An artist uses unconventional methods to craft colorful creations.
This artist paints on the flip side–literally. In 2018, Cindy Larimore in Chesterfield began practicing a technique called reverse painting. Cindy starts out with a panel of glass or plexiglass, then flips the panel so that she is painting on the back. While painters typically start by creating a background and then adding in detail, Cindy starts by painting highlights and outlines first and finishes off by layering large sections of background colors on top. Once finished, she turns the piece around to reveal a clear image through the smooth glass.
It all started when Cindy, who ran a business with her mom making and selling personalized gifts, received a customer request for a custom piece of art on plexiglass. Cindy had always dabbled in art, hand-painting piggy banks and wine glasses for going on two decades, but she hadn’t yet ventured into the world of abstract painting.
From the first brushstroke of painting the back of the plexiglass, she fell in love with the art form. “I turned it over to look at it. I just was blown away by how vibrant the color was—just how cool it looked on that surface,” Cindy says.
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Thus began a new chapter in her career. Cindy entered her first art show in 2020. She said the pandemic gave her plenty of time to refine her craft. Soon, she became a resident artist at Soulard Art Gallery in St. Louis, and now she regularly attends art shows.
Her process is one of a kind. Cindy says she starts with the fine details, then layers on “all sorts of color and texture” through a mix of acrylic paint, acrylic ink, T gouache, alcohol ink, and pens. In addition to using her hands, she uses whatever objects are available for application, brushes, bubble wrap, or objects lying around the house, like toys or forks. “Sometimes I’ll let the dog walk across the canvas,” she says.
In her home studio, she often plays music and paints what she feels and hears—not the lyrics, she clarifies, but the sounds and melodies. “I hear a drum or a guitar and my hand will just start going even before I know what’s going on. I just run with it.”
A notable element of Cindy’s work is the hearts she adds to her pieces. Whether she paints on a heart-shaped surface or subtly includes them in her paintings, they’re a key part of her inspiration.
“My dad passed away just about 24 years ago,” she says. “He died of this really rare heart condition, and he was the nicest, sweetest person in the whole wide world. I like to put a little bit of his loving spirit into everything that I make. I really believe that this whole notion of art and color can help us spread love and help us live ‘heart first.’ ” Cindy advises budding artists to be authentic to their passion and authentic to who they are.
“Stick to what you want to do and not what other people want you to do, and try to make the art that you want to make,” she says. “Don’t make art because it will get you into a show or because somebody said you should do it. Stick to your own intuition.”
to developing and recognizing Missouri artists and artisans.
The article originally published in the September 2025 issue of Missouri Life.
