Woman Turns Art Into Commerce
Cynthia Sieve remembers crying because she thought she’d gotten in over her head. It started when her sister-in-law asked her to paint a scene for her daughter’s nursery.
“I hadn’t painted for 28 years,” said Sieve, who lives in Warren County near Marthasville.
When she finished that project, her husband, Jim went to their neighbor, who happened to be a contractor, and gave Sieve a figurative push.
“He told him, ‘My wife is starting her own business, and she’d like to paint a mural in your home,” Sieve recalled.
The neighbor asked her to paint his 4-year-old daughter’s room. She talked to the little girl, who showed Sieve her favorite book, “Mrs. Spider Takes a Picnic.”
“I looked at the book, and I had this moment – I don’t even have a word for it,” she said. “I just imagined what I could do with the room. I painted and sketched it all out on sheets of paper.”After she finished, she got a call to do a baby nursery, and soon was getting calls to do more.
She has three types of customers: those who have no idea what they want and turn it over to Sieve; others know exactly what they want; and still others don’t know that they know what they want.
“It’s fun to inspire them. You give them an idea of what’s possible and suddenly, you give them ownership,” Sieve said. It becomes an expression of who they are. Nothing’s more exciting than that.”
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