And yet, something in her life was missing... "I was always searching". At age 35, Bernie took the opportunity to take a sculpture class for the first time. ... and found "me". Working in three dimensions was wonderful! At last, she was trained in oxygen and acetylene welding. A final project was to design and create an abstract human form,      and... "I found what filled my emptiness ... what I was driven to do".

Soon after, in spring of 1981, Bernie acquired her first oxygen-acetylene welding outfit. Appropriate to the season, "First Born" was her initial creation with the new equipment. When she'd used up all her steel wire and sheet steel, the conventional materials she'd been trained to use, Bernie rummaged around in her barn. and came up with a roll of barbed wire.

As a life-changing inspiration, Bernie Jestrabek-Hart began exploring the sculptural properties of barbed wire. Following a friend's suggestion that "a bison would be fun", she created her ground-breaking barbed wire sculpture, "American Bison" " "This highly acclaimed work demonstrated just how exciting and distinctive the Barbed Wire texture can be.

Bernie worked toward her goal with great determination. Somehow, amid the endless hours required of her as a mother and owner-operator of a horse business, she found the reserves of energy and time to create "as many pieces as possible." As her works gained visibility and recognition, private and corporate collectors began placing commissions of her strikingly unique sculptures.

A major breakthrough occurred in 1984. Fred Humphreys of Idaho First National Bank (now US Bank), the purchaser of "American Bison", wanted a landmark sculpture to commemorate the bank's opening. He commissioned Bernie Jestrabek-Hart to create "1867", a larger-than-life Miner panning gold. The artist's first life-sized animal sculpture was a Llama, "Kathryn the Great". This very open, see-through piece was created in 1986 from barb wire. In Bernie's words, "She taught me the lines I need to follow to give Life to my work.

1987 was another landmark year, a time of self-reflection and difficult choices. Demand for Jestrabek-Hart's sculptures had grown. She meditated on the path her passions were following, and made a solemn decision. In 1987, Bernie sold most of her equestrian business. From now on, she would devote herself full-time to a career as a professional metal sculptor. While her love for horses will endure forever, today she spends more time in the studio than the stables.