Residency Artist - Visual Arts

Michelle Pajak-Reynolds

Stow, OH  
Email: info@michellepajak.com
Website: www.michellepajak.com

I am a studio jeweler and multi-media artist. My goal as a Teaching Artist is to improve the quality of life of my students through intense art making experiences. I enjoy working with learners of all ages and abilities in academic and community based settings. I structure workshops and residences to provide greater knowledge and understanding of my creative process and to support academic curriculum and content standards. I am interested in developing residencies that explore preciousness, personal symbolism, identity, improvisation, transformation, intuition, and dream manifestation. By exploring these concepts, participants gain a greater understanding of storytelling, memory, relationships, personal growth, goal setting, history, math, and science. For example, in a drawing workshop for developmentally disabled adults, I used music and sound as inspiration for drawing and mark making. In a recent Arts Express workshop, I used digital photography and Photoshop to explore how we define our communities and what makes them special. The participants used their "Photoshopped" images as inspiration for 3-D wall sculptures and drawings.

I use a variety of materials and processes to create jewelry and wearable art. My current work, Drawing Series: Morning Meditations incorporates crocheted and dyed nylon, Plexiglas, and 22-karat gold leaf to create a series of wearable drawings. I am also investigating techniques for using sustainable and "green" products like bamboo fiber in my work.

I received a BFA in Crafts: Jewelry/Metals/Enameling from Kent State University in 2001. My work has been nationally exhibited and internationally collected. Numerous publications have also featured my work, including 500 Pendants and Lockets, Art Jewelry Today, Art Jewelry Today 2, and Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine. In addition, my work is part of the educational collection at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon. In the summer of 2009, Luke & Eloy Gallery in Pittsburgh, Pa. hosted a 10-year retrospective exhibition of my jewelry and wearable art. Since 2003, I have taught art workshops at several institutions including Akron Art Museum, Art House Inc, Independence of Portage County, Linworth Road Church, Standing Rock Cultural Arts, TAP Studios/Gallery M, and Ursuline College.