During World War II, while working as a chemist in Chicago, Norris fostered his life-long dislike for large organizations and cities. His artistic interests crystallized in 1945 when he returned to Crete, Nebraska to work in the print shop of the Crete News. While there, he renewed a deep friendship with his former English professor at Doane, Jonathan Kistler, and his wife, Patricia. The Kistlers introduced Norris to the artist, Roger Holt, whose works adorned the walls of the Kistler household. They were the closet a painter can come to spontaneity with that controlled medium.
Watercolor painting is the epitome of spontaneity.