By June Mathews
Once upon a time, two 14-year-olds met at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, and as classmates will, they formed a friendship.
She admired his artistry and intelligence.
“I thought she was cute,” he said.
The pair also had a lot in common.
“The whole ASFA experience involves students being
around peers that share the same goal of becoming the best they can be at their craft,” he explained. “What better way to start a relationship?”
Even though the youngsters’ skin colors differed, their artistic souls were a near-match, so before long, love blossomed and grew. In time, the two were married.
Twenty-six years and three children later, the marriage of Darius and Bethanne Hill is still going strong. The Hills have made art not only their preferred form of expression, but their professions as well.
The art of both Hills is being jointly represented in a month-long exhibition of their work at the Hoover Public Library. The two also will be honored at the library’s annual Southern Voices Festival during a reception Feb. 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Now in its 25th year, the festival celebrates the writing, music and art of the South. It runs through Feb. 25, culminating with the annual author’s conference.
Though the Hills are not collaborators as artists – their mediums and styles differ too much for that – their mutual admiration for and support of each other’s work is clear.
“He helps me with everything I need to get there – framing and building the panels I paint on, for example – but we work very independently,” said Bethanne. “Because we have this long history, we understand what art means to each other, even though we otherwise might not understand the need to do what we each do.”
For his part, Darius, initially known in Alabama art circles as a printmaker, identifies with some of the printmaking qualities in Bethanne’s work.
“It sets up with how I see things,” he said.
But there’s one aspect of her work he particularly admires and even somewhat covets.
“I’m envious of how accessible her work is,” he said. “My work appeals to those in more academic circles, but hers appeals to the general public and to the academic crowd as well. She gets the best of everything.”
Born in Tuscaloosa and raised in Birmingham, Bethanne graduated from ASFA in 1985 and earned a bachelor’s in painting and sculpture from Birmingham-Southern College. She works full time from her studio in a carriage house behind the Hill’s Birmingham home, painting and illustrating in acrylics on wood, paper or canvas.
Influenced by the bold outlines, patterns and simplified shapes of Australian aboriginal art, Bethanne also appreciates old barns, churches, houses, cemeteries and animals, leading her to base much of her art on the rural South.
Her work can be found in cover illustrations and interior art in books and CDs, in the permanent collections of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, Alabama Power Company and Children’s of Alabama, and in private collections across the country.
Darius, who holds a bachelor’s in printmaking from the Atlanta College of Art and a master’s in studio art from the University of Alabama, is chairman of ASFA’s Visual Arts Department.
His sculptural and architectural 3-D mixed-media pieces have earned him numerous honors and awards such as the Operation New Birmingham Best in Show Award at the Magic City Art Connection and an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. His work has appeared in juried exhibitions such as the Red Clay Survey in Huntsville and the Energen Exhibition in Birmingham, and his work is represented in numerous museum, corporate and private collections.
For all their differences, the two have at least one significant quality in common.
“We share a very high level of integrity in our work,” said Darius. “We’re both very concerned about getting it just right, and we’re truthful to ourselves through our craft.”
The Southern Voices Festival also will include the Appalachian-style har- monies of Zoe Speaks, a musical trio from Kentucky. Performances will take place Feb. 22 and 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Library Theatre. Tickets are $25.
Tickets for An Evening With Rebecca Wells, of Ya-Ya Sisterhood fame, on Feb. 24 have sold out, but a waiting list is available. Call the box office at 444-7888 for more information. Tickets for the Feb. 25 Authors Conference are still available for $40.
All tickets may be purchased by phone or online at hooverlibrary.org/sv.
