Betty Plymale is a professional artist and teacher specializing in portraits and fine art restoration in her studio on the second floor of The Square in Lexington, Kentucky. Betty started her art career over 30 years ago in Dallas, Texas where she studied with several western artists who placed great emphasis on drawing, form and realism – which is the foundation on which all good traditional art begins. She was a member of The Texas Western Women’s Artists Association and Dallas Traditional Artist Association.
She began her portraiture training by attending several Daniel Green workshops in St. Louis, Missouri where her search for artistic excellence became a passion. She was an active member of the St. Louis Artist Guild serving on the Executive Art Selection Committee and was nominated to the Board of Governors of the Guild. She has exhibited and won numerous awards in juried shows in Dallas and St. Louis before returning home to Kentucky. Her portraits of golfing greats and turn or the century golfing landscapes have received acclaim from numerous collectors throughout the United States, Canada and Japan.
Since returning to Kentucky, Betty has been extremely fortunate to work with two of America’s most distinguished New York portrait masters, John Howard Sanden and Everett Raymond Kinstler. She attended John Howard Sanden’s National Portrait Seminar in Atlanta, Georgia and the following year accepted an invitation to attend Mr. Sanden’s Advanced Class in Portrait Painting at the Art Students League in New York.
Master Portrait Artist Everett Raymond Kinstler recognized Betty’s artistic talent by choosing her as one of only thirteen juried artists accepted from over 300 applicants to attend his intensive Master Portrait Class conducted at the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts in New Mexico. The instruction she received from both of the Mr. Sanden and Mr. Kinstler lifted Betty to a new plateau in her quest to achieve excellence in portraiture.
Betty is in demand as portrait painter, teacher and conservator of fine art. Currently there is a waiting list of student artists who wish to attend classes in her Lexington studio.