From a past that includes stints as an artist’s model, a Playboy Bunny, a blues singer and a hairdresser, Pamela Allegretto has risen into rarified air — success in two artistic vocations. Blessed with dual talent — flourishing artist an accomplished author — the Haddam, Conn. resident has found her voice and uses it to advocate for a happier world and to honor the past.

“I always knew I wanted to be an artist, but I needed to make money,” Allegretto said, “so I went into hairdressing.” After 17 years she sold the business, moved to Hawaii and joined an artists’ group in Kona. The critiques the members gave each other “had a profound effect,” she said. “We were brutal with each other.” The challenge stimulated her and made her realize she could actually paint something and sell it.

Allegretto’s paintings portray various subjects — musicians, tropical beach scenes and a great deal of homage to Italian villages and farmers — but in a distinct, whimsical style. Though she has painted traditional landscapes and still lifes, she now finds whimsy the ideal way to promote positivity. “Nothing serious, nothing realistic,” she said. “It’s all about the colors.”

After moving to Connecticut in 2006, Allegretto said some artists told her that, “my work was too bright and too colorful. Nobody’s going to buy it.” So she tried going back to traditional. “But my heart isn’t in traditional. I prefer color, bright, positive.”

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