A friendly rivalry is always good. It'll help keep us both on our toes!
But I'll always be eternally grateful to the chance you've given me and how much you've taught me. I know once I'm able to stand on my own, all this will be incredibly helpful. But until then, I'm honoured to carry on being your apprentice.

I think making a website and social media accounts to portfolio and advertise my work is definitely the way to go. Then I can get my work seen by others and hopefully build up interest and maybe even possible commissions in the future, if all goes well.