Bethanne Bethard Hill was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on October 12, 1966. She was raised in Birmingham, the youngest of 6 children. She is a 1985 graduate of the visual arts department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and holds a BFA in painting and sculpture from Birmingham-Southern College.

   In the 1990’s, Bethanne lived in Atlanta and traveled the southeast extensively for several years, while working for the Atlanta College of Art as an admissions counselor. Later, she worked as Assistant Director of Student Affairs at ACA.

    In 1998, the opportunity to move home to Birmingham arose and Bethanne accepted the position of Director of Residential Life at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. Until recently, the Hill family lived in the ASFA dorm, as Bethanne was “dorm mother” to 50+ high school students. She has always continued to paint throughout the years, but in June of 2002, Bethanne has left her job in order to make art full time. Bethanne and her husband Darius Hilll (also an artist) and their two daughters, Olivia and Esme recently moved into their 1920’s Arts and Crafts Style home in Forest park/South Avondale. Bethanne is absolutely thrilled to be setting up her studio in the carriage house behind their home, where she will paint and illustrate full time.

A R T I S T   S T A T E M E N T

   I have always been drawn to rural landscapes. Growing up in Alabama with my family meant long, hot car trips, spent looking out the window as my parents pointed at the scenes which reminded them of their childhood homes in the farmland of southern Ohio. They told their stories and I half-listened with a child's short attention span. As an adult, these memories hold strong emotion for me, and they represent a time that is lost. I would give most anything to hear my parents' stories now. I would pay close attention this time. I believe my fondness for these landscapes springs from these memories.

    As a young artist, my great influence was primitive art, specifically Australian Aboriginal art. The bold outlines, patterns and simplified shapes seemed to me to directly convey the power of the animals depicted. Their energy was there to see. The aborigines’ way of filling every inch of the format with mark-making was very appealing to me. As I read through Joseph Campbel’s The Way of the Animal Powers and Sir James George Frazier's The Golden Bough, the imagery leaped out at me.