Julie Snyder’s canvases explode with color and movement, from chefs mid-chop to boxers mid-swing to dancers caught in a leap.
A partial listing of her paintings reflects her own perpetual motion—“Sizzle Sauce,” “Slice and Dice,” “Sparring,” “Seeking the Target” and “Fire and Light.”
“I go to Europe and I rent out castles. And people come from all over the world to paint together.”
Admirers call her a modern-day impressionist, comparing her to Monet and Manet. But she prefers the label “impatient realist”—a nod to her fast brushwork and boundless creative energy.
That impatience led her from her native Scotland to travel from country to country in search of her niche in life. Then, one night in France, gazing out at a magnificent rain-washed panorama in the French countryside, it hit her: “This is perfect,” she remembers saying to herself. “And so I did a painting. It wasn’t a very good painting, but my gosh, it was such a joy just to create it. And that’s where I went, ‘Oh my God, I have to make this my life, my everything.’”
With that resolve, success followed—and with it, awards and accolades. Now an internationally sought-after wizard of color and light, restless Julie nevertheless wanted more. She wanted to take others on her journey. So combining her love of art with her inborn wanderlust, she created Workshops in France.
As she explains it, “I go to Europe and I rent out castles. And people come from all over the world to paint together.”
The idea took off, and soon Julie’s workshops began to flourish in Italy, Scotland and other nations—with artists from beginners to professionals flocking from Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Scandinavia, Canada and the US, among other places.
They describe the experience as enchanting:
“One of the highlights of my life.”
“Ten days in heaven.”
“I have to pinch myself from time to time to see if I am not dreaming.”
And as for Julie herself, one admiring artist put it this way: “I consider Julie a dynamo—a magical woman who has been able to be an artist who has been unselfish, to help others have the time of their lives.”
Julie describes hers as “a blessed life.”
Her not-so-secret sauce: Scientology.
“It gave me the strength and the integrity to dream, continue to dream and to dream bigger, you know—just keep dreaming bigger.”
Watch Julie’s dream in living color as it grows on Meet a Scientologist, only on Scientology Network.
