George Palovich began his art education by copying pages from Superman comics at an early age. He studied at the University of Toledo and the Toledo Art Museum School of Design where he received a Bachelor of Education in Art. His Master of Fine Arts degree was obtained at Kent State University.
Over the years he and his late wife, Jan, achieved a strong reputation as ceramic artists in Ohio, Texas, Colorado, and Arizona. The past twenty years, George divided his time between teaching drawing, serving as Curator at West Valley Art Museum and creating works in ceramics, drawing, printmaking, and painting. He now devotes full time to creating his own works and sometimes teaching drawing at four different venues around the West Valley and holds figure drawing sessions at his studio near Union Hills and 99th Avenue. George continues to make ceramic works, though Janet passed away in 2020.
Many years in developing, George paints now in four different series; the Cat Series (oils and drawings of their daughter’s two cats; The Flowered Figure Series, (mixed media nudes done in a decorative style); The Doll Series (a series of oils depicting a doll dressed like George acting as his avatar); and a totally abstract series with music as inspiration. George’s work with the human figure begins in the Life Drawing Studio. Working from the model, several drawings are done within the hour to two and a half hours doing one or several poses. Some drawings are developed more fully after the sessions are over. Many of these become the basis for the paintings.
George has never felt that he needed to adhere to a specific style or approach, though the discerning observer can determine that the different series are all by one artist. He has also created a series of cartoon books titled “Musings”, a wry commentary on language, life and living. As a Curator, he has judged many exhibitions around the Valley over the twenty years with the Museum.
