Meet Nikki Pilgrim | Unconventional watercolor artist & founder of “Caravan Artist Market’

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikki Pilgrim and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, how does your business help the community?

My favorite part of ‘Caravan’ is the community it nurtures.

Every market has a different lineup of artists & makers, so the community is constantly changing & growing. Some artists have been returning since the market’s humble beginnings, going on 6 years now, but there are always new faces.

We’re like a family of creative, talented, & driven vagabonds. We all show up with bells on to all the different locations/venues Caravan travels to, we greet each other with hugs, admire each other’s work, purchase, trade, barter, & proudly rock each other’s merchandise.

Besides the community within the market, it fills me with so much joy to create a platform that makes our artists’ work accessible to the general public. Our events have become really well attended & the outpour of support from the towns we set up in is really so impressive! To see people keeping their money within their community, getting to experience work first hand, meeting & talking to the makers about their processes’, & buying quality things made with lots of heart, is so good for the soul!

Caravan also often donates booth space to two local non profits in the area, that help make art accessible to everyone.
‘ArtVan’ is a program geared for children that provides art therapy to low income neighborhoods, & ‘Spindleworks’ is a non-profit art center for adults with disabilities. Both foundations bring so much color & beautiful offerings to Caravan, & they then put their profits right back into the community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I call myself an ‘unconventional watercolor artist.’ My work features opulent colors, & lots of movement.
Inspired by folk, funk, pattern, & nature; it is heavily influenced by Maine’s coastal surroundings.
From small 8″x8″ canvases to 8′ unusual shaped canvases (diamonds, triangles, to oblong,) professionally finished in a hand made frames – have become definitive attributes of my work. These characteristics all stem from the fact that I paint on birch panels.

I love it, because not only can I be really creative with the shapes & sizes of my canvases, but even more so because, it allows me to achieve more layering, color saturation, contrast, & boldness not commonly found in traditional watercolor paintings, – while still embracing its lovely characteristics of translucency, & abilities to flow, wash, & blend.
Working on wood lends me so much freedom, & flexibility, with integrity. Resulting in lasting, statement heirloom pieces.

It is always really fun when people first learn that my medium is watercolor, because it always takes them by surprise.

A NH native, I received my BFA from the Maine College of Art in 2007, with a focus in printmaking.
I am a habitual maker, & have always been compelled to be producing work. After completing my undergrad, I was really lost in my art practice, without access to a press & acid baths… I had to re-teach myself how to create my art.

I (re)started as a mixed media artist, with collage & assemblage. Primarily working on wood. I began incorporating watercolor with milk paint & enamels.
Slowly but surely I developed my own techniques. I found my happy place in painting, & a loyalty to watercolor.

It’s very challenging as an artist to gain your footing, & to start getting recognition.
I always joke that my daughter can be whatever she wants to be when she grows up… ‘except an artist!’ Because I think it’s a really hard thing to decide to pursue.
However, I will always follow up that jest with the thought that I fully believe that being an artist is something that chooses you, opposed to you choosing it.
It’s a muscle you need to flex (embrace,) & the more you do it the stronger you will get.

‘Caravan Artist Market’ was really born from that struggle & from the work I put into getting my art “out there.”
After participating in numerous artist markets, I fell in love with the community it creates within fellow artists & makers.
I wanted to promote & nurture that platform for myself & other creative entrepreneurs.

It first started at a venue/bar called ‘Frontier.’ located in an old textile mill in Brunswick, Maine.
I was working there part time as a bartender. I had been working in restaurants the majority of my adult life, through art school & after. Frontier was easily the best & most beautiful restaurant job I’d had, but still typical – Bartender/Struggling artist story: “Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to be here.”
After asking & proposing the idea many times, my bosses finally let me host an artist market in the venue space. It started in 2017, known as ‘Frontier MillRun.’ (MillRun was supposed to be a nod to textiles that used to be made in the mill, not to be confused with a marathon, which it often was!)
The market was essentially owned by the restaurant. I ran the market for free, but with a fevery passion – in exchange for a place to sell my art. We did two markets a year, a holiday sale & a spring sale.
Before we got to host the 3rd spring sale, ‘Frontier’ closed due to the pandemic, in March 2020.

I was forced to take the plunge into committing to being a full time artist. Not sure I could have taken the leap without the push.

Though scary at first, it was the greatest blessing in disguise, with silver linings.

I then had to decide what it meant for the market I had been pouring so much of my heart & soul into.
Like a phoenix, & out of necessity, it flourished into ‘CARAVAN Artist Market.’
A juried & curated artist market, with an ever-changing vendor lineup, that travels to venues indoors & out.

The market now has full creative & financial autonomy. It has become a total beast of its own!
It supports my own painting work, & advocates for fellow artists. It creates an avenue for local art work & hand made goods to be accessible directly from the hands of their creators & into the hands of the consumer – & into the eyes of the general public.  It is a fulfilling thing of beauty.
Caravan is now coming up on its 10th market! With 3 more fantastic events in the books in the near future.

It is constantly growing in ways I scarcely dared to dream.

My bottomless desire to paint & create, as well as the camaraderie & fulfillment of supporting others who do the same, fuels me with energy, creativity, & endless making. Very grateful for it all

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We live in Bath which is just 15 minutes from the most epically beautiful beaches. I’m going to be greedy and not name them because I love having them as much to ourselves as possible!
The state parks are some of my very favorite happy places, & sources of endless inspiration.

Being outdoors in general & bbq-ing at our home is our favorite way to entertain.
Or we also love brewery hopping, Mast Landing in Freeport ME is such a fun place to go with delicious gorgeous beer, & right next to Maine Beer Co. & down the road is Good Fire Brewing. Great food, great beer.
Nomad in Brunswick is owned by wonderful people with delish handmade pasta, brick oven pizza, craft cocktails & a fab view.
Cook’s Lobster house in Harpswell is another awesome spot, vibe, views & eats.
Oxbow Brewing in Newcastle is A+ fun. Or another happy place is The Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My art process revolves around my small family of 3, in our little home in Bath Maine, Where our dining room doubles as my studio & office. It’s where I paint, morning, noon, & night, & organize everything ‘Caravan.’ Honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way, I love working from home. My 9 yr old daughter Juniper deserves a huge shoot out for lovingly dealing with me being endlessly involved. But my husband Zach deserves the most props for not only supporting my every ambition, but for building beautiful handmade frames for every painting I create, helping me hang shows, working the markets with me, being my emotional support bear. I wouldn’t be where I am today without his support.

Website: nikkipilgrim.com & caravanartistmarket.com

Instagram: @_nikkipilgrim_art_ & @caravan_artistmarket

Facebook: @Nikki Pilgrim Art & @Caravan Artist Market

Image Credits
Logo & graphic designs for Caravan are done by Whistling Hippie Designs. All other photos are done by &/or property of me with the exception of the one picture from our summer market in Portland featuring the booth of SUNDEW SEWING CO.