Bets Cole earned her undergraduate degree at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR. Her work is included in the following permanent collections: M & T Investment Group (Baltimore, MD), Marathon Coach (Eugene, OR), Oregon State University (Corvallis, OR), and the University of Oregon.
"As I paint, nature is not so much subject-matter as constant companionship. It gifts me with extraordinary light, value, and color and challenges me as each of those elements change. I meet this challenge by working gesturally, drawing with a distinctive rhythm, and weaving my colors and values in with my line. It is in the activity of mark making and color mixing that my personal narrative evolves. I paint and draw to communicate with the world, through a visual language made up of interlocking shapes, dominance, and congruity."
To keep my imagery alive and interesting, I seek new opportunities to develop and acquire skills. Recently I have studied how the landscape changes as I travel from one coast to another and from country to country, noting differences and similarities in color and form.