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My plant journey began as a child, sitting on a boulder & making “witches brew” with plants, acorns, mud & sticks. Decades later, I am still continuously inspired by nature & the lessons plants have to offer us. After years of studying & apprenticeships, I’m proud to be formulating our herbal remedies in the traditional way of my Norwegian ancestors.
We make our products using the traditional methods that have been used by people for thousands of years. There is no speeding up the process or quick-fixes! We slowly infuse each herb for a full moon cycle to fully extract all the medicinal properties the way nature intended. Everything is made in small batches using fresh, organically grown, seasonal herbs, most of which we grow!
Like most New England Forests, the land we live on has been ravaged for its resources without reciprocity. We plan to restore this land to a healthy, vibrant botanical sanctuary where medicinal herbs grow underneath the canopy of a healthy forest with a thriving wildlife habitat. We plan to build traditional Norwegian Stabbur houses with grass roofs to host workshops & visitors.
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I’m Morgan, the owner of Nautical Farms. I started Nautical Farms with my partner in life and in business – Jake Patryn in 2017. We both grew up in Maine, but our seaweed story starts thousands of miles from the sea. While living in Colorado, we began exploring the power of seaweed which has brought us back to our roots and led to the start of Nautical Farms.
We had no previous aquaculture training or knowledge but were proactive in following our passion to learn more and get involved in the growing industry in Maine. We now grow over 5 acres of seaweed, serve on the board of the Maine Aquaculture Association, host events educating communities about the benefits of farmed kelp and more! We look forward to sharing with you the experience of seaweed.
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Fieldstone Gardens, Inc is an established retail/mail order perennial nursery located in Vassalboro, Maine. We offer a full spectrum of perennials for the shade garden, sunny cutting garden, dry rock garden, and the native woodland garden. Come see our choice, well-developed, northern-grown selections of over 1,000 varieties. Container and field grown plants. (hardy to Zone 4/5)-many unusual and hard to find plants. We have 50,000 containers tucked into a country estate-like setting, with 5 acres of display and nursery production gardens, all located within a 250 acre, 4th generation farm. Vassalboro is located just north of Augusta. Plants are shipped throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad. Open House is always the last Sunday in June. Many events during open house and throughout the year. Website: www.FieldstoneGardens.com. Open daily. 9:00- 5:00 April – Oct and other times by appointment.
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Marie Spaulding was born and raised in Maine. She remembers as a child living in Downeast Maine always creating and being fascinated with nature.
Marie has studied art most of her life and has some professional schooling at a Maine University but has mostly gained her
skills through practical experience, learning through trial and error.
It took Marie some time to find her artistic path after working in other non-art industries, but an opportunity that sold her first painting in 2009 lit her creative fire and from there her art career started to take off.
She then became a full-time professional artist in 2018.
Her style is heavily nature inspired and is a balance of abstract and realism. She uses a combination of mixed mediums and techniques – focusing on colorful, textured pieces.
“I love animals – I’ve always felt connected and drawn to them -and I also love colorful textures and layers – my style has merged bringing these two things together.”
Painting mostly animals she enjoys the connection and meaning of each animal. After losing her yellow lab Lily in 2013 her connection to animals grew even stronger.
Her art studio is located in central Maine where she currently lives.
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I have been making jewelry now for 13 years. I went to VCU and graduated with a BFA. From humble beginnings making props for TV shows to working with metals and fine gems. Early on I did small shows. In 2017 I took the plunge moving to Maine to take over the reigns of a jewelry shop and have stayed in Southwest Harbor ever since. I draw my inspiration from MDI and my love for art; trying to put it into the metal and make pieces that can be handed down from one generation to the next.
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Matthew Alden, founder-
Matt grew up at his family’s century-old weather-beaten cottage on the coast of Maine. It’s a place where shingles buckle and stain peels from the exterior as soon as it is applied. It’s a place that has been pieced together for over five generations. His Grandpa built the fireplace. His great grandmother made the dishes. An Alden crafted the rugs, lampshades, everything in the house. Matt calls it home but it’s not a place he can own. It’s a gift and a legacy that he is the current caretaker of. With his home in Maine in mind, Matt founded Jonathan Alden so the pleasure of handmade home goods could be spread. As a maker, Matt seeks to create what may be the subject of time- our time, and our descendant’s time. This is at the core of every Jonathan Alden product.
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Small batch, craft made, gourmet fudge from Maine. With 30 years of fudge and candy making experience we know quality and strive to make the best fudge you’ve ever tasted. Beautifully packaged, our fudge is perfect for gift giving. We specialize in business gifts, so be sure to ask about our wholesale pricing.
FYI: If you eat our fudge straight from the knife it’s fat and calorie free! (well… that’s what we believe)
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I have worked as a clinical social worker for the past 30 years. I have always considered myself creative but never had any formal training and outside of the occasional creative hobby here and there, never really focused on art. My art business was born during the pandemic quite by accident. My youngest son was in college and declaring his major in graphic design. We needed to equip him with an iPad and purchase the Adobe software to support his major. As a result of him being at home that year due to the pandemic I was able to watch what he was learning. When he wasn’t using the software, I began to pick it up and fiddle around with it. I really enjoyed the process. I immersed myself in online educational formats to grow my knowledge of both Photoshop, Procreate, InDesign, etc. I loved the ease of use; how I could pick up the iPad wherever I was, open the application, create in the spare time I had and then save and close the program when I was done. I did not need a studio space, did not need to purchase paints and brushes, or clean up after I was done! I surprised myself by my innate use of color and being able to take an idea or inspiration from around me and create my designs from the blank screen of the iPad. After things started opening up after the quarantine I started to attend various continuing education classes at MECA to further my skill set. It has been fun to see my aptitude improve along with my confidence After providing counsel to thousands of clients over the years as a social worker, this process has become my own sort of therapy. I look forward to spending my free time creating new illustrations and I have really enjoyed seeing customers respond positively to my work! I did not foresee this growing into a part time business but it has moved in this direction over the past couple of years quite naturally and I am thrilled about that!
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I am a husband, father of 4 boys, and a recently retired Maine Army National Guard/Maine Air National Guard veteran proudly producing small leather goods from our home shop in Central Maine.
In 2016 I was working as the Maine Hero2Hired rep for the Department of Defense tasked with assisting Maine veterans during the employment process when I was recruited as the Marketing and Sales Director for the last remaining tannery in the state, Tasman Leather Group. During my time at the tannery, I worked in sourcing leather for designers such as LL Bean, Rogue Industries, Origin, Kurier etc., while simultaneously created a leather overstock company, Acadia Leather (still operating in Hartland, ME). To become more knowledgeable on product development and to have a better understanding of product manufacturing from our customer’s perspective, I began learning leatherwork on the side. In 2017 I felt confident to attend my first show and from there the business picked up. For the next few years I attended 20-30 statewide shows yearly on a part-time basis and went full-time in 2020 shortly after the tannery had closed permanently due to Covid-19. During the fall of 2020, due to Covid-19 restrictions on shows, we transitioned to primarily online sales, limiting shows to now a handful a year. We are currently looking at having our product move into the manufacturing stage with a manufacturing partner here in Maine to increase product availability and brand awareness.
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My life as an artist began when I was a little girl spending time with my French Canadian grandmother who taught me to knit, crochet, sew, garden, gather wild berries, cook and bake. I also learned about selling handmade goods and giving back to my community at her elbow in the basement of St. Therese’s church in Oakland, Maine. Each holiday season, she would set up a table and sell mittens, scarves, baby sweaters and booties, and when the show was over, she would donate whatever was left to the charity box. I have always found joy and comfort and purpose in making things with my hands and heart. My first experience selling at shows was right after college and I sold handmade sewn items such as quilts, vests and holiday ornaments. I went on to teach myself how to use a fancy camera and had a website where I sold my photos of all sorts of scenes in Maine and beyond. Those skills have been very important to me as a painter, which is an art form I took up ten years ago. I am able to photograph my own finished paintings for use in designing products such as inspiration card decks, greeting cards, calendars, posters and prints, and I taught myself how to use a graphic design program so that I am able to do the designing myself. I find my inspiration for my paintings in the gorgeous natural environment in which I live here on the coast of Maine. In 2023 I have been focused almost exclusively on coastal themes and have produced 37 paintings since January. I recently showed these paintings at my favorite summer art show and not only sold 21 paintings but also received the top honor of having my painting of two young girls in swimsuits holding a swim float chosen as Best In Show, which is an incredible achievement I would never have believed could happen. I have studied and taken workshops with Maine artists Mary Brooking and Nancy Keenan Baron and with national and international artists Elizabeth St. Hilaire, Emma Petitt, and Lucy Thomas to name just a few.
