Betty Wolfe

Betty Wolfe has always lived in a world of art, color, and curiosity. Raised in a home where classic literature, music, and painting were cherished, she grew up surrounded by the surreal, jazz-inspired works of Rodney Evans Bacon, which left a lasting impression on her artistic voice. From childhood, Wolfe was constantly creating—drawing, crafting, and later working in borosilicate glass before fully embracing painting as her medium of choice.

Entirely self-taught, Wolfe developed her style through hands-on exploration. While she has experimented with many genres, she has evolved a signature “crazy” style filled with bold color, whimsical energy, and playful surrealism. Recurring motifs like cats, vibrant light, and a touch of chaos bring her canvases to life, echoing influences from Da Vinci’s precision, Van Gogh’s raw emotion, Bill Bell’s playful detail, and the individuality of Roberta McDowell.

Her creative process is intuitive—she begins with a sketch and lets the painting unfold, guided by the play of light and subtle color transitions. Each piece presents a challenge, especially in capturing those fleeting shifts of highlight and depth, but Wolfe sees that struggle as the core of her growth as an artist.

At heart, her work is about joy. “Crazy is the theme,” she explains. “Nothing makes sense, but somehow it all does.” Her goal is simple yet profound: to make people smile. For Wolfe, success isn’t measured in sales or trends but in the act of creating itself—each work adding a spark of color and imagination to the world.

Currently, she is immersed in her Alice in Wonderland project, which includes The Rabbit Hole, Cheshire, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, The Mad Hatter, and The Queen of Hearts, with Alice herself still in progress. The series celebrates her love of whimsy and surreal storytelling, with all roads—quite literally—leading to Alice.

Her advice to aspiring artists reflects her own philosophy: “Never explain your art. Let the viewer have their own adventure with it.”

Instagram: @bjwolfe_art