Painting has always been my passion no matter what else in life has come along. My only formal training came in my freshman year in high school. For years after that I let the paint brush take me through all kinds of mediums. With a little knowledge in 1976 I taught myself to do cutwork for silk-screening ceramics and that led to doing blueprint interpreting for silkscreen art.
In the following 10 years after a short apprenticeship in sign painting I started my own one woman sign company in Burbank Ca. Windows, trucks and huge tractor trailers became the focus of Hart Art Signs. Signs made money and afforded a living for myself and my two children. Christmas windows were a boon to my income so Christmas was bountiful. In 1991 my newly wedded husband Steve and my children moved here to Valencia. Steve was a graduate of Cal Arts and loved the city so here we are. I joined Santa Clarita Artists' Association right after we got here. With all the high walls here in the houses I started painting large canvases of a single flower. My biggest one was a tulip, 6 x 6 ft.  I still work with paintings of a single flower. It’s a fulfilling and wonderful niche for me.
I started growing roses and at one time I had 60 rose bushes. I discovered freeze dried roses one day in a lace shop and another desire starting growing. I picked half-grown open roses, dried them in silica, preserved them in a special plastic chemical, designed the roses in beautiful and different shaped baskets and containers. I sold them to high end furniture stores and boutiques around the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley. I called that business the Recycled Rose. That lasted for about 4 years. Painting again took me to porcelain painting miniature boxes for quite a while, then on to professionally molded Disney characters. Most of this work was extremely tight but it fit within my own nature for highly detailed work.
To learn to loosen up a bit I started with Chinese watercolor rice paper classes which led to a continuing oil painting lessons with Lorelle Miller. Jackie Sofen gave me a full day class on silk painting, what a beautiful medium that is. Somehow in between all this other work I started painting residential and commercial murals. This also was very satisfying but finally, the time spent on standing on ladders created too many aches and pains so I quit pushing myself.
I continue to expand my artistic horizons as often as I physically can and I firmly believe God has constantly been guiding my hand and brush in all my endeavors.

Barbara Ralsten
barneybarb1@yahoo.com