Woman overcomes divorce and even death to create a pet portrait school

I overcame a mentally abusive marriage, £22,000 of debt, and my husband’s suicide to create a pet portrait art school – I’m set to make £1 million this year

• Bonny Snowdon, 52, from Yorkshire, created a successful pet portrait art school
• She overcame a mentally abusive marriage, debt, and her husband’s suicide
• Read More: I didn’t want to splash out on expensive art so started designing my own prints – now my Esty business is set to make £100,000 

A woman who overcame a mentally abusive marriage, £22,000 of debt, and her husband’s suicide has revealed how she went on to pet portrait art school with a £1 million turnover. 

Bonny Snowdon, 52, from Ripon, Yorkshire, left school aged 15 and began her working life as a tea lady in an advertising agency before later becoming a business coach.

The mother-of-three battled mental abuse during her 19-year marriage, wracking up a debt of £22,000 in credit card bills – before finally ending the relationship.

She became a professional animal portrait artist in her mid-40s after her daughter bought her a colouring book and pencils in 2016 – despite her not having drawn since school.

Bonny told FEMAIL the struggle to survive gave her even more impetus to make sure her fledging business succeeded – and she has since gone on to launch the Bonny Snowdon Academy, one of the biggest online teaching platforms for Britain’s budding coloured pencil artists.

With just a team of three, her businesses will turn over a combined £1 million in 2023, up from £450,000 last year, and happily, Bonny’s life is now worlds apart from her problem-plagued past. 

Bonny Snowdon, 52, from Ripon, Yorkshire, who overcame a mentally abusive marriage, £22,000 of debt, and her husband’s suicide has revealed how she went on to pet portrait art school with a £1 million turnover

She became a professional animal portrait artist in her mid-40s after her daughter bought her a colouring book and pencils in 2016 – despite her not having drawn since school 

Bonny battled mental abuse during her 19-year marriage as her husband struggled with depression following the death of his father.

‘He had always had a bit of anger issues and could be paranoid but nothing that really worried me,’ she said. 

‘There were times where he’d put his fist through the wall but they were very few and far between. 

‘Then his dad died, and he took the death really badly, he became depressed but wouldn’t get help and things would swing from being okay to really awful. 

‘I lived on eggshells for years, not knowing when he was going to blow up. 

‘It got to the point where I was scared of talking about certain subjects- money being the main one.

‘I could never talk about it and that’s the main reason I got into debt. I was too frightened to talk to him about needing to pay off a phone bill.’

She continued: ‘I ended up taking out credit cards and over time, the debt ballooned to over £22,000.’

Bonny added: ‘In the end, he started talking about suicide and even told me he had located a place to do it, which terrified me.’

‘I tried so hard to support him and get him to the doctors. I rang the doctors and made appointments for him and went with him but when he sat there, he just said he was fine. It was a really dreadful time.’

Bonny said that he eventually left the family home and moved in with a new partner.

Bonny says the struggle to survive gave her even more impetus to make sure her fledging business succeeded 

Bonny, who has more than 200,000 followers on social media said ‘creativity is a portal to another world saying it ‘allows us to disappear from our everyday life’ 

Bonny’s life is now worlds apart from her problem-plagued past and she lives happily with her dogs and new partner 

She said: ‘When he moved out, we discussed putting the family home up for sale, but I had nowhere to live and I had three teenage children and my three dogs.

‘I remember being so worried about trying to find a rental property that would fit us all and take the dogs. 

‘I had just become a full-time artist and was not earning a huge amount of money then and had no real way of taking a mortgage on myself and paying him half the house. 

‘I was looking at rental properties which were going to cost more than the mortgage, and they didn’t take dogs. 

‘I can remember feeling sick all the time, trying to be okay for the children and run my then very new business.’

Within a couple of years and despite re-marrying, her husband was dead after taking his own life during the 2020 lockdown.

Determined to support her family and make her finances work, Bonny dedicated herself to the businesses.

Bonny, who has more than 200,000 followers on social media, said: ‘Creativity is a portal to another world.

‘It allows us to disappear from our everyday life – and if you don’t lead a very nice life that is just the most amazing thing. 

‘It quietens the mind – busy hands, quiet mind is the saying and it’s so true. Creativity in any form is in my opinion essential for healthy minds. 

‘I know myself how helpful it was, disappearing for hours with my colouring book.’ 

This year she is awarding free scholarships to her academy, including a year’s membership and all the art-related materials, for five women seeking help from the charity

 Bonny said for her drawing ‘quietens the mind’ saying ‘busy hands, quiet mind is the saying and it’s so true’ 

The Bonny Snowdon Academy offers real time Zoom workshops and courses aimed at different levels of skill, plus there are downloadable PDFs with step-by-step guidance showcasing drawing techniques. 

She is now teaching 2,500 members, mainly women aged 45+ from all over the UK, how to create lifelike drawings of their favourite animals, from cats and dogs to horses and even pigs. 

There are also members globally from as far afield as India, Iran, the US and Australia.

Bonny said: ‘There are ultimately two different kinds of people who join my membership.

‘There are those who already have the skills and determination and just want an extra push in development, and those who are finding things a challenge, particularly around lack of self-belief and confidence.

‘Being part of a community where everyone is cheering you on has a huge effect on self-esteem.

‘Having people who are feeling the same things, worrying about the same things, but are overcoming them and then sharing their stories really helps to show that it can be done. 

‘Everyone seems to think that they are the only ones who feel a certain way, but it’s just not true.’

She is teaching 2,500 members, mainly women aged 45 and over, how to create lifelike drawings of their favourite animals, from cats and dogs to horses and even pigs

The Bonny Snowdon Academy offers real time Zoom workshops and courses aimed at different levels of skill, plus there are downloadable PDFs with step-by-step guidance showcasing drawing techniques

The artist also runs Bonny Snowdon Fine Art where she specialises in creating hyper-realistic pet portraits that you can treasure for a lifetime – however there is a 1,500 waiting list.

She said that creativity has also given the members of her Academy a new lease of life, with many of them changing careers and going on to work in art galleries, becoming professional artists in their own right, or launching art-related businesses.

And through her work, she now supports York-based IDAS, the North of England’s biggest domestic abuse and sexual violence charity.

This year she is awarding free scholarships to her academy, including a year’s membership and all the art-related materials, for a total of five women seeking help from the charity, as well as running a solo exhibition to raise funds for IDAS.

She said: ‘Domestic abuse can happen to anyone at any time, mentally as well as physically. 

‘I wish with all my heart that these charities didn’t have to exist, but sadly having experienced mental abuse first-hand, I know what a lifeline they are and I feel honoured to be able to support them.’

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