Jewelry and Ornament Making Workshop with Michelle Pajak
December 5, 2005

Jewelry and Ornament Making Workshop with Michelle Pajak

December 5, 2005 2-5pm (more classes added if needed)

Ages 12 to Adult. Younger Students accepted if accompanied by an adult.

MAXIMUM NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 10 plus any children accompanied by an adult.

SKILL LEVEL: Beginners to Advanced

FEE: $15.00

SIGN-UP: 330-673-4970 or email info@standingrock.net
-Please sign-up before November 30th.
-Checks payable to: Standing Rock Cultural Arts, 257 N. Water St., Kent, OH 44240

MATERIALS: Some basic materials and tools will be provided. Students are encouraged to bring their own beads, wire, pliers, and craft supplies.

GOAL: To make a unique piece of art that can be used to ornament the body or the house during the holiday season.

OBJECTIVE: This class is designed to assist people in making their own ornaments and/or jewelry for the holidays. No experience is required. Those with advanced skills can benefit from Michelle's extensive experience in the field of Fashion and Jewelry Design.

Michelle Pajak Artist Statement

My work is inspired by my obsession with haute couture fashion, specifically haute couture¹s excessive and dramatic qualities. Couture is a wearable art form that celebrates the one of a kind, in which garments are made from the finest of materials with meticulous craftsmanship. My current body of wearable objects incorporates the same opulence and theatrical qualities of couture through my selection of materials, scale, and placement on the body.
This obsession has stimulated my interest in fusing jewelry, metalsmithing, and fashion/textile processes. By blending these techniques, I am able to create luxurious wearable objects by exploring the relationship between the juxtaposition of precious metals with fine textiles, gemstones, and glass beads. The combination of these materials and techniques results in alluring surfaces that awaken the tactile sensations of the wearer. I purposely exaggerate the scale and or mass of each piece in order to envelop the wearer as well as respond to the motion of the body.
Jewelry, fashion, and culture continuously influence one another, as well as how we present ourselves in society. These forces propel my work and assist me in my creation of wearable objects that embody luxurious surfaces, dramatic scale, fine materials, and meticulous craftsmanship. My obsession with the drama and excessiveness of couture is its celebration of dressing up in the extremely unique.

-Michelle Pajak

Artist Biography

"My interest in haute couture fashion has informed and directed my current body of work. Fusing both jewelry and fashion processes, I am able to create luxurious objects by combining elements of precious metals with fine fabrics and glass beads". Michelle Pajak was born in 1977 and raised in northeastern Ohio. She currently lives in Kent, Ohio where she maintains a studio full time. She has exhibited her work in numerous exhibitions across the country since receiving her BFA in Crafts/Metals from Kent State University in 2001. She is currently represented by Sculpture to Wear Gallery, Santa Monica CA, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston TX, Gallery 138, Kent, OH and the Winds of Change Boutique, Chagrin Falls OH.

RESUME

Michelle Pajak
614 West Main St Kent Oh 44240 330 677 4092 mapstudios@netscape.net

Education
2001 Bachelor of Fine Arts (Magna cum Laude), Crafts/Metals, Kent State University, Kent, OH
1998 Associate of Arts, Kent State University, Kent, OH

Exhibitions
2004 CRAFT COUTURE!-A Wearable Art Trunk Show, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft,
Houston, TX
Wearable Art: An Exhibition of Contemporary Jewelry and Fine Craft, Gallery Mathes,
Terre Haute, IN
PERSONAL ADORNMENT: examples from Africa and America,
Eells Gallery/Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Embower/Embellish (Jewelry and Sculpture by Jesse Mathes and Michelle Pajak)
Gallery M, Cleveland, OH

2003 A Gift of Art-Second Annual Small Works Competition, Gallery 138, Kent, OH
La Petite XI, Alder Gallery, Coburg, OR
CraftHouston 2003: National, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, TX
The Bracelet, Yaw Gallery, Birmingham, MI
International Exposition of Sculptural Objects and Fine Art (SOFA) NYC, represented by
Yaw Gallery, Birmingham, MI
MATERIALS: HARD & SOFT, Greater Denton Arts Council, Center for the Visual Arts,
Meadows Gallery, Denton, TX

2002 Holiday Jewelry Show, North Water Street Gallery, Kent, OH
A Gift of Art-Small Works Competition, Gallery 138, Kent, OH
Of the MATERIAL BODY, Sculpture to Wear, Santa Monica, CA
Three Rivers Arts Festival: Juried Visual Arts Exhibition, PPG Wintergarden, Pittsburgh, PA

2001 Clay and Metals/Jewelry Invitational, SMSU Student Exhibition Center, Southwestern Missouri State University, Springfield, MO
Plush (Solo BFA exhibition), Studio 425, Kent, OH
Student Annual Exhibition (Juried), School of Art Gallery, Kent State University, Kent, OH
SNAG National Student Slide Show and Exhibition (Juried), Richmond, VA

2000 Language of Hands: Work-Create-Achieve, a Student Metalsmith Invitational,
Visual Arts Center Gallery, Community College of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh, PA
2000 Juried Student Brooch Competition, Miami University of Ohio, Oxford, OH
The Gamut: Group Show of 21 Local Artists, Akron Public Library, Akron, OH
Student Annual Exhibition (Juried), School of Art Gallery, Kent State University, Kent, OH
SNAG National Student Slide Show (Juried), Boston, MA

Awards
2000 Blossom Art Scholarship, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Undergraduate Art Scholarship, Kent State University, Kent, OH
1999 Undergraduate Art Scholarship, Kent State University, Kent, OH

Michelle Pajak
614 West Main St Kent Oh 44240 330 677 4092 mapstudios@netscape.net

Scheduled Bibliography/Press
Fall 2004 (tentative publishing date) Wedding Style Magazine, (cover image)

Bibliography/Press
"Clever Accents: Fall Fashion 2004", Los Angeles Magazine, September 2004
" Serious Metal: Gallery M", Dan Transberg, Angle: A Journal of Arts and Culture,
Vol. 2 No. 14 June 2004
" Fashion", Malibu Monthly Magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 12, April 2004
"Modern Bride", (Cover Image), LA Brides Magazine, Spring/Summer 2004
Marshal Field¹s Department Stores, Spring/Summer 2004 Television Advertising Campaign
"Fashion Flash", Brenda Sue Junkin, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland OH, March 1, 2004
"Petting Zoo", Estylo Magazine, April/May 2004
"The Best of Cleveland", Cleveland Magazine, Vol. 32, Number 12, October 2003
Art Jewelry Today, Dona Z. Meilach, Schiffer Publishing Ltd, 2003
"Festival Review: Photography excels in juried exhibitions" Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post Gazette,
Pittsburgh, PA, June 8, 2002

Artist Organizations
Present-2003 American Craft Council
Present-1998 Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG)
2001-1998 Kent State University Jewelry Metals Co-Op, 2000-01 Vice-President
2001-1999 Studio 425- Artists Co-Op Studio

Continuing Education:

2004 A Watercolor Workshop, Standing Rock Cultural Arts/North Water Street Gallery, Kent, OH
Visiting Artist/Instructor: Beth Ciborek
2002 Kinetic Body Art: Costume Design Workshop, Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH
Faculty: Michael Guy-James
2000 Kent/Blossom Art-Metals, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Resident Faculty: Kathleen Browne
Visiting Faculty: Susan Kingsley, Dave and Roberta Williamson
1998 London/Paris Museum Tour Workshop, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Resident Faculty: Fred Smith

Professional Experience:

Present-1999 Jewelry Artist, exhibition works, commissions (private collections)
8/04-12/04 Visiting Artist, Ursuline College, Pepper Pike, OH
Course: Couture Embellishments-history and techniques of embellishment in fashion
Adjunct Professor: Lorita Winfield
7/03- Visiting Artist/Instructor, Standing Rock Cultural Arts/North Water Street Gallery, Kent, OH
Workshop: Multiples: design, structure, form- exploring repetition in wearable objects
5/03-5/01 Studio Assistant, Lori Leavitt Collection, Pepper Pike, OH
6/01-2/01 Studio Assistant, Donna D¹aquino, Kent, OH