-Nicole Ormsby

My Story

Hello friend. Thank you for visiting my page. Here is a little bit about me. I am a mom of 4 wonderful grown children and have recently moved to Carolina Beach, NC. I grew up in a small town in New Jersey and as a child I loved to draw, paint and build things out of wood. Sadly, I was not encouraged to pursue art as a career. I tried some more acceptable versions in high school such as architecture, but I was told that the math was too hard... I was an honor roll student, that shouldn't have swayed me.. but it did and I chose something that I liked next best, Psychology.

I graduated college from Rutgers University with a Psychology degree. Although I do love Psychology I did not pursue a career just yet since I would need more than a bachelors degree to make a living and of course, life started getting in the way of my plans. I soon became a super proud mom and amongst getting married and having more children I started teaching. Teaching was fun and it seemed to come pretty natural but was supposed to be a place holder until I found the path in life that felt right. In the meantime I would satisfy my need for art by refinishing and painting furniture, painting murals on my children's walls, painting my home, drawing occasionally, building furniture without plans, painting my own wall hangings, etc. 

​

As my children grew older, my role was less needed and I found more time to think about me. I realized that there was something more... something missing. I was working 10-12 hours per day and almost 7 days a week after Covid hit as teaching special education became more demanding. This was not the life for me. I packed up all of my belongings, sold my car and went on a long trip to Italy with my two girls. We traveled all of Italy and took a road trip through Europe. I started feeling my artistic edge peek through in awe of my beautiful surroundings. I was moved from taking photos of our trip to photographing the actual beauty of each place and each aspect of the world around me. I enjoyed spending hours taking and editing photos and enjoyed feeling that artistic pull again. When we returned home 3 months later I started painting these scenes on canvas and realized that this is where my energies belonged all along!  

​

So, here I am. My children are grown and I'm painting on canvas again and can't help but continue to take photos of the beauty around me. I enjoy creating art that makes people happy but mostly it helps me feel centered. It is so exciting to take something from my mind, present it to others and watch them enjoy it. How surreal. Feedback has been so amazing on my first mural I am excited to get started on a new project! I hope you enjoy my work :)  Find your passion and don't let go. -Nicole