December 5th was the last Gardiner Art Walk for this year. It was a balmy 8° outside, the coldest…read morenight so far. But the smell of homemade meatballs lured me into the gallery! Yes. Meatballs. Alan Claude studio always has fabulous food for art walk night, tonight was meatballs and tiramisu. Delish!!!! I looked through the 8x10 prints to find some winter scenes to bring home. But did get a little overwhelmed by the amount people sharing the gallery and shop space and had to duck out. But! He always runs a really good sale for the 8x10s, where you can pick three for one set price. So I've made my list, I'm checking it twice and I'm sending my Santa back to pick them up. Nobody how busy the gallery is, Alan himself ALWAYS makes a point to greet every single person that steps in the door. He's also happy to take photos and sign art!

Was delighted to find an Alan Claude Gallery on our recent visit to Gardiner, ME! His work is…read morestunning and quintessential Maine. There is something for every ME fan to enjoy. Original pieces, popular prints in many sizes, calendars, and assorted cards fill the historic space. Insider tip: free bookmarks.

I love this gift shop so much. Every town we've lived in during my life, we've always found that…read moreONE spot that we seek out to be the special place for those unique and thoughtful gifts for our loved ones. Monkitree is THAT place, for Gardiner. The owner features local artisans from across Maine, in a variety of themes. Textiles, jewelry, fine art, kitchen goods, small games and puzzles, coffee, chocolates, and a few unique items of clothing. There's a few things that a true to Gardiner here, that feature fish (alewives), the Kennebec River and the sturgeon. I'd say the prices are on par with the quality of the work shown in the shop. There's something for everyone here!

Really cool place, and the owner is very nice. Not one of those low class "gift shops" where you go…read moreto get the cheapest possible piece of crap for jealous relatives you hate. This is a great place to buy a gift for someone who you actually want to buy a gift for or just chill out and talk about politics in the back room. I think they stopped allowing smoking since the pandemic, but this is just one of those amazing little gems. If you're in the area I think you should check it out as it is truly unique.

The plaza houses your typical chain restaurants and services, but also the Center for Maine Crafts…read morethat includes the work of the 300 members of the Maine Craft Association. There was literally something of interest for everyone at fairly reasonable prices.

My Yelp pal Amanda B mentioned this spot to me when I called her from Gardiner Maine to tell her I…read morewas on my way home. She told me there was an incredible local craft store right inside the highway rest stop. Honestly, I believed her and didn't believe her all at the same time. ...We had to stop for gas anyway, so we headed in to use the rest rooms and check out the center. Turned out to be a pretty spectacular array of not only Maine crafts, but Maine syrups, jams and mustards as well! 100% worth the stop!

Some years ago my wife and I saw one of Tandems glasses at thr Portland Mueseum of Art. Twe wanted…read moreto buy four but they only had one. The people at thr museum store suggested tat we go to their studio. We arranged to do this and we're greeted warmly when we arrived. We spent several delightful hours with them as he showed us the process. The pieces we looked at were awesome, ultimately we purchased five of their glasses. We couldn't decide which not to buy. The glasses exquisite,, easy to hold, correct size and wonderful to lo9k at. Our children have admired them for years. This year we decided to give one of them a set as a Christmas gift. The process was easy. I asked that there be substantial ble in the decoration. When our daughter unwrapped the package she was beyond delighted. They took great pains to ship them so that they would arrive in time manner, they did. This time they had to choose which ones to send, with very little guidance. The glasses they vose were exactly right, These glasses are hand made and unique. They are pieces of original. The value is very very good.​

For truly magnificent pieces, visit Tandem Glass Gallery and Studio…read more I had the good fortune to meet Terrill and Charlie, the wife and husband team behind Tandem Glass, at CraftBoston. The two described the intricacies of their work: hand-blowing glass into pitchers and cups among other pieces. Terrill described how they get the temperature of the glass up to thousands of degrees Fahrenheit, shaping it into the creation they desire, as well as how they color and shape a slightly cooler glass to make the shapes for their designs on the plain glass. Both Terrill and Charlie were extremely kind, and allowed my friend and I to handle the pieces to get better views of them. I am simply amazed and truly appreciate their work as well as their kindness. I purchased three amazingly gorgeous pieces that had strips of various colors with whimsical and creative designs on them. The colors are beautiful and work together perfectly. It's very evident that Terrill and Charlie love what they do and that their pieces are made with time and care. I have never seen anything like the pieces Terrill and Charlie create, and I doubt I ever will. With dedicated and talented artists, and outstandingly beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces, Tandem Glass is a one-of-a-kind shop!!

Great staff, great service, and great prices. We purchased a new Yamaha digital piano and…read moreconsigned our acoustic piano for sale. Everyone at Starbird was great to work with. Our delivery was 200 miles away but that was not a problem. The delivery crew were fantastic, and Starbird got us a great price for our consigned piano. It takes a bit of time to find the right buyer, but we trusted the Starbird staff and it paid off. Highly recommended!

This is a review specifically for piano moving services from Starbird. I needed a baby grand piano…read moremoved from NH to Maine. I'd reached out to a bunch of moving companies and the quotes were crazy (one company wanted $2000) or vague ("Sure, we can probably figure out how to move a piano). A friend recommended Starbird and Jill was quick to respond by email and to arrange a date. The moving team were prompt, professional, careful and really great! Moving a piano is completely different to moving a sofa. They have it down to an exact art and it was kind of awesome to watch my piano being carefully padded, wrapped and then placed into the truck. Once at the new address it had to go up two very steep flights of stairs with tight turns and the guys made it happen. Highly recommend as piano movers!