Betsey Fowler was born in Peoria, Illinois, the only child of Lucinda Burhans, a well known European opera singer, and Ernest Burhans, a surgeon. Both parents were lovers of the arts as well as avid conservationists, spending much of their time working on projects to save endangered species and traveling around the world with their daughter. Betsey was raised 50% in Europe with her mother and 50% in this country with doctor father.

At the age of 10, Betsey began sketching and painting after viewing the El Greco house inthe Prado in Madrid, Spain. Subsequently she attended top art schools across the country and holds two masters degrees in art. In the late 1960's, Betsey married Jim Fowler, a naturalist and conservationist who is best...