Join Us in France · Sunday, July 19, 2026
Julie Lynch, an Australian costume designer with 40 years of experience, transitioned to painting and experienced her first individual overseas art retreat in Noyers, a medieval village in Burgundy. She describes the retreat as a relaxed experience focused on absorbing the surroundings rather than achieving specific artistic outcomes.
“Well, I was originally a costume designer. I did that for about 40 years really. And around 2020 when COVID hit, I'd always planned to paint, and I always planned to paint when I got older, and I just decided, oh, okay, well, I must be older now.”
“But I think this was actually my first individual overseas art retreat. I've taken, you know, lots of two-day workshops and things like that, but to actually travel somewhere and go away for a whole week, was you know, really a first actually.”
“And this was to, I suppose, be relaxed enough that we could absolutely absorb everything that Noyers and the retreat had to offer, and to do it in the most relaxed fashion.”