Artist Vera Johnson bought the former W.S. Wells and Son fiddlehead canning factory last winter and has been steadily stoking its fire back to life. She may not be canning the tight swirls of budding ferns, but she is building her business around their symbolism: new beginnings. “I just love how things fall together,” she says. “I’ve been making fiddleheads and ferns, long before I found the Belle, out of clay, steel, paint, you name it. There’s something symbolic about that. That unfurling, the new life. I’ve been fascinated by them all this time, and now I’m here, in this factory.” Click the link in our bio to learn more about Johnson’s contributions to Maine’s art scene.⁠ ⁠ Story: Amber Kapiloff⁠ amber_maine_stone Photo: tararicephoto⁠ _____⁠ ⁠ #themainemag #loveme #maineart #maineartist #blacksmithing #fiddleheads