Conversations with Lori Mirabelli

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Mirabelli.

Hi Lori, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started my art career in 2008. I was a late bloomer and didn’t really think that I could make it as a full-time abstract artist until I turned 38 years old. Once I set my sights, this dream of becoming a full-time artist was possible, there was no looking back. I knew what I wanted, I set my goals and developed my five-year plan. I was currently living in a small town in Ontario, Canada at the time and I knew that if I were to make it as an artist, I would need to relocate to a larger city. I chose Toronto, the hub of Ontario.

I started applying to the higher-end juried art shows and was so grateful that year after year, I was accepted into all the shows. I was a newcomer, and the clients and Gallery scouts knew it, so it took a few years for my name to get known in the Toronto Art Scene. Once I started getting Gallery Representation in the Toronto area, I started to branch out and seek new opportunities. In 2019, I focused heavily on marketing myself as an artist on Instagram and YouTube. I learned strategies to help my website rank in google and grew my Instagram following to 75,000 followers. Through Instagram, I gained international gallery representation in Denmark and England.

I also just recently partnered with a gallery in Baltimore that I’m super excited about https://www.nitrogallery.com. There are 3 of us that all met on Instagram during the heart of the pandemic. Barbara Mink from New York reached out to me and Susan Washington, Baltimore to see if we wanted to join in monthly artist chats. We both said yes immediately as the chemistry was instant. We all had the drive, work ethic, and goal of taking our art careers further and thus Nitro Gallery was born. Currently, we are working on marketing Nitro and ramping up our social media presence. We are also going to be displaying work on Artsy, which is a really prestigious art selling platform. We all have different strengths that we bring to the table, Barbara is a skilled writer and quite organized, I have the online marketing skills and Susan is go getter and knows how to market herself in person and reach out to clients, interior designers and not to mention our skills as abstract artists.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Anything worth striving to achieve is going to have its challenges. For several years I had to hold down a 9-5 job while building my art career on the side. I had no life and worked seven days a week for more years than I wanted to. It was hard to manage at times, and I often wanted to quit. Thinking why am I doing this? I have no life, but the drive was strong, and I knew that I was supposed to be an artist.

Art shows, the higher-end shows, are expensive to participate in. I remember my very first one, I was nowhere near ready, and I went in being too confident. I overhung my booth which made it too busy and not appealing and overpriced my work. I did not sell one piece. I lost about $5000 in show costs that weekend. If I had to do it all over again, I would not change a thing. That show taught me so many things. It was such a learning experience for me. The following year I studied other artist booths and checked out their prices and made some major changes with my next booth. That made a dramatic difference in all my future shows.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I work primarily with acrylic paint on canvas. My body of acrylic abstract paintings are comprised of strong bold lines and geometric form that is coupled with an emphasis on space. As an abstract artist my specialty is creating large scale acrylic abstract paintings for homes, corporate offices, vacation properties and boutique businesses. Most recently, I completed 18×13-foot installation painting for a Downtown Toronto Condo Lobby at City Place.

In a few short years, I have has grown and evolved as an accomplished fine artist. Art collectors and Art dealers who follow my painting career say that my body of work is always evolving. My acrylic abstract paintings are a reflection of my personal thoughts, emotions, struggles, and triumphs. A biographical visual novel might be a better way of explaining this. With each brushstroke, I release a part of myself cleaning and purging what is no longer necessary and opening myself up to what should have been.

Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I love giving back and supporting other artists. To help reach more people, I started a YouTube channel giving a lot of dos and don’ts and other important advice on pricing art, how to get into galleries and shipping artwork all over the world. You can find my channel at https://www.youtube.com/lorimirabelli-abstract-paintings.

I also answer questions in my Instagram post and try to respond to many of the comments I receive there.

Pricing:

• $2000-$8000

Contact Info:

• Email: info@lorimirabelli.com
• Website: https://lorimirabelli.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lorimirabelli
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lorimirabelliart
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorimirabelli
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/lorimirabelli-abstract-paintings
• Other: https://www.nitrogallery.com