Pam Avery

Pam Avery makes abstract acrylic paintings and throws pottery on the wheel. She starts from everyday sights and sounds and lets color lead, building textured surfaces with palette knives, combs, trowels and brushes; figures, animals or landscapes sometimes surface along the way. Some pieces start from the colors of the sky just before rain. In her words, "The painting must feel right to be complete."

She holds a BA in studio art and a master's in art education and taught high school art for 21 years. She names her classes with Joan Brown and Elmer Bischoff at UC Berkeley, and the work of Richard Diebenkorn, as influences. She paints and exhibits at The Art Studios in Midtown and has shown with Verge, Blue Line Arts and Sacramento Fine Arts Center.