Betsy Holmes
Capturing the Splendor of New England
Betsy Holmes is an outdoor and plein air oil painter dedicated to capturing the raw beauty of the New England landscape in every season and kind of weather. Her primary inspiration is the dynamic force of nature—the light, weather, and changing seasons—which she translates into her expressive paintings. Recognizing that modern life often distracts us from the beauty surrounding us, Betsy is driven to create art and nature journals that remind us of the splendor of our environment year-round. For her, painting is the joy of expressive marks and vibrant color, and her technique is influenced by great writers and poets who have also found the natural world a basis for their work.
Impressionism and Expressionism
The artist's distinctive style draws continual inspiration from the Impressionist and Expressionist painters of Europe, the US, and Canada. Readers familiar with the work of Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler, California artist William Wendt, and the Canadian "Group of Seven" will recognize their powerful approach to nature reflected in her art. Betsy holds a BFA and MFA in Painting and is a juried member of the New Hampshire Art Association, grounding her contemporary expressionism in a strong academic tradition.
Dedication to Education and Conservation
Beyond her artistic practice, Betsy Holmes is passionately committed to education and environmental stewardship. She is the retired Library Director at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and continues to teach art history and plein air painting as a volunteer at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at UNH, serving also as a volunteer docent at the Currier Museum of Art. When she is not painting or teaching, Betsy actively works in a variety of conservation initiatives, including serving on the Board of Trustees for the Piscataquog Land Conservancy. She is the past President of the Deering Lake Improvement Association, where she writes the newsletter and monitors for invasive species. She is fortunate to live on Deering Lake with her husband, Ralph, sharing her home with loons, herons, kingfishers, and bald eagles.
The Holmes Collection
Plein air, impressionist, sublime.
The act of creating a work of art outdoors is so different… so humbling… when compared to the studio experience. Being in the woods a painter is never alone; the birds are singing, the wind might be blowing, and you race with the sun to depict a moment that really can never truly be captured. The experience is sensual: the scents, the sounds, the views – I am constantly drawn back to it. While a painting can never fully represent the experience, my work stands as a souvenir of a moment of bliss.
Artist: Betsy Holmes
In Deep Tracks, Betsy Holmes captures the quiet, tactile stillness of a New England winter. This striking centerpiece balances the heavy weight of freshly fallen snow with the sharp, crisp shadows cast by a low winter sun. Known for her dedicated plein air practice—braving the elements year-round to capture nature in real-time—Holmes utilizes rich, rhythmic brushwork to guide the viewer’s eye along the deeply carved impressions in the snow. It is an evocative study of light and silence, perfect for collectors looking to bring the serene, majestic atmosphere of the northern woods into their space.
Dimensions: 30” x 24”
Medium: Oil
Artist: Betsy Holmes
Few seasonal shifts are as dramatic or fleeting as the transition out of a northern winter, and The Thaw captures that exact moment of release. With a masterful handle on fluid light and reflection, Holmes depicts the softening edges of ice and the reemergence of flowing water. The palette balances the cool remnants of winter whites and blues with the first hints of spring's deep earth tones. It is a piece full of movement and optimism, capturing the patience, rhythm, and cyclical pace of the natural world.
Dimensions: 16” x 16”
Medium: Oil on Panel
Artist: Betsy Holmes
A quintessential nod to regional winter heritage, Bob-Houses explores the temporary communities that emerge on frozen New England lakes each season. Painted with Holmes' characteristic focus on atmospheric light, this piece beautifully captures the unique architecture of ice-fishing shacks set against an expansive, frosted landscape. There is a beautiful sense of quiet isolation and resilience captured in the work, rendering a familiar local tradition with an artistic reverence that elevates it into a timeless piece of landscape storytelling.
Dimensions: 18” x 24”
Medium: Oil
Artist: Betsy Holmes
On The Edge is an intimate, dynamic exploration of threshold and transition in the natural world. Focusing her gaze on the boundary lines where land meets water or forest meets clearing, Holmes uses deliberate, textured paint application to highlight the rugged textures of the terrain. This piece showcases her ability to find immense beauty in the subtle corners of our environment that are so often overlooked, offering a wonderful window of focus and contemplation for smaller accent walls or curated gallery groupings.
Dimensions: 12” x 12”
Medium: Oil on Panel
Artist: Betsy Holmes
A beautiful testament to Holmes' passion for local conservation and the granular details of our waterways, Newfound River Rocks focuses on the hypnotic beauty beneath the surface of the river current. The painting is a brilliant study of color, refraction, and geology, capturing the smooth, weathered surfaces of granite and river stone. This artwork is beautifully presented in a custom gold and black wood floating frame, offering a sophisticated, high-contrast border that makes the organic colors of the riverbed vividly pop.
Dimensions: 14” x 11”
Medium: Oil on Panel
Artist: Betsy Holmes
This typical New England landscape is made vibrant despite a more monochrome winter backdrop. The color is from leaf litter left over from fall, adding warm fall colors. This piece is a favorite of the artist, painted outside in plein air looking west from a friend’s house in New Hampshire.
Dimensions: 24” x 24”
Medium: Oil
Artist: Betsy Holmes
Franconia Notch is an iconic place in New Hampshire with the shape of Mount Cannon in the background, recognizable and famous. Post-impressionistic influences like that of Cezanne can be seen in this masterful landscape painted in plein air by a stream about a quarter of a mile off a well-traveled trail. This is the ideal piece for anyone who wants a memorable piece of the White Mountains in New Hampshire hanging on their wall.
Dimensions: 24” x 24”
Medium: Oil
Artist: Betsy Holmes
This vibrant expressionistic piece washes the viewer in the verdant greens of the summer landscape in New Hampshire. The artist was visiting Jackson, New Hampshire when she painted this plein air piece. She was viewing a field of freshly mown grass with an old stone wall in the background — one of those walls commonly found in places off the beaten path. A viewer might have feelings evoking images from the poetry of Robert Frost.
Dimensions: 24” x 18”
Medium: Oil
Artist: Betsy Holmes
Proving that her mastery of light extends across diverse geographies, High Desert Snow offers a stunning interpretation of winter in a more arid landscape. Holmes beautifully translates the vast, open space and specialized color palette of the high desert when blanketed by a sudden winter storm. The painting arrives beautifully housed in a premium maple floating frame, which complements the warm, earthy undertones of the piece while maintaining a clean, contemporary aesthetic perfect for a modern art lover.