But not for Michel Petersen, a Cal State Northridge graduate student working on her master's in fine arts. For more than three years she has been creating ceramic tile murals at the Ventura Harbor Village featuring images drawn from marine life that people can actually reach out and touch.

"After three years of work in the public arena, I am certain that art work has to be more than just 'public,'" Petersen said. "I believe that the public needs to be involved with the art process, with the actual conceptual and physical work. The public needs to own the art. The art needs to be a part of the community."

Petersen tried to incorporate her philosophy into her work, a total of 28 pieces at the Village that were part of her master's thesis. The project was formally dedicated April 8 before nearly 300 people.

"I think from the beginning the location was important," said Oscar Pena, general manager of the village. "How accessible it was going to be for children and people with disabilities so they could actually go along the walls, touch and feel it, and stand back to view the art and feel that they were part of it. Where the art is located is a tourist site, where not only local residents can visit, but all of California comes to visit the harbor."

Growing up in Devon, England, Petersen admits that she never thought she'd be an artist, but she knew her life wouldn't be boring. The daughter of well-known British investigative reporter and novelist Trevor Ravenscroft and adventurer Shirley Griffen, who once sailed across the Atlantic by herself, she knew there'd be adventure.

Petersen's first job when she came to the United States in 1979 at age 23 was as head shepherdess of a ranch on Santa Cruz Island. It was a rough, cowboy-like existence in which she was the only woman except for the elderly mother of the rancher, William Petersen, whom she married in 1983. She left the island in the mid 1980s after the property was sold to the National Parks Service. She wrote a book about her experience called Once Upon an Island.

Petersen enrolled at Cal State Northridge's Ventura campus in 1991 intending to become an elementary school teacher. But in 1996, when a few classes she needed were not offered at the Ventura campus, Petersen enrolled at the main campus and took a class from art professor Tom McMillin, who retired last year.

"There are some teachers who are just magic, who shift your whole paradigm. Well, he was one, and by the time I was through I wanted to make art," she said.

After getting her bachelor's degree in 1997, Petersen remained at CSUN to get her master's in fine arts.

Petersen spent several months researching her thesis project, trying to come up with a subject that was accessible to the public. She settled on murals using marine life displayed in ways that were representational of themes - "Manifestation," "Lost Moon" and "Reanimation" - based on numerological concepts that go back centuries.

"What she has been able to do is something that's easily accessible to the casual observer that has more content if the viewer wishes to look more intensely," said CSUN art professor Bob Smith. "And that's what separates her work from public art that's mere decoration."

On April 8, Smith, head of her graduate committee, officially signed off on her master's thesis.

Petersen said she is dedicated to ensuring that art is accessible to the public. She is currently heading a drive to get an initiative on he Ventura ballot to ensure the city allocates money for public art.

In the meantime, Petersen still expects to be a teacher.

"My problem is that I don't hide my whiskers and tail," she said. "So the kids are probably either going to love me or hate me."