Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nora Larimer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Nora, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

After earning a BA in fine art, I spent much of my time since college just painting and getting better at my craft. I also became a professional picture framer to help pay the bills. This enabled me to work at home while raising kids. I did many outdoor festivals during this time in the midwest and Florida, too. That gave me experience in marketing and propelled me forward towards the goal of opening my own gallery. In 2008, that dream became a reality when my husband and I built an art gallery in Buena Vista, Colorado with living space above. I curated about 40 other artists and crafters but I was the only painter. We offered lower-priced prints along with originals to cover a range of prices. This included a custom frame shop as well, and business was good.

I think I had to go through this process in order to become the successful artist and business person that I became.

Nora, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Although I grew up in a small town in Illinois with little art training before college I knew I loved it. I was always drawing and painting. I had some good teachers and also learned a lot from books and observation. It was natural to learn the custom framing industry since that is one aspect that can be extremely expensive for artists to do- presenting their work in a professional way. Conservation framing was something I learned and so was able to re-do the framing of collections at my former college that included some of the masters.

I was mainly a watercolor painter until 2008. They were large and colorful landscapes which I feel set me apart from the norm where watercolor was originally considered a sketch to preclude a larger oil painting. When moving to our tourist town in Colorado, there was an instant market for these kinds of landscapes of the area- large and colorful mountain and riverscapes. By 2008, I was doing the same genre in oil paintings as well, and this captured a bigger market.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I was an adjunct teacher of watercolor and oil painting at a community college in Illinois when I thought I would go back to school to get my MFA (Masters of Fine Art). My thought was then I could get a better job as a professor of art in a college. I took a few courses to brush up receiving all A’s but then was rejected from the program because my style (watercolor) wasn’t a good fit. No one at that university was excited about that medium. I had put a lot of time in only to be rejected. There was no other University nearby (we were also raising kids) so to keep going was out of the question. I felt pretty dejected but at the time another opportunity in marketing art came along so I pivoted and continued in art but in a different way. I was still able to keep painting and did shows and learned more about marketing along the way. I learned a lot after all which brought me to where I think I really wanted to be which was owning my own art gallery and frame shop.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding thing in my career has been making people happy with my art. I love doing it but I especially love it when the art finds a new home, that someone is willing to dedicate a part of their home to it and that it makes them happy to look at it. I had someone come into my booth at a show once and said “I like that one and that one, but this one makes me cry” (tears of joy). She bought that one since it reminded her of her previous home in Wyoming.

I also took pride in craftsmanship when I was doing custom framing for someone. That was rewarding. Making a living doing these things was a bonus!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noralarimerart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noralarimerart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nora.larimer/

Image Credits
Nora Larimer Preston Larimer