“I have always been a salesperson,” says Clemencia McNabb. “When I was in Roman Catholic school back in Colombia, I started selling popsicles to the whole school when I was eight years old.”
Clemencia says that stopped when the nuns caught on and began their own sales of the frozen goodies. “I had to diversify and started touting another item,” she laughs. “All through school to my last day I was selling something or other to my friends. I just responded to the market.”
An unusual combination of business instinct and creativity led Clemencia to open her namesake store, Clemencia’s Paper Tole, in 1996. “My mother was a business woman so I picked up a lot from her," she says.
Customized framing of clients’ own pieces alongside the limited-edition prints Clemencia stocks, are the shop’s main activities. Clemencia also does the very delicate and intricate craft of paper tole.