Muney still remembers the moment clearly. She had come across historic silhouette portraits, each one simple yet striking, capturing a person’s likeness with remarkable precision. She couldn’t afford to buy one, but the image stayed with her long after she left the store.

“I couldn’t shake the memory of how beautiful they were,” Muney recalled. “Convinced that I could make some myself so I could have that beauty on my wall …”

That curiosity turned into a challenge — and eventually, a career.

After returning home from that antique shop, Muney began researching the art form and quickly realized she had underestimated its difficulty.

Photo courtesy of LAUREN MUNEY
Various samples of Lauren Muney’s silhouette scissoring.

“I have always been creating things since I was young, so I thought it would be easy. Well, I was wrong — they are far from easy!” she said.

Traditional silhouette work is rooted in a strict and demanding process.

“You see: Traditional silhouettes are cut freehand with only scissors; there is no drawing in advance of cutting, not tracing any shadow, and definitely no camera,” Muney added. “Just scissors and a blank piece of paper.”

Undeterred, she set out to teach herself — a process that continues to this day.

“So, I tried to teach myself — however silhouettes are a lot harder to create than I first imagined they would be,” she said. “Long story short: I’m still teaching myself, 18 years later, and still learning!”

Photo courtesy of LAUREN MUNEY
Various samples of Lauren Muney’s silhouette scissoring.

Today, Muney is a full-time silhouette artist whose work extends far beyond the cutting chair. Her schedule is packed year-round, balancing travel, commissions and live appearances.

“I’m a full-time silhouette artist. I work all year round, but the number of appearances varies from year to year,” she explained. “So, it’s best to say that I work most weekends each month, often weekdays too, and also working days and nights.”

Running her own business requires her to take on many roles at once.

“Being self-employed is very complicated: I’m a tour manager, booker, accountant, costumer, props-maker, roadie, website designer, driver and I have to work the appearances as well,” Muney said. “It’s a seven-day a week job.”

Her work has taken her around the world, especially to places with historical ties to silhouette art.

Photo courtesy of LAUREN MUNEY
Various samples of Lauren Muney’s silhouette scissoring.

“I work worldwide, most often in the regions with silhouettes in their past, such as the areas which make the 13 original colonies, as well as in Australia and in Germany and I have worked in England,” she said. “I work at museums, community events … corporate events, private events like weddings as well as taking commissions that I complete in my home office.”

Wherever she goes, the core of her work remains the same: sitting face-to-face with individuals and capturing their likeness in just minutes.

But Muney says the greatest challenge is not the technical skill required to create the portraits.

“The hardest thing about creating silhouette portraits are not the silhouettes themselves, but the many, many personalities of all the people moving through the chair,” she added. “I absorb their energy, their feelings, their emotions.”

Each subject sits for only a short time, yet those moments can feel surprisingly personal.

Photo courtesy of LAUREN MUNEY
Various samples of Lauren Muney’s silhouette scissoring.

“Every three minutes is another person — and that change of energy,” Muney said. “We have a little almost-intimate relationship for that short three minutes! It’s a complex experience for the both of us.”

During those sessions, conversations often unfold naturally.

“In the best circumstances, the person and I have a conversation, often a very deep one, at the same time that I am cutting their portrait,” she explained.

All the while, she must remain focused on the precision of her work.

“As I said earlier, freehand silhouettes are very difficult to do, because once I start cutting, I have to be clear and precise with my cuts, or it doesn’t look like the person,” Muney said.

Her goal is to create an honest likeness, not an exaggerated interpretation.

“I just create a portrait of the person in front of me — their posture, their hair, their shapes,” she added. “I don’t stylize — I am trying to create a true portrait.”

That confidence and clarity took years to develop. When she first began working with the public, Muney said she struggled with both speed and self-assurance.

“I was very nervous working with real people when I started,” she said. “I was so slow when I started, not very accurate, missed many details, and I was very worried about peoples’ egos.”

Now, after nearly two decades of experience, she has grown into her craft.

“Now, 18 years later, I am very fast, very accurate, extremely detailed,” Muney explained. “I don’t know what people think about themselves so I can’t assume what they think about themselves.”

Even so, she emphasizes that the learning process never truly ends.

“After 18 years of ‘practicing,’ I’m getting pretty good at the silhouettes, but I’m still working on my people skills!” she said. “Or rather, I might say, that I’m still working on my ‘me’-skills with people.”

This weekend, Muney will bring her work to Juniata County for the first time as part of the American250PA — Juniata County Celebration. She will be creating “Silhouettes By Hand” portraits from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Grove at McAlisterville Park in McAlisterville. The celebration event runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“No, I have never been to Juniata County. I’m excited to see it. What food should I try?” she added.

For those who sit down in her chair, the experience will last only a few minutes, but the result is something far more lasting: a handcrafted portrait rooted in tradition, shaped by connection and cut with practiced precision.

Visit www.juniatacountyhistoricalsociety.org/a250pa/ for more information about the schedule of events.