Raised in a family of artists by a creatively talented mother, Betsy Nimock was the fifth child and only girl. Painting, music, needlework and puppetry combined to provide an artistically stimulating environment for her formative years.

At eighteen, Betsy left her home town of Madison,Wisconsin to attend Lindenwood College for Women, located in a small town outside of St Louis. There, Betsy earned a liberal arts degree with a major in studio art. After graduation, Betsy accepted an offer to teach art at Lindenwood.

Betsy's current collage work was begun almost by accident. In the late 1980's, she was invited to join a portrait painting seminar led by NYC artist Elaine DeKooning. Participants were instructed to paint a series of quick oil sketches. At the end of the week, Betsy returned to her studio with her oil sketches. As she placed them on a shelf, an old quilt fragment caught her eye. She was surprised and bemused at how the quilt piece and the portrait sketch seemed to relate. Her first thought was to paint the background as a quilt. But, instead, she used scissors to cut the model from the canvas; then affixed it with fabric glue to the quilt remnant. It was this happy combination that changed and dramatically enriched her artistic direction.

Sometimes, Betsy's work is lighthearted and brings a smile. Other times the work is sad or painful. Always--it speaks of life: