BY KADIE VICK | FOR THE OBSERVER
LEE COUNTY — Sydne Schuler, an artist whose business originated in Alex City, is moving to the Auburn/Opelika area.
You may have already seen her window painting on local businesses, but Schular offers a variety of other services and products including watercolors, acrylics, paint parties, technique classes and, most recently, live paintings.
“People schedule paintings for special events or something they want to mark as a milestone in their lifetime,” she said, explaining what live painting is. “I set up and they tell me what they want me to paint, whether it’s a building, it’s an event or anything special to them, and I’m there on the scene painting.”
Schuler said she has grown and changed throughout her time running her business and sees differences in the way she approaches art.
“I used to prefer acrylics, doing acrylics in general, but now I feel like I prefer watercolor,” she said. “Originally, I thought watercolor was very unforgiving, but now I like watercolor because, yes, it is unforgiving, but you can really see the imperfections in it, which I like. Because we’re all imperfect, and our life is imperfect, so why not see the imperfections and the beauty of it?”
Ultimately, Schuler hopes to bring joy and hope to all those who see and purchase her art.
“I’m all about the color, and color brings happiness,” she said. “I just want to be able to bring that [happiness] with me, to shine through me and through my art. I hide little crosses in a lot of my art, so whether or not you believe or you don’t believe it’s still there, it has a little bit of hope behind it. I just hope that that, in itself, can bring happiness and joy.”
She said she believes in the importance of supporting small businesses and the unique products and experiences local businesses provide to the community.
“If somebody is coming to me as a local person, they want to support me locally,” she said. “You support the people around you and your village before you support the others outside of your village, if you want your town to be sustained.”
Schuler enjoys watching her son grow up and enjoy art alongside her. Through pursuing her dream and passion she hopes to empower her son, and others, to do the same.
“My son, he’s two and a half, and if mom is painting, he’s painting,” she said. “When we do our storefront window paintings, when I’m done, I always take him back to be my critic. He goes nuts over it, and then I put my handprint in the bottom corner with his handprint. I always try to include him in everything that I do.”
To see the art, products and services Shuler provides, follow her on Facebook and visit her website: www.sydneschulerart.com/collections/wall-art?page=2.
