Park West Fine Art Museum & Gallery stands as one of the largest art dealers in the world. Nearly 1,000 works of art are present at the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace location, including masterpieces by Picasso, Rembrandt and Dali. Now, longtime Las Vegan Kat Tatz will join those icons on Park West’s walls as the inaugural winner of the gallery’s Made in Vegas art competition, which drew nearly 500 local submissions and thousands of original pieces for consideration.

Tatz, who will receive a one-year contract with Park West, has created works for Mandalay Bay, Allegiant Stadium, local galleries and locations in California, Louisiana and Canada. We caught up with the artist to talk about inspiration, introverts and the power of a supportive family.

First off, congratulations on winning the Park West contest. Where were you when you got the call? I was in my studio at home. I couldn’t believe it, I was so excited. I knew a couple of artists that made the 10 finalists, and I was ecstatic that I won. And I feel like it’s a good fit for me, because they have [paintings by artist] Michael Godard, and his work is kind of whimsical like mine with the olives. In fact, I was just in there, and he sold a piece and I met the people that he sold it to. They were really sweet, but the piece was amazing.

I agree, your work is very whimsical and clearly inspired by fictional worlds like Alice in Wonderland. What attracted you to that particular fantasy story? There’s a favorite quote … [that] goes, “How strange it is to be anything at all.” And that [statement] during our times, especially when people long to be something that they’re not, or that they are, but it’s not showing to the public … I just love the beauty of that. A lot of my paintings have Alice, and she’s either dressed like the White Rabbit, or she’s even transitioning into the White Rabbit after drinking the liquid “drink me” bottle. [It’s] the transitioning of a person becoming who they want to be. And there’s some dark sides, too, and very humorous sides. I once painted Alice holding a knife behind her back. It was dark, but then it was humorous, too, because that’s the last thing Alice would have been doing. I just love the dimension of people.

When did you know you could actually make painting a full career, or even want to? I was walking by an interior design shop in the early ’90s. There was this very professional-looking woman walking into the store; over her shou

lder was a whole bunch of bright-colored swatches, and I was inspired to stop and go in. I noticed a few murals in the store, and I told her I would love to paint a mural for her. I went home and got a few photos of work I had completed in my own home, and she hired me. When opportunities knock, I always answer. Sometimes the answer was no and sometimes yes.

You’ve said that you’re an introvert. Does that come in handy as an artist, or does it have its drawbacks? It definitely has its drawbacks, 100%. A lot of painters absolutely love the limelight. And that’s very important in our business, to be able to go to receptions and things like that, and I do. I’m very friendly and nice, but that’s not who I am. It’s funny you mention that, because I always [had this] fun idea. … I have a lot of friends who are dancers and beautiful like that, and I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to dress them up like my characters? A beautiful character of a rabbit or a beautiful woman with a dress that’s gorgeous and have them play me for that night and say, the part of Kat Tatz will be played by so and so. I thought that would be a cool idea to let me off the hook.

It definitely wouldn’t be too left-field for the kind of work you put out. Even if it was left-field, I wouldn’t care. That’s one thing that artists can get away with, being weird. Everybody expects us to be weird.

Your father was also an artist, and your mother was an award-winning doll maker who painted figurines. What would you say you developed from both of them? Faces from my dad, for sure. That’s the first thing he taught me how to do when I was 4. He taught me how to map out a face and the dimensions of where everything goes. My mom gave me the emotional aspect of doing a painting. She would pose for me a lot of the time. I did this one I titled “Identity Confusion.” She had a problem with mental illness all her life.

How else did she support you? I was a very lazy kid. … I would not paint if I had to clean it up. I just would not do it, because the cleaning up was so horrifying to me (laughs). So my mom would let me paint, leave all my brushes there, and in the morning when I got up, they were all cleaned and put away, and she never said a word. At normal times, on my other chores, of course, she would get mad at me, but she never got mad at me about the paints. She did that for me, and that was such a loving way for me to understand that she cared about my art.

Now here you are with more than 20 years of experience. How would you say your style has evolved? It took me a while to find my style and my confidence. I think the thing that helped me most was my husband would gift me with art workshop vacations. I studied with many modern masters and it taught me discipline and other logical steps to approach a painting. When you add those lessons to your own personality, you have a better chance of finding your style. I still enjoy those things. It brings me much inspiration.

Your husband sounds like a complete angel for those workshops. He is the best. He cleans up my brushes now. Kidding!

View Kat Tatz’s work at kattatz.com.

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