Paula Rosenstengel came from a household of furniture makers, including her father, Ed, who supported her artistic ambitions. After she graduated from high school, Rosenstengel helped her father in his business by designing commissioned pieces of furniture. Her scale drawings, some in colour, are held in the John Oxley Library at the State Library of Queensland.

In 1939, she met fellow Brisbane artist Doreen Harris and together they explored the Tweed Valley. Rosenstengel had holidayed there as a child, and the area continued to inspire her, as this artwork attests.