fine Arts in Painting. Now, he lives in Augusta with his family and has spent the last 25 years around New England. All the while trying to establish himself as a New England artist. Much of Houle's work focuses on architecture; he is "drawn to the charm and nostalgia around old homes and barns, store fronts, and light houses." His interest in this as a subject gives him the unique ability to turn, what seems to be a mundane scene, into a masterpiece.

Our artist spotlight this week is the creator of Maple Sugar Studio, self-taught silk painter and Maine artist- Megan Reiniger. As a child Megan was always interested in art everything from figure painting to art kits, her creativity was always there. It ran in her family, her grandfather was an incredible artist and he was very close to Megan, but sadly he passed away. It was after the passing of her grandfather that Megan's inner artist truly bloomed, her lifelong creativity became a passion for art. The first time she painted a scarf was in 2016, in 2018 she was given notes taken by her sister at a silk painting class. From those notes alone Megan began silk painting, and she is terrific at it.

She creates her own designs and mixes her own pigments for just the right color. Silk painting is incredible tricky because one drop of dye on the wrong spot permanently stains the silk. Mistakes are bound to happen, "inevitably something happens" as she says, so Megan learned to work with them, seeing mistakes as "surprises." Mistakes takes on their "own personality” and Megan loves working them into her art.

In 1821 two men, Elijah Hamlin and Ezekiel Holmes changed Maine’s gem industry forever, by finding a beautiful piece of green tourmaline on Mount Mica in Paris, Maine. They had no idea the extent of the discovery that they had just made, even after sending it to a Yale professor who determined it was tourmaline. The gem industry was not very popular; up until the 1860’s when serious mining operations began, leading Maine to become world famous for its tourmaline. Now it is the official Maine state gemstone!
Tourmaline comes in a range of colors, some are multicolor like watermelon tourmaline and it is dichromatic changing color at different angles. The color difference is due to different elements being present when the tourmaline is forming.

In the case of watermelon tourmaline the elements present during the formation of the gem change part way through it's formation. We see it as the center being pink and the outer edge being green.