An oil painter whose work reflects his fascination with nature's color, patterns, play of light, and active, unrestrained creatures, Billy Hassell is especially focused on birds. Often he showcases his main subject boldly against busy backdrop patterns of nature. Of this isolating technique, he says that it strips "the animal of its natural environment, in the process heightening its dignity and beauty. The paintings demand that we look---really look---at the individual elements of nature."

Hassell grew up in Dallas, Texas, in a family where he was the youngest of four children and the father was an accountant and the mother a school secretary. As a child, he was fascinated by artwork...