Tamara
Pavlock

Tamara Pavlock has been painting for more than 20 years, and is only now being recognized as an artist. As a graphic designer, she focused attention where her clients wanted it. "'I'm proud of my work as a designer, but nobody knows who did it. When you paint, it's different. Your name is right there. It's exciting," she says.

Pavlock is Academic Director for Graphic Design at the Art Institute of California. After an eight-year stint at the institute's Scottsdale, Arizona campus, most of it as an instructor, she moved to the Natomas campus three years ago. She has a degree from Kent State University in her home state of Ohio, a master's degree in education from Argosy University, and is working on a Ph.D. in education from Argosy's Alameda campus.

Pavlock got her start in art drawing caricatures. "That's my passion," she says. "I never stopped doing them. It had been about 12 years since I painted anything. I picked up a brush about a year ago. Now I just can't stop.

"What I've tried to do with my paintings is the exact opposite of caricatures. My work is more structured and grid-like. I take some infl uence from (graphic design icon) Paul Rand into my painting. I think I'm really looking for something I'd put up on my own wall," she says.

(above)
"Mickey’s" Scanned illustration finished on computer with Adobe Illustrator.

Pavlock includes colors from the Southwest in her palette, and prefers to work in large format. "I have to lay the work down on the table when I paint," she says. I have such fi ne lines and I want them to be perfect. I use rollers too. I think that's the graphic designer in me."

(above)
"Caricature Study"

Galleries are showing interest in Pavlock's work, and she is doing custom pieces. "I've always designed for other people. I'd like to do that with my art. At the end of the day after you design for 20 years, does anybody really know what I did? If I can inspire students more, it's good for me. I think that now I've started a recognized landmark and the certified North Natomas Library. Hundreds of home in Natomas use solar energy. Our Natomas schools have been very active in e-Waste recycling.

-- LEARN MORE --

The Art Institute
artinstitute.edu/sacramento

Natomas Arts
natomasarts.com

Painting for Miracles
paintingformiracles.com