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About Syd
I never know what to put in this section.
Should I brag? Should I remain mysterious? Do I tell them what I had for lunch today? I don't know? Let's just start with the basics.
My name is Sydney Bruner. I was born and raised in a small town in southern Indiana that you probably haven't even heard of. I always wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I was always that kid in school who's icebreaker fact about themselves was "I liKe tO dRaW." I hated those almost as much as I hate writing bios for a website. Anywho, back to the good stuff. I learned to paint in high school, and quickly discovered I really liked it. Fast forward a few years later and I'm an art student at Indiana State University. I chose the safe (job-secure) route and majored in Graphic Design, but I burned up all my electives in studio classes learning to do what truly interested me.
Full transparency with a dash of chaotic behavior.
So I went on to get a BFA in Graphic Design in December of 2017. Mom and Dad were so proud. After some time, I did the next logical thing expected of me and I found a job using my degree. I was finally at the end of my five-year-plan they forced us to make in high school. I did the damn thing and I had the W2 to prove it. So that's where our story ends, right? Hahahahahahahaha. I wish.
I quickly began to realize my thirst would not be quenched creating promotional emails and editing stock photos for the rest of my life. I wish the simplicity of a routine job could've been enough for me, but I wanted more: I wanted creative stimulation. I was 24 years old by this point and the thought of working just a "job" for the next 40+ years was enough to send me running, and it did. My best friend happened to live in Central Illinois, which at the time was a four hour drive. I went up to visit her and share my occupational frustrations over a pitcher of PBR. By the end of the visit, I had signed a lease on an apartment and a month later I was picking up my keys.
I'm not here to tell anyone it wasn't hard. I'm not here to say I had countless people come into my path that tried to stop me or tell me I was putting a huge financial risk on myself to uproot my life without a plan. The truth was, I knew all of that. I also knew continuing the path I was headed towards in Indiana was never going to satisfy me. I chose to move to a city where I (at least) knew a few people. I wanted new experiences, new challenges, and to create a life for myself- I didn't care where that happened. I trusted myself enough to know I would figure it out along the way. I job-hopped in the first year; a right of passage to any newcomer that chose to do things the hard way on purpose. By year two, I started to gather my footing and really bloom.
Buy a cool notebook and the good pens.
On a particularly slow retail Sunday, I got a terrible idea. I had been in Illinois for two years by this point. I was out of survival mode from my last whim; and what did I have to show for it? I'm an artist with a day job, but nobody is seeing my art. There that funny feeling was once again: the feeling to progress. No, this isn't the part where I tell you I quit my job again. It is, however, the first time I've considered learning about starting a business. I think that idea will flourish eventually, but there's other steps to take right now leading up to that. Rent, after all, is always due on the 1st. Instead I bought a notebook. In this notebook, I would write down all my ideas (the good and the bad). I would write down how long projects took, how much money I spent on supplies, where to put my art when it's finished, and selling prices/how much things sold for. I would write what I've learned about other peoples' businesses, my thoughts on what worked and what was crap, and what I needed to do to get my name known locally. I contacted businesses about getting my art up, kept my eyes open for artist calls, and overall kept showing up. Did it work? We'll see.
Not weird, just limited edition
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