PAINTER SEES FRUITS OF LABOR : WORKS OF SCV ARTIST TO BE FEATURED AT BENEFIT.

Byline: VICTORIA GIRAUD

Artist Miguel Ramirez was a painter before he learned to read and write.

Growing up in Mexico City, Miguel's artistic uncle gave him a pencil at age 3 and said to follow what he was doing. ``I knew a lot of technique already when I went to school,'' Miguel remembered and hastened to add, ``you never stop learning.''

A Santa Clarita resident since 1980, Miguel has his own studio and gallery and will be a featured artist at the Zonta Club International Art Auction benefit May 4 at Le Chene French cuisine restaurant.

During the many years he's been painting, Miguel has mastered a wide variety of styles, from landscapes and portraits to the surreal and the abstract and has worked in every medium. ``I try everything - every kind of technique,'' he declared and pointed out that he is now learning engraving.

Miguel devotes about 12 to 14 hours a day to his artistic pursuits. ``Evening is the best time,'' he said, ``for inspiration.'' During those quiet, relaxing times, ``I get inspiration from inside myself. I close my eyes and I start to see.''

His current subject - painting angels - which he describes as ``subliminal'' and ``surrealistic'' came to him in such a way, and he continues to use angels as a subject, since he finds pairing them ``very relaxing.''

The creative process is a mysterious one, but a process Miguel learned early on. During his teens and early 20s, he was a successful and prolific Mexican artist entering and winning many competitions. In 1974, he planned to enter the Federal District of Mexico Exhibit, but was worried about his subject matter.

``Trying to decide what to paint, I did a lot of sketches for weeks,'' Miguel recalled. It was the night before the deadline, and he still hadn't decided. Then it came to him - paint the Mexican volcanoes. ``It was done in a couple of hours,'' Miguel said, and he won the grand prize.

In 1977, he came to the United States to do a series of paintings. But the job didn't pan out and Miguel found himself struggling with English and trying to find a job. His wife, Hilda, who remained in Mexico with their two daughters, encouraged him. Because he was so adept in classical painting technique, he was hired by a Beverly Hills gallery, but he made little money.

Miguel found an apartment in Hollywood, but was so depressed with his life, at one point he was painting in a closet. His fate was soon to change, however, when an acquaintance decided to buy one of Miguel's paintings. He took the painting to be framed to a Simi Valley gallery and they liked the work so much, they asked Miguel to teach art classes there.

Soon Miguel was also teaching art in Santa Clarita, which led him and his family to settle here. His two grown daughters, Nancy (whose work will also be represented at Le Chene) and Jane, are both talented artists as well. ``I have a lot of supporters here. I've been teaching since 1980 and I still have some of the same students.''

One of his patrons is Juan Alonzo, owner of Le Chene, who not only has bought paintings for his private collection and for his restaurant, but boasts a Miguel Ramirez landscape mural on one of his restaurant walls.

Murals painted by Miguel are in local homes and businesses. A Santa Clarita restaurant, Juana y Juana, has a landscape, O'Malley's Flowers has one of flowers (``I love to paint flowers'' Miguel declares) and he has been commissioned to do a historical mural for the local Boy Scouts. A fond goal is to paint a mural depicting Newhall history.

Miguel says his style is very individual, but one of his favorite artists is 19th-century, neo-classical French painter William Bouguereau. ``I try to put everything into my painting. I try to follow my own experience,'' he explains. ``I paint because I really love to paint.''

The creative road is not easy. ``You have to suffer,'' Miguel says. ``When one door is closed, open the next. You have to believe in yourself. Always you can find someone to help you.''

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3 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Miguel Ramirez works on a piece titled ``Torso'' which is in a style called mixed media.

(2--color) Ramirez now works with angels

(3) Ramirez has been painting at his Newhall gallery for 20 years.

Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News