Lynchburg Local Embraces Artistic Lifestyle through designing two-story home mural and more
By Christian Shields | Photos by Ashlee Glen
Whether it’s painting, home renovation, gardening, or designing a two-story mural for her house, Lynchburg resident Sallie Sydnor consistently looks for ways to improve her craft as well as strengthen her relationship with her fellow artists.
From a young age, Sydnor has had a passion for the arts. The daughter of a church minister, she remembers spending her Sunday mornings drawing on the church bulletins during her father’s messages. She later attended Eckerd College in Saint Petersburg, Florida, with the goal of one day becoming an art teacher. After spending several years as a special education teacher, she left that career to stay home with her children. Once they grew up, she returned to her artistic pursuits.
Although oil painting is her style of choice, she recently completed a two-story mural at her home, which she and her husband Walker moved into last May. Sydnor said that she got the idea for the mural after shopping for wallpaper and realizing the incredible cost to cover her entire stairwell. Instead, she purchased a stencil kit and some wall paint and set to work.
Not only did this method allow her to save money on wallpaper, but it also allowed her to customize the decoration to her own liking. Featuring picturesque imagery of nature, the mural transports the viewer to a wooded forest occupied by birds and deer. Sydnor described the mural as a “colonial and early American inspired grisaille,” which follows a monochrome coloring style.
“I have an affinity for anything creative,” she said. “I’m afraid I live a very creative life, for better or for worse. I’m always thinking up projects and getting myself into things like that mural. I thought about it the whole time we were doing the [other home renovations], I was thinking ‘How am I going to do that? And when am I going to do that?’”
The project, which took a couple weeks from start to finish, also required scaffolding to go up inside the house for a week so Sydnor could reach the higher points on the wall, adding an additional challenge to navigating the house.
Describing the project as an “adventure,” Sydnor humorously remarked that she has “more guts than talent” regarding her artistic ability. She completed the project with help from her daughter, Brantley.
Since moving to her current house last spring, Sydnor has completed a number of major renovations to the home, including adding additional rooms. With the completion of the mural earlier this year, she does not currently have plans for another project of such magnitude. Instead, she plans to spend her time working on her oil paintings.
Sydnor credits a large portion of her expertise to the numerous art workshops that she has attended both locally and in the surrounding states. She currently has trips planned to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as the Nimrod Hall Artist Retreat later this year. These trips allow her to not only fellowship with like-minded artists, but also help provide inspiration for future art projects.
“Any creative person will say that you never stop learning and you never stop acquiring inspiration from all spheres of life,” she said. “The more you can get out there and experience life, the more inspired you are.”
“Maybe there are artists who enjoy a solely introspective life, but I can’t imagine that,” Sydnor added. “It’s too much fun to do this with other people. It’s also very encouraging. Creative people feed off each other, encourage each other, boost each other. It’s all good.”
In addition to these workshops, Sydnor also participates in the local art community through her membership in the Lynchburg Art Club as well as participating in the Lynchburg Art Festival each year. Although she does not create her paintings primarily for profit, her works can often be found at local businesses such as Findings Art Gallery in Boonsboro as well as on www.artworkarchive.com.
