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Education comes in many forms and I've gained a great deal from this site!
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Julianne: Your point is well taken. There are many ways the adult artist can improve themselves without committing to an Atelier or lengthy school.
My first recommendation would be to read everything you can get your hands on about art. Specifically, the books listed on this site can help a lot, and there are many many other books on drawing and anatomy that can help if you read and do some drawing from them. I recommend drawing books by Tony Ryder and Giovanni Civardi and Burne Hogarth, and painting books by Chris Saper, Harley Brown, and Frank Covino as a good start.
Also, let me recommend Georgio Vassari's The Lives of the Painters, and Cennino Cennini's Il Libro Del Arte. These two books from 1550 and about 1437 are wonderful reading and very insightful into the techniques and lives of the great master painters of old.
Second, I can highly recommend that you try to find an open studio or life drawing class in your area and go as often as you can for years and years. Drawing what you physically see in front of you - especially people - will greatly help your skills, and it helps to keep your work fresher regardless of what you are creating, or what you are creating from.
Finally, there are a number of really good artists giving week long workshops around the country. A week with a really good artist can change your whole world. You are correct that you will need to sort what you learn and not just make yourself a copy of them, but the experience is valuable nonetheless. I recommend William Whitaker, David Leffel, Sherrie McGraw, Timothy Taylor, and Frank Covino for workshops that will be worth every penny you pay for them.
Hope that helps.
