Breaking News
Local News

In full bloom: Cresson artist transforms garden behind studio into sanctuary

Artist transforms garden behind studio into sanctuary

By Colette Costlow 4 min read

CRESSON -- Longtime Cresson resident Helen Barlick draws artistic inspiration from her garden.

Decorated with colorful plants, tall trees and a large gazebo, she began rebuilding her backyard sanctuary almost 20 years ago when she lost her home to an electrical fire.

Since then, she has worked hard to cultivate a relaxing atmosphere right outside her back door, which is available to her customers at Barlick Art Studio, 579 Gallitizin Road, in Cresson.

She said an at-home oasis is something people can watch grow and bloom over time.

"It's something that makes me feel content," she said.

Barlick bought her Cresson home in 1988, starting with a seemingly empty backyard.

"The oak tree was the only one that was here," she said with a laugh.

To accumulate more plant life, she purchased many flowering and fruit trees, along with a few pine trees to represent her six children. As her family grew, so did her garden. She believes she has enough trees in her backyard to represent her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, too.

Working as a corrections officer at the time, Barlick had a lifelong calling for art, so she officially opened Barlick Art Studio on Sept. 6, 2006. She and her son, Steve, lost their art supplies and finished portraits in the house fire in December 2007.

"Steve and I didn't paint for three years after that," she said.

With her home declared a total loss, Barlick was left with only the foundation to rebuild. Her son, John, developed the blueprints, and she said they got to work. She bought a heater for the basement during construction.

"It was six degrees outside in the middle of December," she said. "We would go downstairs, get warmed up down in the basement and come back up and work."

After her house was rebuilt, she said they advertised her studio by word of mouth, as Barlick was still working as a corrections officer. For 20 years, she's hosted paint parties and art classes inside her basement studio.

When weather allows, she invites her customers to paint outside as well, taking inspiration from her roses and dogwood trees or the soothing sounds of her working water fountain.

"I'd just love to have them sit with their easels and just relax," she said.

Inside her home, she stores many of her favorite personal pieces, such as a picture created in 1986 featuring six flowers depicting her children. The one budding stem represents her miscarriage.

She painted another work in 2020, inspired by a Christmas card her niece sent her with Mary kissing a baby Jesus.

"It was so moving and beautiful, but it was a Christmas card," she said while touching the painting.

When asked about a ritual while painting a piece, Barlick said she prays a lot. But she said finishing a painting depends on how satisfied the artist is with the final product.

"You need to know when to leave it," she said. "But if you leave it and you don't feel that it's done and you go on to something else, it's better to do it at the same time. And then this one will crawl back to you, and it's like, 'now I know what I need to do.'"

While Steve carries her artistic genes, Barlick said her grandchildren Kaylee Mento, Tasjasia Kimbell and great-grandchild Riley McCluskey also use art to express themselves.

Mento credited her grandmother as the person who introduced her to painting, remembering the times she spent painting alongside her grandmother,

"Her garden was our

little world where my cousins and I would spend hours making fairy houses, mixing up our own 'perfumes,' making mud pies and coming up with our own little adventures with her," Mento said.

She said her grandmother made her home and garden a magical place for her childhood, where Barlick encouraged kids to create something they could call their own.

"She gave us a childhood full of magic, and I think that is one of the greatest gifts she could have given us," Mento said.

Mirror Staff Writer Colette Costlow is at 814-946-7414.

Starting at /week.