Betsy discovered her love of art at an early age, displaying both a natural talent and an unfortunate habit of drawing people's arms coming out of their heads. In addition to creating abstract figure studies, Betsy spent her childhood years annoying her older sister, amassing an impressive collection of underoos, and scaring neighborhood kids with stories of the petrified cat that resided under her house's front porch. Her earliest foray into children's book illustration, The Ice Skating Unicorn, garnered rave reviews…
"So…he's a dancing horse?" -- James Hamilton, author's father.
Bolstered by her early success, Betsy continued developing her skills, and eventually came to the realization that people's arms were connected to their body at the shoulder. This would prove to be an artistic turning point.
Her college years found Betsy at Illinois State University, where she completed coursework in painting, drawing and printmaking. In her years at ISU, Betsy was twice awarded the Friends of the Arts Talent Grant. A semester abroad took her to Sunderland England, where she learned that British people call jello "jelly", sweaters "jumpers", and garbage dumpsters "wheelie bins". It was also during this time that Betsy's work became largely abstract, ranging from small delicately painted panels to sprawling 35 foot works on paper. Upon completing her required student exhibition, Betsy earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts, and was chosen by the faculty to receive a Certificate of Graduate Honors.
After graduation, Betsy began working on freelance projects including a number of commissioned murals. Over time her style began to stray from the abstract leanings of her college years. Working in colored pencil, marker and acrylics, she returned instead to the subjects that had interested her as a child. Not necessarily ice skating unicorns, but an array of odd characters. Today her body of work includes an octopus that lives in