BETSY HICKOK
Trees and Stones Can Teach You that which You Can Never Learn from Masters, pressed leaf and paper, 12'' x 12'', 2006

Of herself, Betsy writes, "After receiving a B.A. degree in English at Middlebury College in VT (and teaching English for three years at a private school in Massachusetts where, I kid you not, Uma Thurman was one of my students), I moved to Iowa City in 1987 to pursue an M.F.A. in poetry from the Writers' Workshop, which I completed in 1990.  I worked for many years at ACT and NCS—now Pearson—and have been a writer/editor at The University of Iowa Foundation since 2000.  When I'm not working, I spend many weekends making art and participating in art fairs.  I am also a jazz singer with one CD I made with some of Iowa's most amazing jazz players—the fabulous Dan Knight (piano) and the incredible Craig Dove (bass).  I have performed in the Iowa Jazz Festival and on many local stages.  For ten years, I was part of the infamous band, Too Much Yang.  Finally, I do still write poetry, and I have a book-length manuscript of poems just aching to be published.  I have grown to love Iowa City and Coralville and am finally learning how to garden.  I live in Coralville with my sweetie, Hans, and my (fluffy, spoiled) feline furball-and-chain, Nikita."

About her work, Betsy writes, "What can I say?  I am from Vermont.  I love leaves.  I started making art from pressed leaves years ago, as a fun project with my stepdaughters.  My partner, Hans Olson, is an amazing oil landscape painter who has sold his work at art fairs and in galleries for years.  I started accompanying him to art shows, then decided I would also start making and selling art pieces myself.  Why should he have all the fun and glory?  My work seems simple, and is relatively, except that over several years, I have come to know which types of leaves will dry best and keep their color—even which trees in Iowa City produce the best leaf colors in the fall!  I hand-pick each leaf from the tree (no, seriously!) and dry layers and layers of these "perfect" leaves during what I call my "harvest season" in October/November.  This year, I am also drying spring/summer leaves to add more greens to my work.  It is surprising how much the shades and textures of leaves vary, even on a single tree.  In putting my pieces together, I pay attention to the scale, color, and shapes of the leaves together—and then I try to create simple backgrounds with the paper and frames that bring out the leaves' natural beauty.  It is amazing how some background colors will make the leaves "sing"!  I have been thrilled at how many people respond to this work.  It is really nature's artwork—I just try to capture it and show it at its best."