Billings interest in art developed during a nomadic childhood —Texas, England, Singapore and New England. In 1975 she earned a BFA in glass sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design where she studied for 3 years with influential glass artist Dale Chihuly. The art-glass community ultimately proved to be ‘a little claustrophobic’, and after a trip to New Mexico revealed the profound scale and clarity of open western skies, Billings migrated west into the desert and mountain landscape. Following ten adventurous years mountain climbing, guiding and painting in Asia, Alaska, Europe and Canada, Billings married and settled to raise a family in Boulder, Colorado. Exploring a new outlet for her artistic energy she started a graphic design firm in 1986 - Billings/Quine Design. Over the next 8 years, she and her design partner, Caroline Quine, garnered an array of awards for illustration and print design.
Yearning for a simpler lifestyle, more time to paint, and a return to the spare desert environment, Billings moved with her husband and two children to southwestern Colorado from 1994 until 2006. Here, on 35 acres of pinon and sage perched on the edge of Naturita Canyon west of Telluride, she began painting full-time from her adobe home and studio. Recently Billings and her husband designed and built a small home and studio on the windblown East Cape of Baja California. She now splits her time between this isolated desert/ocean studio and journies across the west, from California into the desert/mountain southwest. These bold environments provide much of the stimulation, light and energy present in Billings’ painting.
EDUCATION
BFA with honors Rhode Island School of Design
Major in blown glass, studying under Dale Chihuly 1975
Pilchuck Glass School 1980
Penland School of Crafts 1976
American Academy in Paris 1972
Banff School of Fine Arts 1971
AWARDS AND NOTABLES
Selected by Colorado Homes and Lifestyles Magazine (April 2006) as one of ten most collectible Colorado Artists.
Private tutor to General Norman Shwarzkopf to collaborate on his mixed media painting “Transitions, War and Peace” auctioned at the 2005 Ah Haa School annual art auction
Featured artist 2007 Telluride Wine Festival and
Featured artist 2000 Sheiridan Arts Foundation Willd West Fest, Telluride CO
Selected artist 2001 “Women of the West”, Santa Fe, NM
Winner of 3 Print Magazine National Design Awards, and numerous additional graphic design awards.1989-1994
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, Telluride CO 2007, 2006, 2001, 1996
McLaren Markowitz Gallry, Boulder CO 2002
Silver Bell Gallery, Telluride CO 2005, 2004
Contemporary Southwest Gallery, Santa Fe NM 2001
David Uhl Gallery, Denver CO 2001
Montrose Pavillion, Montrose CO 1999
David Uhl Gallery, Denver CO 2001
Denver Botanical Gardens, Denver CO 1986
Boulder Center for Visual Arts, Boulder CO 1985
Boston Center for the Arts, Boston MA 1979
PROFESSIONAL
Studio artist, Norwood, CO and Ventura, CA 2000 - present
Artist Board member for 6 years, Ah Haa School for the Arts, Telluride, CO
Instructor of water color/mixed media workshop classes for Ah Haa School including the 2006 Provence Journal Workshop in France
Freelance graphic designer and illustrator/artist Telluride, CO. 1993-2000
Partner/Creative Director: Billings Quine Design Group Boulder, CO. 1986-1992
Glass Sculpture artist 1977-1986