Katherine Larson Paints the Views of Vero Beach

It’s early Thursday morning and Katherine Larson and her fellow artists are outdoors capturing on canvas the scenes that dot our local landscape. Roadside produce stands, boardwalks and buildings, preserves and pastures are just a few of the images that inspire Treasure Coast Plein Air members, a group Larson formed not long after moving to Vero Beach five years ago.

How Larson, who has been making her living as an artist for four decades, discovered our sweet slice of paradise is one of those “once upon a time,” tales that began in 2016 when she was commissioned to paint a mural at the Sunset Beach Inn on Sanibel Island.

Larson’s brown eyes light up as she recalls what was to be a major turning point in her life. “I left my home in Michigan, where it was 20 degrees, and arrived at the inn, where it was sunny and warm. My client had put me up in a room about 200 feet from the water. The view was incredible. That night I went to sleep with the windows wide open, listening to the sound of waves, and woke up to see the sun just starting that little red line as it began to rise. I was the happiest I’d ever been in my whole life.

“Then I remembered I had stayed there when I was about 7 years old, back when it was called the Jolly Roger. What are the chances I would grow up and have a client who would bring me back there? For two weeks I painted in paradise. After that I drove east and stayed in Vero for a few days. I couldn’t get it out of my mind that there was a different, simpler, happier way to live. My heart was changed forever.”

Larson returned to Michigan and immersed herself in artistic projects, and years passed. Then came the pandemic. Lockdowns, freezing temperatures, and snow that never stopped falling became the order of the day. It was time to follow her heart. She put her house up for sale, packed up the car, and headed south. Destination: Vero Beach. 

“I found a house almost immediately, and the one I had in Michigan sold in three days,” says Larson. “I also found I had family with deep roots here in Vero, going back to the ’20s.”

That family greeted her with open arms, as did the Vero art community. It’s no wonder; not only has Larson won numerous national and local awards, she has illustrated 10 children’s books and painted more than 200 murals for businesses, private residences, and museums, the latest of which can be seen at the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum in Sebastian.

Larson also has a graphic arts business and fine art studio. On top of that, she recently published Memories of the Treasure Coast, its pages filled with vibrant images and descriptions of landscapes and landmarks such as the Sebastian riverfront, McKee Botanical Garden, and the Ocean Grill Restaurant, all painted while she was camped nearby, easel, canvas, and paints at the ready. When asked to describe her style of painting, Larson says, “I want my work to leave the viewer with a sense of joy and optimism.”

Few things come close to the enthusiasm Larson has for painting outside, in the “plein air,” with other artists who view the same scene through different lenses. How she finds those scenes is a story onto itself.

“I drive around a lot on Sundays, exploring places I haven’t been before, and I find things,” Larson muses as she recalls one of those finds.

“I was driving past the mall when I saw a gravel road, so I turned and followed it until I saw some old oaks and a building that looked like the Hall of Giants at McKee. There was a smaller building two doors down that looked really artistic, so I stopped, went up to the door, and knocked. This nice gentleman opened it, and when I looked behind him I saw all these paintings and sketches of cows on the walls. I introduced myself and told him I was an artist and that I would really like to come out and paint on his property.

“He asked me when I wanted to come. I told him about the plein air artists and that we paint every Thursday from 9 to noon. He said that would be fine, but that I’d have to call first because he needed to see where the cows were going to be, and he gave me his phone number,” Larson pauses, then laughs.

“It wasn’t until I started to drive away that it finally hit me and I said, ‘Holy cow—that was Sean Sexton and that was his wife Sharon’s studio!’ I don’t know if I could have done what I did if I had known who it was. Sean is such a wonderful gentleman, so down to earth, and very generous; since then we’ve painted at Treasure Hammock Ranch a number of times.”

Larson was so appreciative that she penned a thank-you note to Sexton with these words: “Maybe this was possible in the studio, but I tend to think it’s being there, in the moments before the storm with the cows that inspires a painting that I would not have done otherwise.”

Another Sexton connection had Larson discovering Waldo Sexton’s historic homestead and Secret Garden off 12th Street. Charmed by the buildings and quirky items Waldo was famous for collecting, Larson visualized an event that would bring artists and the public together. She named it Waldo’s Secret Garden Art Walk. It was an immediate success. This past February was the third of what has become an annual event attracting thousands of art admirers and individuals who had never before heard of Waldo’s Secret Garden.

And that delights Larson. “I go to a lot of places around here that have historical significance and are preserved, places that some people have no idea even exist. I had a wonderful experience with the conservation group that runs Jones’ Pier.”

After expressing a desire to hold art classes there, Larson was given permission, the gate code, and a direct phone number to call if she needed anything.

“The woman I spoke with was so appreciative. She said I was waking people up to what’s here and its history. That’s what I try to do with my art; letting others know about places like Jones’ Pier is so important. Things change so fast. Some of the places in my book have already changed or disappeared.

“I consider myself the luckiest person on earth to be able to make a living at what I love. Every day I paint is a joy and an adventure. I pray before I do everything and God is always there. There’s a purpose for me being here, doing what I’m doing with the gifts He has given me.”