Betsy Dillard Stroud rides the twin, turbulent steeds of painting and writing.  At the age of eight, Stroud received a set of oils from an insightful uncle and she began painting with a tutor.  Stroud is a signature member and Dolphin Fellow 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 Southwestern Watercolor Society (of which she is a former president) and a Royal Scorpion and life Member of the Arizona Watercolor Society. A nationally acclaimed and award winning artist, Stroud received her M. A. in art history from the University of Virginia where she was the first woman in the graduate arts program.  She had just completed her course work and her orals for a doctorate in art history, when she wrote her first book.  The writing of this book was a turning point.  With its publication, Stroud became a full time painter and never looked back.

Life changes brought her to Arizona in 1996.  Her work is in private and corporate collections all over the United States, Canada, Japan, the Bahamas, and Australia.  Since 1987 she has been a highly respected workshop teacher and juror of international national, state, and regional exhibitions.