Today we’d like to introduce you to Winnie Larson-Iarussi.
Hi Winnie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I am a third generation artist in my family. I remember when I was a kid that the great room in our house was converted to my fathers working art studio. As a two year old some of my first memories were watching my father paint in his studio. Art was quite literally second nature to me as it was all I knew. I didn’t understand why other kids had normal living rooms! We just had this house where art and living happened together. It was totally enmeshed. Art was our families love language – it was the way we connected. I am lucky because my father created a totally nonjudgmental space for me to just play on the canvas. He encouraged fearlessness and an unattached approach – because “anything can be painted over.” This was really healthy for my. growth as an artist. As I grew older I begged my dad to let me tag along to his decorative art projects. I was fascinated that art could be married to the interior design world. At the time, plaster was all the rage and most people were approaching it from a faux-finishing perspective. To be a little kurt, my dad very much snubbed his nose at sponge painted walls. He decided to take an approach that used his long-developed artistic technique and understanding, as he grew up the same way I did – in his mothers art studio. His career started like a wildfire as his decorative art was discovered by the top Houston designer in the industry. This was definitely overwhelming and kind of an over-night life-change for my family. Every project was essentially recreating the wheel – completely custom. He developed designer relationships where he would refinish furniture pieces that the designers brought from Europe – pretty much anything that could be painted on was fair game. That store is still in Houston and with the new name “Skelton + Culver.” I grew up watching the magic that was and still is his artistic career. I went to college in St. Louis Missouri at a small liberal arts college, attained degrees in Studio Art as well as Mass Communication, and moved up to Minnesota for the summer, fully expecting to have one last summer on Lake Minnetonka before heading to Italy to attain my masters in Interior Design. Much to my surprise, I met my now husband and the plan changed a bit, and Covid hit. My husband, who is the co-founder of a start up with my brother, pushed me to join the entrepreneur club, knowing that it was my dream. So I chose to take the opportunity to start my branch of the Iarussi Studio, here in Minnesota. I am now living out my dream of turning a one-man show into a decorative surface design firm. Over the past few years, I have tracked down numerous surface designs from the plethora of past projects. I used these archived designs to curate collections that we will slowly continue to curate and release. It feels surreal to have so much material to be able to reframe into collections that can be reintroduced, years later as plaster comes back with a fury. Today, we are looking forward to developing long-lasting relationships with designers to continue creating new and innovative surfaces for their designs, but now we also have the ability for designers to make selections from our surface collections. It is so exciting to be able to make these archived designs available to the public in a new and fresh way.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This question makes me laugh! I think being from a family of artists, the idea of a “smooth road” has never been the case. I am so unbelievably lucky to even have a career as an artist. But it has been anything but smooth! However there is one lesson that sticks out – and I am grateful to have learned it early in my career. It is that there are in fact limitations to what one person can handle! I know, sounds obvious, but I think it was harder for me to see in the moment. Last year, I got a call from a dream client. And full disclosure, I had really only done smaller projects at this point as my own operation here in Minnesota. I got this call, and man was it a monster project. Probably six times anything I had ever done, and it needed to start in three days. Normally I require at least 3 weeks lead time for coordination, samples, acquiring materials, etc. The client was also high-profile. So my imposter syndrome got the best of me and I ran right past all the signs that my body needed to slow down. We got it done, and it looked absolutely fabulous, but I felt unprepared and I thought I could power through with sheer grit. I ended up being hospitalized twice due to exhaustion and dehydration. I learned very quickly that this could no longer be a one-woman show. And now we are growing in a really exciting way! The growth that comes with proper delegation is much more exciting than trying to do everything myself, but I don’t know that I would’ve been able let go of control had that project not knocked me right on my behind.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Iarussi Studio is a specialty surface design firm. We work with plaster as well as other materials to marry chemistry, process and innovation in order create fresh and modern surfaces that fit into modern and evolving design. Our mission is to provide new and exciting surfaces to designers for mainly interior walls and ceilings. We are committed to sustainability and we believe that design is moving towards an age where bringing the outside in is no longer a trend, it’s a new standard. And that means the having limestone and plaster on walls in a modernized way is also no longer just a trend. This said, we are committed to continuing to innovate this idea, because there are endless opportunities and ways of approaching this newly expanded idea of the materials we apply to our interiors.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I have growth to love Minnesota more and more the longer I am here. To be honest I always promised myself that Texas would always be home. The craziest thing is, as someone who has lived in New York City, Houston, D.C and a couple others, Minneapolis has something that feels like home more of any of those places now. I love that people here understand community. That is the most special thing to me about Minneapolis. We really are so lucky. And that do I like the least? Easy. The cold! But I really don’t mind it as long as we are making the most of winter. My best advice to anyone who is from a warmer climate is to lean into winter because Minneapolis has so much to offer as far as outdoor activities in winter! I really respect that Minnesotans don’t slow down just because it is cold outside.
Pricing:
- Pricing and quotes can be requested via our website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.iarussistudiofinishes.com
- Instagram: @iarussistudiofinishes
