Conversations with Stefanie Schmid

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefanie Schmid. 

Hi Stefanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I began painting, drawing, and expressing my feelings through collages as a way to be heard. I had acrylic paint leftover from a college painting course that I ended up dropping at age nineteen because I needed hospitalization for a severe eating disorder, suicidal ideation, and unstable mental health. 

I knew that I was decent at painting because I had won awards during my younger years, but I had a lot of demons that I was battling- including low self-esteem and PTSD from being raped in my dorm room on campus. At this point in my life, I did not have any goals for the future. I flat out didn’t care if I lived or died. 

As the years went by, I faced many more horrible situations. I was groomed and sexually assaulted by a family member that I had known since I was eight years old. To make matters worse it’s been brushed under the rug, and I tucked it away assuming that the “ick” would go away on its own. It never did. Due to the statute of limitations, I cannot seek justice for what happened to me on a family vacation. 

A year later I was hiding in a one-person bathroom with my co-workers. We were ordered to enter the bathroom by a man with a very large knife who was terrorizing us at work. It was an armed robbery, and the man got away with it. I developed horrific PTSD. 

As the years passed there was so much shame. I blamed myself for so much of what had happened to me. The flashbacks were so intense, and so I tried to kill myself to finally have “peace.” Over the years I was locked up in the psychiatric unit six times. I became addicted to self-harm, and the overall idea of dying. 

After my divorce I fell completely apart. This was my rock bottom. Life couldn’t be worse. But little did I know that this was actually a rebirth for me and my creative side. I turned to painting. I painted every day just to express my feelings with colors and textures. It was very dark art. Nothing that an average person would want to display in their living room, but this was all just a phase. 

After my first Reiki energy healing session, my painting style changed significantly. My painting techniques and my overall vision developed. I was painting to depict my emotions. I began painting from within. I would listen to my body, and I would use colors that represented my mood or what I wanted to say. 

Since this first Reiki session in 2019, my work got public attention. People seemed to connect to what they saw on the walls. I have been featured at over forty venues, art galleries, and/or stores in the Twin Cities, and northern Minnesota. 

I didn’t stop there. I spoke publicly about my traumatic experiences, and I collaborated with photographer Ellie Leonardsmith for her book called: “What We Hide” (available online- Blurb Books). Leonardsmith calls this gorgeous collection “portraits of our inner lives,” and I am featured on several pages sharing my story of a traumatic past. 

I became a mental health advocate and spoke publicly in St. Paul, MN to N.A.M.I. (National Alliance on Mental Illness). I started to feel a sense of accomplishment. I set goals, removed toxic people from my life, focused on wellness, honored my boundaries, and went through years of therapy. 

Although I am reliant on medication for happiness, I try my hardest to seek relief from nature. Long nature walks, yoga, Reiki, and herbal products are more holistic practices that I utilize for my recovery. 

Today I proudly call myself a self-taught abstract artist who practices art to showcase the power of recovery. My work is messy to avoid perfectionistic tendencies. I was even interviewed on television for KSMQ, a PBS affiliate, in September 2021 and I was able to proudly show off some of my art. I call my work a “visual recovery journal.” Each piece has a deep connection to my soul. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
As you may have gathered from my story this road was been an uphill battle. Self-esteem has been a great struggle. Other artists haven’t always been kind. At my second art show, I proudly displayed very elementary pieces. They really weren’t that wonderful. One of the other artists was really disrespectful and insulted my collection. That’s when I realized that not all artists are the same. There isn’t a general alliance. I also learned that being self-taught is sometimes viewed as inferior from those who have attended art school. However, so much of these thoughts are just subjective. Being OK as I am and accepting myself as imperfect has honestly been really difficult for me. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
All of my work comes from my imagination, and without reference photos. I specialize in abstract paintings with acrylic paint. I find objects all over the place to use in my art. I have used bottle caps, tree branches, bubble wrap, toothpicks, sponges, paper towels, etc. to manipulate the paint in order to depict a feeling. I am known for super bold paintings and I always paint my edges in Payne’s grey paint, with a title, autograph, and a pretty label on the back. Each customer gets a handwritten thank you card from me, and I package my art beautifully with local creative touches. 

I am proud that I kept the spark inside me alive, and that I didn’t give up. I used my resources, and I have an inspirational story to share with others. My artwork is vulnerable because it exposes my mental health struggles. Mental health, as much as we want to deny this, is still stigmatized. I put myself out there not as a victim, but as a survivor. I guess art was my way of reclaiming my voice. 

Every time a painting sells a piece of me leaves the Midwest and travels across the USA to different hands, eyes, and most importantly it is connected to someone’s heart. It is the energy of my work that truly sets me apart from other artists. 

So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is finding happiness in life and accepting that I will never be perfect. I have to remind myself of this each and every day. I feel like a lot of people can relate to this. We drink to escape. We smoke to relieve stress. We eat because we’re lonely. We shop because if we look good, we could possibly be loved. We starve because we need control. I could go on. But why? And rarely do we dissect our behaviors to learn the root of why we behave the way we do. 

It has taken me 24 years of therapy to understand my behavior and what is my underlying need? I talk to myself as if I am “five-year-old Stefanie,” and I ask my inner child: “what do you need?” Then I listen to her. I allow her to be heard. And most importantly, I respect her. 

I have taken it upon myself to leave Facebook and Instagram because I was comparing myself too much to people whom I viewed as “perfect.” Social media platforms trigger me. I boldly left. I’m not sure yet how much it will affect my art business, but I value happiness over profit. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.etsy.com/shop/StefanieSchmid
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/F2IE_TlCFGM