Barbara Dahlstedt began her career in art as a Graphic Designer with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Arizona State University but found her genuine passion in teaching art at Apollo High School, in Glendale Arizona.  Barbara received a Master’s degree in Education and has been teaching young minds for 26 years.   Her students have won state and national recognition for their artwork including Congressional Awards, Scholastic Art Awards, and have been finalists in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery Teen Competition.  In retirement, Barbara has devoted her time to developing her own artwork and taking commissions.  Barbara attributes her success in the fine art world from all the years of teaching, experimenting, and lots of practice.  From a very young age, Barbara was fascinated by the human face; it’s contours, how light illuminates the form and the rich depth of skin tones.  Since art teachers must be experts in several different media, Barbara utilizes her years of painting and drawing into a unique style of her own in which a portrait hopes to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.  Barbara has been published in several books, magazines, and calendars.  Although Barbara has won several awards for her artwork over the years, one of her most honored moments was receiving her “Signature” status from the CPSA and CPX exhibitions for the Colored Pencil Society of America.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 15^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.