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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Sherri Arias, a watercolor-based artist and resident of Vestavia Hills, works on a commissioned wedding painting at her studio in Homewood. Bottom right: Invitations with watercolor paintings by Sherri Arias.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Invitations with watercolor paintings by Sherri Arias, a watercolor-based artist and resident of Vestavia Hills, hang at her studio in Homewood on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photos by Erin Nelson.
Invitations with watercolor paintings by Sherri Arias, a watercolor-based artist and resident of Vestavia Hills, hang at her studio in Homewood on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Photo by Erin Nelson.
Wedding days go by fast.
The happiest moments of someone’s life become cherished memories, but it can be hard to remember all of the details. But local artist Sherri Arias hopes to help preserve some of those memories.
Arias, a former art teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park, does live event paintings at weddings and other special occasions.
Two to three hours before the first dance takes place, Arias, who admitted to being a “hopeless romantic,” sets up and begins drawing the scene, scouting out the best point of view, angles and more.
“I want to show all of the life that was going on,” Arias said.
That includes kids running around, dancing, flowers and more, she said.
“When you look at the painting, I want all of that to come back,” Arias said.
The Vestavia resident will take pictures of people on her phone, using them as reference to paint what the client asks for, she said. The scene she paints will combine not only the people in the photo, but other parts of the joyous scene, Arias said.
Arias has been drawing and painting since she was a child, and her love for art took her to the University of Southern Mississippi to study it, and later to the University of Alabama at Birmingham to obtain a master’s degree in art education.
“You really should go after the things you’re interested in and really love,” Arias said.
Arias has a studio in Homewood that she shares with her daughter, Brittany Sturdivant, in West Homewood at 900 Oak Grove Road. The pair moved from another West Homewood location. Arias spends her days painting while Sturdivant has a photo studio for family pictures and more.
The conversations that Arias finds herself in are often funny and at times “precious,” she said. One groomsman at a wedding told her how he felt he was falling in love with Sturdivant, and Arias had to break the news to him that her daughter was already married.
When one guest asked if she was famous and Arias said she was not, the guest replied, “Well, you should be,” she said.
Arias said understanding perspectives and looking at the surrounding scene helps create the memorable pictures.
“People think it’s magic,” Arias said.
Arias works in watercolor and does house portraits, people portraits and designs on paper used in weddings. Being part of the best parts of people’s lives is a blessing, she said.
“I’m a spiritual person and I feel closer to God when I’m creating,” Arias said. “I just can’t imagine life without creating. I just have to be doing something.”
Teaching young people how to create art is not just about teaching them how to use a paintbrush or how to draw, Arias said.
“A lot about art is not about doing something with your hands; it’s about learning how to see,” Arias said.
Getting to students before they reach third or fourth grade and allowing them to have confidence in themselves may save them from the attitude often seen in adults of, “I can’t do it,” Arias said.
Helen Holley, the first principal at VHELP, called Arias to offer a part-time job that turned into a full-time job teaching art to students, Arias said. She stayed for about 12 or 13 years, finishing a 25-year teaching career.
“The kids come in the room just loving you,” Arias said. “Everything was just fun.”
Arias said she plans on doing the live portraits and commissions for about six or seven more years before she transitions to painting “what I want to paint.”
“I guess I’ll keep doing it as long as I can keep carrying that easel,” Arias said.
