Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
The Living Studio Series
Developing a contemplative creative practice that naturally deepens your artwork.
Meaningful art begins long before you start creating. By cultivating a deeper relationship with observation, place, and your own process, you'll create work that is more personal, authentic, and alive.
Deepening Your Creative Practice
There comes a point in every artist's journey when technique is no longer enough.
You begin to long for work that feels more honest. More personal. More alive. You find yourself asking deeper questions—not How do I paint this? but What am I really trying to say? What am I noticing? What kind of artist am I becoming?
The Living Studio is a 4 month contemplative journey for artists who want to deepen both their creative practice and their relationship with the world around them. Together, we'll slow down and explore creativity as a way of paying attention. Through nature-based observation, contemplative art practices, reflective writing, and thoughtful conversation, you'll learn to move beyond making beautiful work toward making work that carries greater depth, authenticity, and presence.
Rather than focusing on technique or finished pieces, we'll explore how your way of seeing shapes what you create. You'll experiment with new ways of observing, collecting, sketching, and responding to the natural world, discovering how a richer creative practice leads to richer artistic expression.
Throughout the course, you'll create a body of work that reflects not only your artistic process but your evolving relationship with yourself, your creativity, and the landscape that inspires you.
This is a place for artists who want to cultivate a more meaningful creative practice, trust their own artistic voice, and create work that feels deeply rooted in who they are becoming.
4 Month Overview
Month One — Learning to See
Slow observation.
Attention.
Beauty.
Field notes.
Sketchbook.
Looking beyond first impressions.
Month Two — Following the Thread
Themes.
Symbols.
What keeps returning.
Personal iconography.
Finding your visual language.
Month Three — Going Deeper
Risk.
Experimentation.
Letting go of outcomes.
Creative courage.
Working beyond perfection.
Month Four — A Body of Work
Series.
Artist statement.
Creative rituals.
Living as an artist.
Building a sustainable practice.
Dates
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Starts September 2026
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Monthly Sessions 10:00 am - 12:00 pm PST
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Sunday, September 20, 2026
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Sunday, October 18, 2026
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Sunday, November 15, 2026
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Sunday, December 20, 2026
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Cost
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$325 CAD + GST
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Total Class Hours: 8
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Seats: 6
Facilitator
Rachel Schmidt holds a Bachelor of Social Work and is an artist, documentary filmmaker, certified Psychosynthesis practitioner, and contemplative arts teacher. For more than 30 years, she has explored the relationship between creativity, psychology, and the natural world, believing that an artist's creative practice is as much about cultivating their inner life as it is about developing their craft.
From her forest studio in British Columbia, Canada, Rachel guides artists in deepening both the way they see and the way they create. Through contemplative art, nature-based observation, reflective practice, and meaningful conversation, she helps artists develop a creative practice that is rooted in presence, authenticity, and a deeper relationship with themselves, their work, and the world around them.
Reviews
Kind words from women
Rachel has a rare gift for listening beneath the words. She can gently reframe and distill what you're trying to express into something deeply heartfelt and meaningful, helping you feel truly heard, understood, and able to see your situation with fresh perspective. Her insights create the clarity needed for lasting, meaningful change.
Sarah, 52
Rachel is an exceptional facilitator...warm, compassionate, and deeply attuned to the people she works with. She creates a space where everyone feels safe, seen, and genuinely valued. This is the kind of thoughtful care and presence our world needs more of. If you're considering joining one of her women's series, don't hesitate, you won't regret it.
Mel, 47
What makes this course so special is the pace. There was no pressure to have the answers or to become someone new. Instead, Rachel gently helped us slow down, listen deeply, and notice what was already trying to emerge within us. The combination of nature, creativity, and reflection created profound shifts that I never expected.
Fiona, 63
Rachel has created something truly unique. Rather than offering quick fixes, she invites you into a process of listening, to yourself, to nature, and to what is quietly calling you forward. If you're longing for more meaning, clarity, or simply a place to breathe and reconnect, this investment is a beautiful gift to yourself.
Lola, 58