Jewelry is a language that does not need words. It speaks volumes about who we are,
and what we hold dear – Unknown.

Cape Fear Studios is hosting their annual 2025 Jewelry Invitational. The exhibit features artists Erica Stankwytch Bailey, Lynn Burcher and Jennie Keatts. Cape Fear Studio members included in the exhibit are Linda Sue Barnes and Gail Ferguson. The 2025 Jewelry Invitational is supported by the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County and the North Carolina Arts Council. The art show is being held at Cape Fear Studios,
at 148 Maxwell Street, until Sept. 23. The exhibition is available for viewing Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. General admission is free to the public. For more information, visit the Cape Fear Studios website at www.capefearstudios.com or call 910-433-2986.
Erica Stankwytch Bailey is the owner of ESB, a design studio that makes handmade contemporary jewelry for conscious customers who like unique, bold, and easy-to-wear pieces. Every design is unique because each piece is made by hand with sterling silver and carefully curated gemstones. She received her BFA in Metal Design from East Carolina University. After graduation, she began teaching metal-smithing and jewelry
fabrication courses at a local community college. She also attended the North Carolina School of Arts with a concentration of metal smithing. Bailey switched gears from teaching to creating and selling contemporary sterling silver jewelry. Growing up, Ms. Bailey was always involved in creative endeavors. She has created and thrives as a woman-owned company with a focus on sterling silver jewelry in Asheville, North
Carolina.
Lynn Burcher of Gilded Lily Glass resides in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and shares, “Glass is an amazing medium because it can be manipulated by so many processes with such a variety of results. I was attracted to glass due to its color saturation but grew to appreciate the kinetic quality of the material. My focus is on making jewelry for the enjoyment of working on a small scale. Small pieces afford me more opportunity for
experimentation. I can also make more reasonably priced art for everyday use. It is really gratifying to see someone wearing a piece of jewelry that I created.”
Jennie Lorette Keatts’ sterling silver jewelry designs are “created by a process that features handmade designer ceramic cabochons, created from Jugtown Pottery clay and glazes. Sterling silver is the prime element in the chains, ear wires, and ear backs, accented with semi-precious stones. The pottery cabochons utilizing Jugtown Pottery clay and glazes with additional experimental glazes are fired at least twice (sometimes
more) for layering, refining, depth, and color.
“The second line is torch-fired using a vintage enamel that contains lead. Lead provides a deep and vibrant color. There are other pieces with lead-free enamel, which are safe to wear. The designs are scratched into dried enamel with a fine point and fired for building layers. The process is inclusive of preparing ink from ceramic pigments for drawing and painting, of individual one-of-a-kind pieces,”said Jennie Lorette Keatts,
creator of JLK Jewelry. She resides in Seagrove, North Carolina.
Gail Ferguson, Jewelry Artist Member of Cape Fear Studios, Fayetteville, says her experience is the intersection of spelunking, social work, and silversmithing “As a rockhound from an early age, I did science projects in middle and high school, and within the military in Korea. After an explosion in Korea and military discharge, I was having a hard time adjusting not to do the hobby I love: spelunking. The Ralph Geilds gem and mineral show in Ohio was a defining moment in my life. Ralph Geilds is a silversmith who convinced and taught me how to cut stones and set them into silver,” she said. “I also learned how to construct channel-set inlay pendants. William Holland Lapidary School of Art instructed me on silversmithing styles, Mac Thornton added to my skill set, Southwest Jewelry style. Dawn Thorton taught me wire wrapping. While in
the Military, I earned my BS in Science and earned a master’s in social work. My case management population was substance misuse (drugs and alcohol) and the chronically mentally ill. Silversmithing and lapidary (stone cutting) were great stress relievers when conditions at work were out of my control. I could cut and polish a stone or take a piece of silver and coax it into a piece of beauty based on my vision. I won prizes in the
Professional Level Jewelry competition at the Indiana State Fair, county fairs, and the North Carolina State Fair. I am encouraged to share my love of lapidary and silversmithing with others in a more tangible way. I added courses at Fayetteville Technical Community College.”
Linda Sue Barnes, Jewelry Artist Member of Cape Fear Studios, Fayetteville, and retired Professor of Biology- Methodist University, shares her passion about the creative art of jewelry. “Making jewelry is fun. I make jewelry because it is fun. My favorite part of making jewelry is using natural stones and fossils. I love to cut into a slab of stone and see the beautiful cabochon emerging. The challenge is to display the stone or fossil securely without covering its beauty. I like to use plants and animals as models for jewelry. It is interesting to see how many ways I can incorporate daisies into my jewelry. I have incorporated enamel in my pieces. My husband and I work together in the wood shop creating pens, ornaments, and whirligigs. We are also using scrap pieces of wood to make beads or focal pieces,” she said.
“Media is an important part of the process. A sizable number of my jewelry pieces have a natural theme. The forms of media are wire, metal, clay, enamel, resin, and wood. When I am working in the botanical garden or walking in the woods, I find myself wondering how I can use that twig, leaf, or seed pod in a piece of jewelry. I am constantly trying new things and currently working with copper metal, clay, enameling
on sheet metal and silver and copper clay. I enjoy making kaleidoscopes. I also enjoy attending daylily meetings, photography, and singing in the choir at Bluff Presbyterian Church. I volunteer at the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens.”
Pandy Autry, Cape Fear Studios Board President, shares her thoughts about the 2025 Jewelry Invitational, “This show features work from three visiting jewelers: Erica Stankwytch Bailey of Asheville, North Carolina (former member of Cape Fear Studios), Lynn Burcher of Hillsborough, North Carolina, and Jennie Lorette Keatts of Seagrove, North Carolina. Gail Ferguson and Linda Sue Barnes, Cape Fear Studios Members.
See you at the 2025 Jewelry Invitational at Cape Fear Studios.”
Ralph Lauren observes that wearing jewelry is a way to express the joy of being alive. Experience the joy of being alive by attending the 2025 Jewelry Invitational at Cape Fear Studios.

(Photo by Lenna Simmons)