fine art connoisseur 2018
May / June 2018

Fine Art Connoisseur
"Betsy Ashton: Portraying Immigrants' Stories"

May, 2018

"Portraits of Immigrants"
Thirteen / WNET-TV news video

April 2018

Episcopal Journal
"Faces of Courage: Artist gives immigrants high profile on canvas"

Jun 2016

Ashton's portrait in a very prominent spot at the U.S. Embassy in London.

Nov 2014

Unveiling the portrait of Ambassador Lader, at the U.S. Embassy in London. Click image to see photos.

Sep 2014

Photographer Peter Krogh captured this scene in my studio in September, when a PBS video crew led by director Jon Hornbacher, seen here behind the cameraman, followed me around for two days. They were shooting a 60-second spot that will soon air on PBS stations nationwide. I have supported public television actively for many years. As a TV news reporter-turned-artist, I can speak with authority about the high quality of journalism and excellent coverage of the arts that PBS continually delivers. —Betsy Ashton

Mar 2013

Betsy was prominently featured in the March 2013 issue of Sirulian News, published by Sirulians, Inc., an organization of veteran journalists.

2012

In 2012, Betsy Ashton was commissioned to paint the official portrait of Philip Lader, former U.S. Ambassador to the Court of Saint James's, for the collection of the United States Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London.

Nov 10, 2011

Times Ledger, Queens, New York
"A Portraitist Behind the Lens"

Aug 2011

American Artist Studios
"Create a Space That You Won't Want to Leave"

Betsy Ashton Portraits Logo
Maria Salomé

Maria Salomé

Housekeeper from Guatemala
Oil on canvas 40” x 30”

Maria Salomé’s husband abandoned her with their five children in Guatemala. She got a job as a laundress yet couldn’t earn enough to feed them. “They were malnourished,” she said, through an interpreter. But the only job available to a woman to earn the money needed to support a family was prostitution. Deeply religious Maria shook her head. “Indecent work! Never!!” Her only option was to leave them and find a “coyote” to sneak her into the U.S. After a long and harrowing journey she became the beloved housekeeper to a couple in Queens, New York, earning enough to support herself and all five children. Years later, she was able to pay a lawyer to get her documentation. Having missed their graduations, weddings, and the births of grandchildren, Maria recently returned to Guatemala to visit and hug her children after being separated twenty years.

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