Looking for that last-minute gift?

Photo: Jackie Rybeck

FROST FARM GALLERY — Adrienne and Bruce Little at Frost Farm Gallery. The couple opened the gallery in 2000 and has vintage items and custom framing.

Photo: Jackie Rybeck

CABINET FULL – Just one corner of the vintage items at Frost Farm Gallery.

NORWAY — Are you still looking for that perfect gift, or maybe a hostess gift?

Perhaps the Frost Farm Gallery can help.

The Frost Farm Gallery is located on 272 Pikes Hill and has many gifts, including gifts under $10.

There’s vintage jewelry, scarves, handbags and vases to name a few.

The homestead, built in 1797, was turned into a vintage gift store and framing gallery in 2000 by Bruce and Adrienne Little.

“We raised our four boys here and we traveled and exhibited at gift shows, antique shows and craft fairs,” smiled Adrienne. “We actually did 27 our first year!”

“We realized that we were missing lots of business by not being in one spot,” added Bruce. “So we opened the frame shop first, then the gallery five years ago.”

The couple admits that the business came about as a result of being on Bruce’s “bucket list.”

“It stems from my involvement in printing for over 40 years,” he said. “I love vintage and antique prints, especially chromolithography and photogravure, and all of the framing and artwork just naturally followed that. I love old prints, but also I have a great love for all things vintage and retro. I get lost for hours while working in my studio with anything vintage: jewelry, handbags, linens and vases all catch my attention. I also have loved merchandising and display since my early days as a buyer for R. H. Stearns in Boston.”

Do they have a favorite piece?

“I think among my favorites is ‘Dreams of the Sea,’ said Adrienne. “It’s a collection of nautical photogravures from 1890, many with biblical verses, or poetry by Celia Thaxter and Whittier. Of course, it’s not only antique prints that are cool. We’ve got some great first edition stuff by Charles Schulz from 1967, some really nice Audubon and Currier and Ives editions from the 1940s and 1950s. There are so many genres, artists, time periods, printing types, it’s hard to list everything.”

“The list is pretty long,” added Bruce. “We have sold some neat things over the years, among them a huge 'floor dictionary,' and an Art Deco poster designed for Air France.”

The couple envisions the gallery as more of a total experience than any one thing.

“Even something as beautiful as art can be a sterile, even intimidating thing to many folks. We endeavor to be inviting, beginning with our involvement in the community and continuing through our hospitality,” said Adrienne. “Our First Friday art openings are a great time, and we like to throw parties. Everybody comes to meet our featured artists and see their work, that’s for sure. But people also come to slow down just for a bit, get a bite to eat, visit with friends, listen to live music – all things we consider to be a part of our experience. And everyone always looks to see what new treasures we have found while out buying. We meet new friends all the time – it’s a lot of fun.”

“Another goal is to show artwork that is new, different…not being shown elsewhere,” added Bruce. “We look for artists who do not already have a venue, or maybe who have never even shown their work anywhere before.”

When you buy something at Frost Farm Gallery, you are not going to see anything like it anywhere else.

“I incorporate vintage elements into almost everything I design,” smiled Bruce. “We buy for this part of our business all year long, and sometimes I don’t even know when or how I will incorporate some elements. It takes me a while to get going, but once I’ve been working in my studio for an hour or two, everything just kind of takes off.”

The couple enjoy their “job” and each other at the gallery.

“We just love what we do!” laughed Bruce. “Adrienne also has another job outside the gallery, so I always tease her about how I’m retired because I don’t head out the door to go to work.”

“He works harder now than he ever has in his life!” she laughed back.

“I guess it just doesn’t feel like work anymore,” he smiled.

The wonderful couple of Frost Farm Gallery is open Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday, from noon to 8:00 p.m. They are always open by appointment: 743-8041.

Photo: Jackie Rybeck

SHELF FULL — Frost Farm Gallery is the perfect place for last-minute shopping.