Front page of NPS.gov

Woohoo! I received some fun news in an email today. An image of my work was selected to be on the front page of the National Park Service website until sometime in March. This image is of three pieces that were made as a result of my amazing time at Grand Canyon National park in their Artist-in-residence program.

Solo Exhibition

Cape Fear Studios presents:

Seeing and the Relevance of the Smallest Things

solo exhibition by

Erica Stankwytch Bailey

June 2011

Reception

Thursday, June 2

6:00- 8:00

I am going back!!!!!!

One week from today I am heading out west- back to the Grand Canyon! WOO HOO!!!! It has been over a year since I left Arizona and I am so eager to get back. My experience there had such a profound effect on me and my work, I just can't wait to be flooded with the overwhelming magnificence of that place again. I will be spending 5 nights in the hole, just enough time to reconnect before returning home to put the finishing touches on a solo show of my Canyon inspired work in Fayetteville, NC.

Handmade Market in Dowtown Raleigh

Join me and 50 other artists tomorrow at the Handmade Market in Downtown Raleigh. This is a one day event put on by the Handmaidens and it sounds like tons of fun! With proceeds from a raffle benefiting Meals on Wheels.

Show at Emerge

If you are near Greenville, NC please stop by Emerge Gallery to view an exhibition of my Grand Canyon works through November 2010. Also in this show are the amazing works of ceramic artist Gillian Parke and the mixed media works of Will Goodyear .

Exhibition of Work

My Grand Canyon works will be on exhibit at Pullen Art Center in Raleigh, North Carolina during October, 2010 and at Emerge Gallery in Greenville, North Carolina during November, 2010.

Seeing and the relevance of the smallest things

Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010
Time: 7:00-8:30 pm
Place: The Arts Council, 301 Hay Street, Fayetteville, NC

In Early 2010 I took a journey to the Grand Canyon to live and work for three weeks as an Artist-in-Residence, and the experience was truly profound. Please join me as I share my adventure! Through photographs and stories I will discuss the artistic journey, the personal journey, the phenomenal beauty of Grand Canyon and the significance of the smallest things.

Video Short, Erica Stankwytch Bailey

http://vimeo.com/10162589

Click the link above to see a short film about my work and recent adventures.

Grand Canyon Podcast

http://www.nps.gov/grca/photosmultimedia/inside-look-31.htm

This is a link to a podcast created by Ranger Pat Gammon, it lasts a little short of 12 minutes. During my artist residency Pat interviewed me about how I was experiencing the Canyon, he used our interview and some of my photos to create this podcast.

Hope you enjoy it!

Grand Canyon Jeweler's Bench Time Lapse Video

I did do some metalwork while in Grand Canyon with I very limited set of tools, it was definitely a challenge. I think of the work that I did as preliminary objects, sketches to help my hands have a memory of my thoughts and inspirations.

Preparing for departure- WOOHOOO!!!!!

The adventure begins!

I leave early( 4:00 am) tomorrow morning to catch my flight to Arizona. I have everything packed ( I think) in two suitcases- tools, clothes, the works!

So, here is the interesting news- Flagstaff, AZ (where I am scheduled to land) is expecting 4-7 feet of snow by late friday, that is taller than me. At this point it looks like I may be in Pheonix for a few days until things clear up- we will see!

Though sad that there are delays in my plans I am eager to see the canyon covered in snow- sounds pretty spectacular.

Enjoy this photo by Kaldoon.

A.I.R at Grand Canyon- The Countdown

There are only 20 days until my departure to Grand Canyon! This whole opportunity still seems so surreal to me- I can't believe it is actually happening and yet I am so excited. As an artist I am sure that the experience will have a profound affect on my work and my ways of seeing.

So much of my work is about the small within the large- the cell within the larger organism, a shell in an enormous sea- and now I will represent the miniscule being within the vastness of Grand Canyon.

This is were I will be staying!!! Look above the Verkamps sign and you can imagine me standing there looking out over the Canyon.

I plan to blog frequently while I am there as a means to document my experience. I have a lot of fun things planned so I hope you will join me (via my blog) on this amazing adventure! You can subscribe to my blog by clicking a link in the upper right hand corner of this page.

New Jewelry

Photographs taken by Taylor Dabney of Richmond, VA.

Images from Buyers Market of American Craft

The Booth







Some new work


The Happy Artist

Things are going well in Philadelphia! My new work is being well received which is so exciting!

THE JEWELRY DESIGN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT GRANT

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Jewelry Designer Receives Top Honor in National Competition

Fayetteville, North Carolina – July 27, 2009 - Local jewelry designer Erica Stankwytch Bailey was recently honored as a Top 5 Silver Circle Finalist in a national annual competition for emerging designers. The Jewelry Design Business Development Grant program sponsored by industry supplier Halstead Bead Inc. awards cash grants and valuable business plan assistance to jewelry entrepreneurs. Stankwytch Bailey will be paired with an established jewelry design mentor through the award’s business development program. You can visit her website at www.EricaStankwytchBailey.com.

Erica creates contemporary sterling silver jewelry with a focus on texture and form. Her work is inspired by the textures of the earth. “I inspect the world in great detail and have always collected shells, seed pods, stones and interesting organic elements”.

Stankwytch Bailey began making jewelry while in school at East Carolina University, where she received her BFA in Metal Design. She maintains a full-time metalsmithing career while teaching jewelry fabrication and metalsmithing courses in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Stankwytch Bailey was chosen as a finalist out of a highly competitive field of submissions from all over the United States. “Erica is an extremely talented metalsmith who crafts distinctive art jewelry pieces. She has an ambitious business plan and I am certain she will become a very well-known designer in the industry within the next few years,” said competition judge Hilary Scott.

Entrants in the competition were required to submit a design portfolio, a full business plan, and written answers to several specific questions. The program is designed to support the dreams of talented jewelry artisans and encourage sound business practices as they build their small businesses. Detailed results and more information on the award are available at www.HalsteadBead.com/Grant.


Contact:
Erica Stankwytch Bailey
910.489.3869
Erica@ericastankwtchbailey.cm
www.ericastankwytchbailey.com

Buyers Market of American Craft Merit Award Winner

I am delighted to announce that I was selected as a Merit Award winner for the Buyers Market of American Craft, August 2009.

Below is the press release from BMAC:

PRIZE GIVES 8 ARTISTS a BIG BREAK in the WHOLESALE TRADE
Merit Award Helps Young and Emerging Artists Learn the Business
BALTIMORE, Md., June 5, 2009 -- Eight promising artists, including jewelry designer Erica Stankwytch Bailey of Fayetteville, N.C., have won a prize that enables them to introduce their work to the nation’s gift and art retailers this summer.
Ms. Bailey is a contemporary metalsmith whose textured sterling silver jewelry has been shown in museums and at retail shows. She is dedicated to her craftsmanship: “My hands touch every piece that I sell,” she explained in her application for the annual Merit Award given by the Buyers Market of American Craft.
Ms. Bailey’s chance at national exposure will come August 1-3, 2009, when the Buyers Market opens in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center . As one of eight Merit Award winners announced this week, she will show her earrings and necklaces to hundreds of professional buyers from museum gift stores, art and craft galleries, home décor boutiques and jewelry stores. Ms. Bailey can be found in booth #409. The Buyers Market is the nation’s largest wholesale tradeshow of fine craft by U.S. and Canadian artists.
“Our goal is to help emerging artists bring their creations to market successfully,” said Christine Kloostra , director of the Buyers Market, which is produced by The Rosen Group, based in Baltimore. “Many artists have fresh ideas and unique products, but lack the capital to attend shows where they can sell their creations to the nation’s galleries and gift shops. Our Merit Award program helps beginners make their tradeshow debut.”
Winners receive tradeshow exhibit space at a fraction of cost, plus assistance with marketing their designs to handcraft retailers.
The 2009 Merit Award winners of the Buyers Market of American Craft are:
· Curviture, the handcrafted furniture studio of Jason Green, Boone , N.C.
· Delias Thompson, jewelry designer, Atlanta , Ga.
· Dovetail, the printed ceramics studio of Josh and Margaret Smith, Lexington , Ky.
· Erica Stankwytch Bailey, contemporary metalsmith and jewelry designer, Fayetteville , N.C.
· Jon Goldberg, East Falls Glassworks, Philadelphia , Pa.
· Gallery Blue/Michelle Mardis, original paintings, Tarpon Springs , Fla.
· Nora Dougherty, jewelry designer, Santa Cruz , Calif.
· Pamela Lauz Jewellery, jewelry designer, Ontario , Canada

ISGB- Convergence

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with glass bead artist Lisa St. Martin on a collaborative project. Bead and Button magazine along with ISGB (International Society of Glass Bead Makers) are having an Exhibition later the year called Convergence. In our case ISGB put Lisa and I together, she made 15 fantastic beads and I did my best to do them justice within the contests theme of Earth, Wind, Fire and/or Water.

This has been a really interesting challenge for me. Creating this piece with glass beads has been a huge departure from what I typically do.

So I received the beads from Lisa on a Friday, they were inspired by ice. I played with them all weekend trying to figure out what I wanted to do. On Tuesday morning a awoke to a wonderful snow covered landscape (I live in eastern NC, so this is a truly rare sight) and it was beautiful. I instantly found my inspiration. In my typical geeky way I grabbed my macro lense and started taking photographs of snow mounded on leaves, icicles and snowballs. I went into the studio and our Collaborative piece "Snow Day" was born.