Jason Robert Snyder grew up on a small farm in Pennsylvania. He studied engineering in college and discovered painting as an escape from the rigors of mathematics. He carried this into the professional world for a few years, upon which he decided he would rather not have to escape his life to get through it. So he decided to pursue art professionally instead. In the years since he has developed his unique style and interpretation of reality to what it is today. After years in the Washington D.C. area, Jason now resides in sunny Miami, Florida with his wife, Laura, and dog, Leia. We recently had a chance to visit Jason Snyder in his studio space, check out the flicks below…
1xRUN: When did you first start making art?
Jason Snyder: When I was a kid I used to make up these little characters and give each one a funny name.
1xRUN: What was your first piece?
Jason Snyder: I don’t remember. I can remember one of the first pieces I did when I started to take painting seriously. It was a portrait of Vladimir Putin that I did about 10 years ago.
1xRUN: What artists inspired you early on?
Jason Snyder: Early on, I really enjoyed impressionists like Van Gogh, as well as watching Bob Ross on TV. I love Bob Ross. I don’t care for the art much, but I love watching him work. Later on, I got interested in more refined work like John Singer Sargent and renaissance painters.
1xRUN: What artists inspire you now?
Jason Snyder: I am always inspired by artists that take the technical expertise of old masters and put it in a contemporary context in a way that I wouldn’t have thought about. There are so many sources of inspiration out there today, I don’t really want to name specific names because it would be a long list and I wouldn’t want to leave anyone out.
-1xRUN