The Artist’s Expedition

Explore Your Vision. Elevate Your Art.

Your creative journey is like climbing a mountain, full of challenges and rewards at every step. The Artist’s Expedition is a personalized art coaching and mentorship service designed to guide you along the way. With expert feedback, clear direction, and steady support, Katy helps you build skills, set goals, and move confidently toward your creative summit.

With over fifteen years experience teaching painting, illustration, and visual storytelling at the college level, Katy brings seasoned expertise to every coaching and mentorship session.

She has worked with artists of all ages and skill levels - from beginners picking up a brush for the first time, to college students finding their path, to professional creatives refining their voice. Her approach combines technical insight, compassionate listening, and imaginative exploration to help artists thrive in both craft and creative vision.

Who This is For

Designed for adults on a creative path, Katy’s coaching offers support and guidance for those ready to gain momentum, sharpen their skills, and stay steady on the journey.

  • Adults looking for personalized art coaching that fits their experience level and creative goals

  • Artists seeking honest, expert feedback and clear, actionable critique to improve their work

  • Creatives who want structure, accountability, and support to stay committed to their art practice

  • Painters and illustrators working in gouache, oils, digital or mixed media who want focused guidance

  • Artists looking to sharpen technique, develop vision, and build a sustainable career

The Artist’s Expedition gives artists the structure and support they need to move forward with purpose. Whether you’re starting out, feeling stuck, or ready to refine your practice, these three tiers offer clear next steps for growth.

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Pathfinder Tier

For artists ready to explore new creative terrain and find their direction.


You're setting out on your journey, seeking feedback and a sense of direction. This tier helps you orient your practice, strengthen fundamentals, and take first steps.

Includes:

  • 1× 60 minute Zoom session

  • Written summary or recorded feedback (optional)

  • Resource suggestions or creative prompts

Investment:

$95 single session

$200 / 3 session bundle

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Trailblazer Tier

For artists ready to build momentum, refine their vision, and do the disciplined work of the climb.


You’ve chosen your path and are ascending. This tier offers guidance, accountability, and custom support as you navigate obstacles, sharpen your craft, and develop your voice.

Includes:

  • 2x 60 minute Zoom sessions/month

  • Email feedback between sessions (1 check-in per week)

  • Action plan and creative prompts

  • Optional critiques or mini-lessons based on goals

Investment:

$475 / month

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Mountaineer Tier

For committed artists pursuing a summit of mastery, purpose, and sustainability.


You’re in it for the long haul. This highest tier is for those building a body of work, aligning craft with calling, and preparing to lead or leave a creative mark.

Includes:

  • 2x 90-minute Zoom sessions/month

  • Personalized growth plan with creative milestones

  • Creative habit-building strategies and accountability tools

  • Optional assignments, readings, or exercises tailored toward your goals.

  • Email support between sessions

Investment:

$1200 / 3 months

$2000 / 6 months

Each tier creates space for you to grow your art, not just through skill-building, but through intentional direction. When you invest in one of these tiers, you’re investing in yourself as an artist and making time for the work that matters most.

Why it works

Katy’s coaching and mentorship is built on meaningful connection. She takes time to understand each artist’s goals, personality, and creative challenges. Her feedback is clear and direct, shaped by years of experience reviewing portfolios, working in the illustration industry, and guiding artists with a wide range of styles and temperaments. You can expect honest input delivered with care. It is a supportive space where growth is both encouraged and expected.

Through Katy’s structured approach, artists are supported in:

  • Strengthening foundational skills and refining technique

  • Clarifying artistic goals and personal direction

  • Developing a long-term creative vision

  • Gaining insight into how to build a sustainable and meaningful art career

  • Building momentum through creative accountability and personalized feedback

  • Overcoming creative blocks with practical strategies

  • Establishing a consistent, productive studio routine

  • Receiving clear, constructive artist critique sessions tailored to their work

What People are Saying

Katy’s feedback was extremely insightful. She always found real opportunities for improvement and gave me enough meaningful feedback to keep me moving in the right direction, while not so much that it would be overwhelming.
— RMCAD student
After working with Katy, I’m a much better painter now. I understand the practical applications of color theory. I have been drawing and painting for more than 45 years. Only now do I consider myself a painter.
— Brandon K.
The quality of my art increased tremendously working with Katy. She is the best professor I’ve ever had and is always pushing the boundaries and parameters of our art. I’ve never seen my art improve so much until I had her as a professor. She has a fantastic knowledge of the elements of art and knows how to push us in the right direction!
— RMCAD student
Katy Betz cares deeply for her students and the course content which in turn makes me passionate about what I’m doing. Nothing is worse than having a teacher who couldn’t care and Katy is far from that. I’ve always enjoyed discussing my project/project scope with her and working out the details. I feel that more than that, Katy cares on an emotional level—for her students’ mental health and happiness. She wants to get to know each of us personally.
— Ringling student
Katy Betz always challenges us to think about our impact on the world and how we are going to change it for the better. She is an excellent teacher.
— Ringling student
Katy truly pushed me to create pieces I didn’t even know I was capable of accomplishing. She has been the teacher that has inspired me the most and made me get my excitement for art back!
— RMCAD student
I have had a wonderful experience working with Katy Betz. She truly knows her profession, both teaching-wise and freelance. She even learns more with us along the way, which is a great trait to have as a teacher. Not only that, she’s very professional, and her work ethic is admirable and influential. Even more compelling than those qualities is her time management.
— Ringling student
Katy is a highly knowledgeable and helps you find yourself as an artist and professional. She has a lot of industry experience and gives excellent insight as to how to make a name for yourself as an illustrator.
— Ringling student
I wouldn’t be as successful in my art career as I am today if it weren’t for Katy’s guidance and instruction as an art teacher and mentor.
— Daniel L.

Ready to Begin?

If you feel the pull to return to your art or take it more seriously, consider this your trailhead. Every creative journey begins with a single step, and having a guide can make all the difference.

Working with a mentor provides direction, clarity, and momentum. Whether you need expert feedback on your artwork, a clear structure to follow, or steady encouragement to keep going, you do not have to navigate it alone. With over 15 years of experience teaching artists at all stages, Katy offers practical guidance and meaningful support to help you move forward with confidence.

Each coaching tier represents a different stage of the creative path, from getting started, to building consistency, to reaching toward bigger goals. When you commit to the journey, you are choosing to create space for your imagination to grow, with support and accountability that keeps you moving even when the trail gets steep.

If you are ready to take the next step, choose the path that fits your season and apply today. Spots are limited to ensure each artist receives personal attention. Reserve yours now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What’s the difference between coaching and mentorship?
Coaching is typically short-term and goal-focused (like improving a technique or completing a project). Mentorship is longer-term and more holistic, offering deeper guidance in both artistic and personal growth.

Q: What mediums or skill levels do you work with?
Katy works primarily with painters, illustrators, and mixed-media artists, but welcomes visual artists and creatives of all types. Beginners, hobbyists, returning artists, and professionals are all invited.

Q: Do I need to prepare anything before our session?
Yes. Once you book, you’ll receive a welcome email with suggestions. If it’s a critique, you’ll be asked to submit images of your artwork in advance. Journaling prompts or reflection questions may be provided for mentorship sessions.

Q: Can I book a single session before committing to a longer tier?
Absolutely. The Pathfinder Tier is designed as a low-commitment entry point, and clients often begin there before stepping into the Trailblazer or Mountaineer tier.

Q: Will I receive feedback or homework between sessions?
Yes! All tiers include written or verbal feedback. Ongoing tiers may also include suggested practices, creative prompts and assignments, or spiritual reflections tailored to your goals.

Here’s Katy tackling the climb, bringing the same dedication to every artist’s expedition.