Happy October!

I'm backkkk …Plus a review of Milan Art Mastery Program.

I haven't posted here in a verrrry long time, but it’s been a busy year and I can’t wait to tell you what I’ve been up to (I’ll post about my travels later). If the website link doesn’t work, please be patient - it’s because I’m rebranding under my real name - Rachel Schmiedel - instead of Pocket Dreams Co and it takes time to get all the links working properly. I’ll still keep the Pocket Dreams Co name for this newsletter/blog and my Etsy shop.

In January I was absolutely sure I was going to take the very popular surface pattern design course taught by the lovely Bonnie Christine, and I planned on creating art for Jehane’s wonderful weekly art prompts, but at the last minute, on February 1st, I ended up signing up for the Milan Art Mastery Program. Why? My mother (who lives with us) was interested in furthering her painting skills, I had never tried oil painting, and the program was something we could work on together. It was a crazy choice to pivot from my carefully designed plans for this year (I am a huge planner when it comes to art), and I wondered if I was making a disaster of my future, but I took the plunge for the sake of learning something new and spending some lovely time with my mother.

We used charcoal sticks, vine, ink stones, graphite pencils, water soluble sticks, acrylic inks, liquid flow acrylics, acrylics, pastels, crayons, markers, masking fluids, wax mediums, gel mediums, pastes, nut oils, oil paints, varnishes, glosses, galkyds, glazes, and more! As they say, “It is the art school training you always wished you had.” You see, I majored in interior design and loved it, but had always wanted to go to SCAD or RISD. I heartily recommend this program if you really want to learn how to paint. It’s quite a comprehensive program and you have to work hard, but you will learn so much! This is not a sponsored post, I just want to give credit for what I’ve learned. If you want to learn more, I posted videos about Part 1 on my YouTube channel here.

The Mastery Program is designed to teach all one needs to become a professional painter/gallery artist. I have never wanted to become a gallery artist, but I have wanted to paint with oil paints but was scared to try them without guidance.

Needless to say, I got way more than expected. The program teaches the basics of drawing using charcoal and graphite, and progresses to painting in oils, then with all sorts of mixed-media. It was a massive amount of hard work as there are weekly assignments numbering from 4 - 10 finished pictures per week (the state of my home speaks to how busy I was), but the experience I gained is gold. I think the program is meant to be completed in about 1 years time, and I finished it last week, which means it took me 8 months to do every assignment and watch every video. It was also a riot of fun as I have never, ever had the pleasure of "playing” and “trying out” so many different types of art mediums. Yes, the supplies were expensive, but oh how I loved giving myself permission to buy the supplies and try them out. I never would have done this without a teacher telling me to do so!

We used charcoal sticks, vine, ink stones, graphite pencils, water soluble sticks, acrylic inks, liquid flow acrylics, acrylics, pastels, crayons, markers, masking fluids, wax mediums, gel mediums, pastes, nut oils, oil paints, varnishes, glosses, galkyds, glazes, and more! As they say, “It is the art school training you always wished you had.” You see, I majored in interior design and loved it, but had always wanted to go to SCAD or RISD. I heartily recommend this program if you really want to learn how to paint. It’s quite a comprehensive program and you have to work hard, but you will learn so much! This is not a sponsored post, I just want to give credit for what I’ve learned. If you want to learn more, I posted videos about Part 1 on my YouTube channel here. Also, if you have questions about the program, I’d love to help - just send me an email or message me on Instagram.

So how does this connect to the art I want to create and put out to the world?

As a creative I’ve struggled with finding my niche, or rather finding out where my style/kind of art is best suited. This October I celebrate my 7th anniversary of getting back into art, which all began when I took an online children’s picture book course. Since then I’ve been going down rabbit holes trying out all the things - greeting cards, stickers, embroidery, posters, wall art, painting, tote bags, mugs, and even a YouTube channel (fun but temporary goal)🤣, because I am ‘that’ type of gal. I get FOMO and just ‘have’ to try out everything! Now, the horizon is wide open and I’ve been considering my next steps.

Do you struggle finding your art niche? Is it hard to focus on one thing? Do you have to try out “all the things” before settling on your niche? Do artists even need a niche or can they do “all the things?” Do you need validity for your choice (i.e. getting an agent vs. flying solo)?

I’d love to hear your answers. Hit reply - I’d love to know where you are at in your art journey.

P.s. If you’d like to own one of these paintings to cheer up your personal space and encourage you to dream, I’ve put them up on my Etsy shop - you have to select from the drop-down menu for the exact painting.