Pavithra was originally trained by her late artist father in India. Since moving to Wellington, New Zealand in the 1990s, she has developed her own unique style. Experimentation and variety being the norm, she is comfortable using both oils and watercolours. Her creations are a mix of both traditional and contemporary works. There is an unmistakable vibrancy of colour and movement in her art that stem from her early South Indian upbringing.

She has taken part in and sold her work at the NZ Art Show since 2006. She has exhibited her work at Parliament and exhibited and sold her paintings at charity art auctions, joint and solo exhibitions and galleries both in New Zealand and India. Her first overseas exhibition of watercolours was held in Kolkata, India in 2010. This was followed by another successful exhibition of both oils and watercolours at the Leela Palace in Bangalore, India in 2011, and since then at various galleries and exhibitions in Bangalore.

Pavithra served a term as Vice President of Watercolour New Zealand in 2010.

At Splash 7 (the National Watercolour Exhibition) in October 2010, she won both the 'People's Choice' Award and the 'Innovation in Watercolour' Award. In 2015 she won the 'People's Choice' Award at the Castle Hill Easter Show. Then in May 2015 she won the First Prize in the 'Watercolour New Zealand Online Competition'. Her entry made it to the 'Top 10' artworks selected at the 2015 Christchurch Art Show.

Helping children discover art and their own creativity is a new passion with Pavithra. In 2014, she conducted art workshops in Tamil at the Karunai Illam Children's Home in Madurai, India, and has continued to do the same in English at the Queen Margaret's College in Wellington, NZ, and through private lessons.

She continues to undertake commissions for homes and businesses.