Ardean credits the beginning of her lifelong interest in the arts to an innovative teacher of a country school (grades 1-8) which she attended as a child. The teacher, Miss Berg, had set up an art corner with a wonderful “Artists’ File.”  In this file were prints of Homer, Cassatt, Sargent, Degas, Sully, and others, as well as their biographies. As a reward for finishing work on time or doing an exemplary job on an assignment, students could choose to spend time there. On special occasions sheets of white drawing paper were strategically placed at a table nearby, inviting any wanna-be artist to try his hand at the craft.

Ardean remembers her parents as being very innovative and resourceful.  Her father, who came from Norway in 1920, was a dairyman and carpenter. She has fond memories of him creating wonderful doll house furniture for her and her sister. Her mother, a homemaker, was a prolific seamstress who sewed most of her children’s clothing - on many occasions using colorful printed flour sacks as material. From this creative combination, she learned early that when you have spare moments, just “create” something.  Her mother taught her to sew doll clothes at the age of seven.

While attending college, Ardean’s chosen electives were in the arts. Graduating in 1961, she had accrued a minor in art and also received her teaching degree.

For 16 years, while raising her three children (Greg, Liz, and Nathan) Ardean taught school. After discontinuing her teaching career, in 1983, she took several computer courses in word processing at the local college. This led to her acquiring a position at Ventura County Government Center as a word processor.

                      In 1995, she entered the annual art show sponsored by the Ventura County Government Center and won a first-place ribbon for her watercolor “Blue Mason Jar”. This award motivated her to pursue the fine arts field which seemed a conceivable solution to the daunting question, “What am I going to do after I retire?”

When Ardean retired from county service in 1998 she had taken almost every art class that Ventura College had to offer. She had also completed a one-year correspondence course in “Painting Watercolor Portraits the Glow” from Jan Kunz. 

Many of her ideas for paintings have come from photos she has taken in U.S., Europe, and Canada. One of the joys of her retirement is attending various art shows and visiting art galleries as she and her husband vacation across the U.S. in their R.V. 

In April 2001, Ardean and her husband moved from Ventura, CA to Tehachapi, CA. In Tehachapi she has taken art classes from David Rheinhart, Suzan Christenson, Terri Asher, Flo Sussell, James Lanier, and Sharon Domingo. Ardean says she will always be a student, as she feels, not only does she learn new things from the instructors, but from the other students – and it keeps her “in the loop” as to what is happening in the art world. 

Recent workshops she has attended were given by Hugh Greer (acrylic landscape painting), Terry Stanley (acrylic portrait painting), Lian Zhen (Chinese watercolor painting), and Joan Skinner (watercolor).

Although she appreciates the work of Sargent, Homer, and Fechin, Ardean has the utmost respect for present day artists: Richard Schmid, Carolyn Anderson, Jean Chambers, Justin Taylor, Ignat Ignatov, Dan Beck, Lian Zhen and Jeremy Lipking

Today she shares a studio in Tehachapi with her husband, Gil, who is an engraver and painter. Ardean’s paintings can be seen at their studio, at various local art shows, and also at Cross Roads Gallery, in Tehachapi, California.