photograph by Travis Long

“When you walk in, you smell whatever I’m burning with the torch. You see what’s going on and hear it and smell it; it’s a full experience. It’s a space to see objects created. What is it? My studio, my workspace. But it’s open to the public.” – Lauren Ramirez, owner, Quercus Studio

Goldsmith Lauren Ramirez first took a summer jewelry-making workshop as a high schooler in New England. She was hooked. “I just liked adornment,” she says. “I used to collect antique jewelry and take things from my mother’s collection and pile on weird earrings and costume jewelry and real jewelry.” Ramirez went on to the North Bennet Street School in Boston and the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts in San Francisco. Two years ago, she moved to Raleigh, and now sells her wares from a downtown spot called Quercus, which is Latin for “oak tree.” She’s gradually expanded to sell jewelry by a handful of fellow artists. “Everybody that I have in here, their craftsmanship is top-notch. That’s what’s important.”

Quercus: 201 S. Salisbury St. and quercusraleigh.com.