Aaron Pavelis is a portrait and landscape painter who bases his work on the French and Russian classical traditions. Born in 1982, and reared in Richmond, Virginia, Pavelis began taking art lessons at age 8. He started painting landscapes en plein air at age 14 when his parents gave him a portable easel. In high school he learned the color theories of Russian Impressionism with Johnathon Wurderman and his professors from the Surikov Institute of Art, Moscow. Simultaneously he studied Russian-academic figure drawing with Albert Epshtym of Virginia Commonwealth University.

When Pavelis received a grant from the Melton Foundation of the Arts in 2001, he enrolled in the painting program at the Florence Academy of Art, Italy, which models itself on the French academic ateliers of the 19th century. The program emphasizes direct study from nature. The first part begins by copying master drawings and finishes with grisaille paintings of the plaster cast and nude figure. The students are then introduced to a limited palette, advancing though various levels of figure painting, still life, and portraiture until the full palette is mastered. The Academy also taught time-honored techniques of preparing paints and canvases from raw materials. In 2005, after Pavelis completed his studies at the Academy, he painted independently in Florence for a year and a half.

After returning to Virginia in 2007, Pavelis found representation at the Grenning Gallery in New York. At this time he established his portrait painting studio in Richmond. In October 2008, he exhibited at the Richmond Symphony Designer House and at the Lazare Gallery in Charles City County. This winter his work will be on view at the General Assembly Hall in Richmond, Virginia. He is currently working on commissions through interior designers as well as continuing to paint portraits at his studio in Richmond.

Pavelis' method of portraiture is that of the Renaissance Masters. This well proven approach to sitting-time portraiture renders a true portrayal of the subject's persona. As a result, his paintings transcend the popular snapshot portraits so prevalent among portrait painters today.