Your way of thinking is your superpower.
Why It’s Different
Art coaching isn’t art class—it’s focused, individualized portfolio development.
For many creative students—especially those who think and learn differently—traditional art settings can feel too broad or too rigid. It’s easy to feel lost when every college expects something different and your best work still feels just out of reach.
Art coaching helps students identify the gaps in their portfolios, strengthen foundational skills, and develop artwork that reflects both their creative voice and the expectations of their best-fit schools.
How It Works
Meet weekly one-on-one to build skills and explore ideas.
Develop new pieces that balance technique and concept.
Receive critiques to refine and elevate artwork.
Practice between sessions to build consistency and confidence.
Each student’s plan is personalized to match their goals, strengths, and learning style—offering structure that supports creativity rather than limits it.
What Students Gain
By application time, students don’t just have strong art—they understand how to communicate who they are as artists. They submit cohesive, confident portfolios that show technical excellence, creative depth, and a clear sense of identity.
Don’t hide what makes you different. Let’s use it to help your art stand out.
Guidance That Honors How You Learn
Meet Lisa Shmaraeva, our Neurodivergent Learner Specialist
Lisa Shmaraeva
Fine Arts & Film Coach
Neurodivergent Learner Specialist
Lisa Shmaraeva is an artist and educator who helps creative students translate their ideas into powerful visual stories. With expertise in fine arts, illustration, and film, she guides each student to uncover their authentic voice and build the confidence to express it through strong artistic foundations.
Lisa brings deep empathy and insight to her coaching, drawing from her own experience as a neurodivergent learner. She helps students who think and learn differently recognize their perspectives as creative strengths and use them to develop authentic, meaningful work.
Her students learn to tell stories visually—in graphite, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, or digital media—often blending multiple mediums to create work that feels personal, skillful, and portfolio-ready. For film students, Lisa provides expert guidance in narrative development, symbolism, and continuity, including how to “break the rules” of film intentionally and with purpose.
Before joining ARTriculate, Lisa taught art, theater, and drama to middle and high school students and worked one-on-one with learners at Fusion Academy. She knows how to meet students where they are and provide the structure that fuels creativity rather than limits it—helping them grow in both confidence and skill while developing portfolios that reflect technical excellence and a distinctive point of view.
Lisa holds a BFA in Film, Cinema, and Video Studies from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), with a minor in Sound Design and Editing.