Her education includes a Master’s of Fine Arts in Painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Bachelors of Fine Arts in Painting & Drawing from the University of New Hampshire, and studies in Art and Art History at Studio Arts Centers International in Florence, Italy. Following a month-long artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center in 2006 and meeting her now husband, Schmitz moved to Vermont. She and her husband and three children currently reside in Bernardston, MA.