I started working with wood over 30 years ago, mainly creating furniture and gift items as well as an occasion small boat. I concentrated on wood turning with the lathe about 15 years ago in my home workshop in Naples, Me. Once we retired, we moved to Bethel in 2017, and I now have a dedicated building for my workshop. My wife and I work as a team to produce, market, and sell our products through our stores online and multiple craft fairs in the region. I am largely self-taught, with a large library of woodworking books & magazines to reference. I take my inspiration from nature and the wood as it is turned. For the past few years our customers have requested or have inspired some new designs as well.
Bramble Dragon Ceramics
Posted by Set Balise & filed under .
Sett “Apples” Balise is a self-taught potter with about two decades of experience who resides in Liberty, Maine. His ceramic work includes contemporary functional objects like dishware and lamps, often with images engraved into them. His other hobbies include painting, drawing, mycology and walking in the woods.
Fresh Pickins Farm
Posted by Vicki Marion & filed under .
Founded in 2010 by Dan Marion a former professional skier turned organic farmer, Fresh Pickins Farm reflects a passion for sustainable living, adventuring, and a connection to Maine’s diverse landscapes.
We believe that the beauty of life lies in the natural world surrounding us. Inspired by the breathtaking landscapes of our home state of Maine—where the mountains meet the ocean, and the forests embrace the farms—we’ve built a brand inspired by nature’s rhythms.
Our journey begins on our saltwater farm, where we cultivate organic ingredients that are the essence of our personal care products. Every plant, every harvest, is a testament to our commitment to sustainability and our desire to share our connection to nature with the world. We understand that the products we put on our bodies should be as pure and nourishing as the food we eat.
Kimchi Beyond Compare
Posted by Daeun Kim & filed under .
I moved to the State of Maine back in 2013 leaving my home country of South Korea. Since my move to the USA, I always missed my mom and aunt’s kimchi and, unfortunately, all kimchi products in the US market never really satisfied me. One day my mom was telling me how flavors are really dictated from the ingredients’ quality. She also mentioned how an ingredients origin can make all the difference. I trust my mom in all food-related matters as her and her twin sister have owned a restaurant my whole life! My mom and aunt brought a bag of South Korean pepper powder when they visited me and made kimchi for my family. It was the perfect flavor that I had been missing. Since then, I have a strong belief in the importance of key ingredients in recipes, especially kimchi. You cannot ignore how the ingredient was grown, harvested, and processed with climate, soil, and weather conditions in its home country. Our ingredients all come from very trustful and reputable sources from South Korea and local markets in Maine, while availability allows it.
I have always been interested about healthy and diverse food. This led me to my university in which I obtained my food engineering bachelor’s degree. My passion and love of kimchi encouraged me to explore other kimchi types.
Perakis Ironworks Group LLC
Posted by Samuel Perakis & filed under .
My name is Sam Perakis, I’ve been blacksmithing for about 10 years, and I produce architectural ironwork in Portland, Maine. I moved my business from Massachusetts to Maine in May of 2024 when I agreed to take over the location of The Ball and Chain Forge when my mentor, Bob Menard, retired. I got started in blacksmithing because I wanted to learn woodworking with hand tools; I was in college and didn’t have any money for tools, so I figured I could make my own. I got on YouTube and was “self-taught” for a couple years but quickly found my local blacksmithing organization: New England Blacksmiths (NEB). After I got connected with the local community, things took off.
I’m a certified Journeyman and National Curriculum Instructor with ABANA (Artist Blacksmith Assoc. of North America) and in good standing with both ABANA and NEB. In addition to producing architectural ironwork in my own shop, I hold local blacksmithing events at my shop like anvil repair days. I also volunteer my time teaching at NEB’s Gilbert Teaching Center in Brentwood, NH as well as online with ABANA coaching the National Curriculum blacksmithing program. I’m affiliated with the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths (SIBs) and I strongly believe in the inclusion of people of all kinds and from all walks of life into the craft.
Lickity Split Treats
Posted by Stacey Stolman & filed under .
I am a quirky, creative gal who has always worked in the food industry. My food journey began when I was little. My maternal grandfather owned one of New England’s largest kosher supermarkets, and my paternal grandfather was a poultry processor. Therefore, I was born into the wonderful world of food.
Boston University was my next stop. I graduated with a degree in Communications. My first job out of college was working for Ketchum Public Relations in NYC as the assistant to the director of the Test Kitchen. Instantly, I fell in love with recipe development and food photography. I knew that I needed a culinary arts degree if I was going to be successful in this field. I left Ketchum and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America.
After graduating from the CIA, I became a food styling assistant and ultimately a full-fledged food stylist/recipe developer. My clients included major food companies, PR firms, cookbook authors, restaurants, resorts, and hotels. I also started a career as a culinary educator and was on staff at The New School in NYC. Fast forward a few years, I married and started a family. I continued to juggle photoshoots and recipe projects. After the birth of my 3rd child, I had the idea of starting a cooking school for children. This business began in West Hartford, CT, and when my family moved to Jupiter, FL, it expanded to teaching over 400 children a week in South Florida. In 2019, we left Florida, purchased a sweet little home in South Portland, and moved my food styling and cooking school business.
We are a family of dog lovers. Now, my husband and I are empty nesters. We are obsessed with our two doodles, Rosie and Harry. Being a chef, I was obligated to prepare homemade treats for our fur babies. They are picky, high maintenance, and the absolute loves of our lives! Yes, at times we love them more than our kids. Rosie and Harry can turn a frown upside down and give us so much joy and unconditional love.
Being the sandwich generation, my husband and I would divide our energies between elderly parents requiring my attention and young adult children seeking our counsel on adulting. To put it mildly, I was mentally tapped out. I would stare at my doodles and fantasize about the perfect job. One that would offer happiness, creativity, and lots of satisfaction. I needed a break from people and decided to focus on Man’s Best Friend. Lickity Split Treats was born.
Squirrel’s Nest Jewelry
Posted by Amy Mazzurco & filed under .
My name is Amy and I’m the owner, designer, and maker of Squirrel’s Nest Jewelry. I enjoy creating jewelry that suits my own style: simple, subtle, and not too fussy. Most importantly to me, it has to be COMFORTABLE and EASY to wear. I had given up on wearing jewelry because it often felt so uncomfortable; I would either feel irritated and take it off halfway through the day, or leave it on and be so relieved when I finally did remove it. I worked in a greenhouse for 12 years and would never bother trying to wear jewelry to work – it was just too impractical and would get in the way. After I made a pair of ear climbers for a coworker, I started wearing them myself and felt so excited that I had, after 33 years, finally discovered a piece of jewelry that didn’t drive me crazy! I began getting more requests from other coworkers who saw the benefits of a lightweight, out-of-the-way earring that could be worn all day.
I grew up in Freeport, and then went to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, where I majored in Studio Art, with a minor in Art History. My concentration was in textiles/fiber arts, and that is where I spent most of my time in the art building. However, I did take one metalsmithing class–little did I know I would tuck away some of those skills for later. In fact, I’m still using some of the same silver sheet solder that I purchased for my college class (a little solder goes a long way!) After living in upstate New York for 15 years (and devoting 12 of those to gardening/greenhouse work), I am back in Maine and loving being surrounded by the ocean, pine trees and chickadees that I grew up with.
The name Squirrel’s Nest is a business name that runs in my family. From the 1930s to the 1950s, my great-grandmother Eugenie Russell owned and operated a gift shop in Rangeley, Maine called The Squirrel’s Nest. I am lucky to have the original shop sign (it now hangs in my studio) and it seemed appropriate to carry on the name.
The Milk Bottle
Posted by Caitlin Houser & filed under .
My husband and I met working on a very busy restaurant line together. We both fell in love with cooking & hospitality at a young age and have developed those skills over many years in the business. He has pursued a career as a chef in some of Portland’s best restaurants and currently heads up the kitchen as Magissa full time while helping Milk Bottle in production and bottling. I worked my way up from the dish pit to general manager over the course of 20 plus years in the industry. Flavors & hospitality have always been at the core of my development. When the pandemic hit we were both out of a job and had time, for the first time, to actually focus on something we could bring to the community. Build something of our own. My sister told me about the program Propeller through the Women’s Business Center at CEI and I figured I would give it a shot. It was so inspiring to take an idea, mold that into a product, and take it to market alongside other women doing the same thing at various steps in their journey. I went ahead and took Propeller 2 as well and sought out advising from the SBDC. It has been some of the most rewarding years of my life so far. My favorite part of this adventure is being at a farmers market and finding something fresh and at peak season to use for a farm collaboration. Roasting fruit and pairing it with an herb or spice to make something interesting and fun for people to enjoy truly keeps me going. Working alongside my husband is a dream come true, creating flavor pairings, new products, and testing out our mixers together is so rewarding. The community around makers, artisans, farmers, and crafters is such a welcoming one, I feel a sense of belonging akin to my time in restaurants. I have helped build a few businesses up from the ground and I have always wanted to build something of my own. I hope to take this dream all the way to the moon while staying in Maine and using Maine ingredients whenever possible.
Erica Moody | Fine Metal Work
Posted by Erica Moody & filed under .
My current work sculpting serving wares evolved from wanting to create tools that create
connection, and focused that intersection with the spirituality in sharing food. My utensil
designs are inspired by a variety of antique serving styles, traditional metal craft techniques, as
well as minimal design and fabrication learned from my collaborations over the last 30 years
with artists, architects, and designers to engineer and fabricate their custom projects in furniture,
sculpture, and unique hardware. My process is to develop a conversation with the materials,
mostly brass, copper, and steel – and create a purposeful simplicity with focused attention on
human connection & haptic experience, enhanced by careful craftsmanship. I use both refined
and organic techniques, where areas of texture can emerge and become a nuanced detail that
documents the process while conveying the intimate sense of time, ritual, existence and
connection of the maker, user, and object. The same process is followed in my growing line of cabinet hardware.
Ergonomic Gardens, LLC
Posted by Chris & Kerry Stetson & filed under .
When we bought our home in 2009, we carved out a 90 by 30-foot garden. For many years, it was beautiful and fruitful. However, managing weeds with a tiller hurt our soil biome and our garden conditions eventually favored weeds. We were working in soil with a lot of clay, which rain turned into a muddy mess that hardened in the sun. We lost three gardens in a row to weeds despite hot summer days crawling on the ground fighting them.
The last garden we lost was during the pandemic, when we were gardening like it mattered. After that, we needed to find a better way. We wanted to get our bodies off the ground. We added hügelkultur to the idea so we could build a soil biome and get away from the marine clay that resisted our tools and weighed down our boots. We wanted a waist high solution so we could garden upright but we could not find a cost effective, long-lasting, garden-safe product. So, we decided to make one! Soon after that, we formed Ergonomic Gardens, LLC so we could share our idea with others.
Now, our inspiration is standing in a garden assembling our garden beds with someone excited to grow with us. It is the best part of what we do.