Paint anything you want

Even before Barbel Strzoda could use a pencil, she would convince other people to sketch for her — or so her mother told her.

Strzoda showed a flare for art as a young child in Germany. When she moved to Southern California with her family she sought out private teachers and mentors to sharpen her skills.

Experimenting in oil and acrylic paints, Strzoda became a master of landscapes and beautiful still lifes. She developed a special touch for lively floral paintings.

Strzoda started giving lessons at an art studio in Fountain Valley in the ’80s and when she had the opportunity to buy the center, she jumped at the chance.

“All the studios [were] going under; times were bad,” Strzoda said. “We had to stay open.”

Barbel’s Art Center was born. Studios like it are a rarity in communities, where most formalized art training happens at the local college. Independent art studios that are open to the public are about as rare as an antique mandolin outlet.

Barbel’s moved to Huntington Beach to fill a void few realized was there in the early ’90’s, giving locals and people from as far away as Fallbrook, Puente and San Dimas a place to create their own masterpieces. The studio now sits on Newland Street, fittingly near the corner of Rembrandt Drive.

Laura Buelt-Curtain has been painting at Barbel’s since the beginning. She said Strzoda has a unique style of teaching that allows students to pursue art as they choose. “When you get in there you can paint anything you want,” she says. “Barbel will help you do anything.”

Strzoda makes no assignments. She instead helps her students with whatever project they want to work on. Students bring in photographs or concepts and Strzoda guides them in recreating it.

Whether it’s realistic wildlife painting — like Buelt-Curtain’s — or impressionistic landscapes, Strzoda gives students style and technique pointers and helps them correct mistakes.

“We’re a studio where people can get help with the things they want to do,” Strzoda said.

Strzoda says allowing students to work on their own projects makes it easier to learn to paint. A pupil is more likely to enjoy class and pursue art when they aren’t forced to work on things they don’t like.

It’s also encouraging for beginning students when their mistakes get corrected and they’ve created a decent finished product. “It feels great to go home with a beautiful painting,” Strzoda said.

Little by little, the maturing Monets and developing Dalis take the reigns and start working more independently.

Support also comes from other students in the classes, many of whom have been painting at Barbel’s for many years. They offer each other pointers and style tips.

It creates a feeling of camaraderie among the students, a bond that goes beyond being merely classmates. They meet outside of class and host holiday parties.

“Really what I go for is not so much the teaching anymore,” says Buelt-Curtain, one of the studio’s longest tenured students. “I go to be with everybody.”

Strzoda herself is sometimes surprised by how the classes sometimes work as improvised support groups for whatever student is in need. “The students are so protective of each other. They council each other, help each other through things.”

Strzoda and her husband, Bob, originally bought the studio with money from his machine shop. Bob also helped cover the art center’s overhead in the early years, which he was proud to do.

“When you see someone doing something worthwhile, you support it,” Bob Strzoda said.

Now that Bob’s retired, Barbel has had to find ways to cover the studio’s operating costs. Besides classes, her works that adorn the studio walls are on sale. Strzoda’s latest project, beautiful floral painted vases, are also available.

That’s on top of the work she does just taking care of the studio.

“We scrub our own floors, do our own windows, and do our own books,” Strzoda says.

And her students are grateful.

“The studio’s there for us,” Buelt-Curtain said “This isn’t something that’s going to make [Strzoda] rich or famous but she’s there for us. It’s practically a nonprofit.”

But for Strzoda, it’s just what has to be done for the sake of painting. It’s her passion and that’s all that matters. “It’s not for money. If you don’t love it, you don’t do it.”