Betsy Dillard Stroud            AWS., D.F., L.M., NWS.
 Artist/Writer/Lecturer

Gallery: California Watercolor Gallery
Email: sales@californiawatercolor.com
Phone: (760) 723-9270

Betsy Dillard Stroud rides the twin, turbulent steeds of painting and writing. Stroud is a signature member, Dolphin Fellow and Life Member of the American Watercolor Society in New York and a signature member of the National Watercolor Society in California, the Rocky Mountain Watermedia Honor Society in Colorado, The Western Federation of Watercolor Society, a Royal Scorpion and life Member of the Arizona Watercolor Society and a former president of the Southwestern Watercolor Society headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

A internationally acclaimed and award winning artist, Stroud is also a former art historian who received her B. A. in art from Radford University, and her M. A. in art history from the University of Virginia. While at the University of Virginia, she continued painting with two local artists, Morton Traylor, a former student of Rico Lebrun and Irmgard Arvin, who was the assistant of Maroger.

Stroud completed all her course work for the doctorate in art history and passed the orals before she wrote her first book titled Coming Hither—Going Hence , a memoir of her uncle, Colonel Herbert Nash Dillard, Jr. who was a beloved professor at the Virginia Military Institute, a book which changed her life. Through circumstances associated with the publication of that book, she met and married her last husband and moved to Dallas, Texas. Though the marriage did not survive, her painting career thrived. Now, Stroud resides in Phoenix, Arizona where her paintings continue to reflect her love of the west and southwest, her Eastern upbringing and art historical background, and her love of symbolism.

Betsy Dillard Stroud was one of only 28 American artists from the entire United States who was invited to exhibit in the Xiangsu Museum in Nanjing, China in the First International Exhibition of Watermedia Masters in November, 2007. Her paintings are in hundreds of collections all over the United States and are in international collections in Japan, England, Canada, Australia, and the Bahamas. She is the author of Painting from the Inside Out (North Light, 2002) and a Dutch edition of her book was published in Holland in 2005. The Artist’s Muse: Unlock the Door for Your Creativity (also published by North Light) was released in December, 2006. Her latest book is Watercolor Masters and Legends, Northlight , 2016. She is also a professional magazine writer, and has written for major art magazines since 1987. Stroud served as the former Associate Editor of International Artist Magazine of North America from 1998-2003. A recent publication is: Moving Toward the Light: Joseph Raffael, published September, 2015. written by :biographer, Lanie Goodman; art historian and Critic for the LA Times, David Pagel; and Stroud’s interview: artist to artist—Betsy and Joseph.

Since 1987, she has judged over sixty five International, National, Regional, and State Shows including the American Watercolor Society in New York, the National Watercolor Society in California, and the Juror of Awards for the 2017 International Competition of The Artist Magazine.

Betsy Dillard Stroud is an accomplished lecturer and has achieved the International Toastmasters Silver and Competent Leader status. She is a member and former President of Park Central Toastmasters in Phoenix.