Ben's innate artistic talent was evident early in his life.  His devotion to the wonders of nature inspired him to sketch his surroundings intensely and accurately.  A quiet person, he was at home in the quiet beauty of the natural world.  He gave special attention to every detail of the trees he saw, the birds he heard and the animals he loved.  These observations are at the heart of his paintings and are the features that have drawn so many to his art.

      Always an artist, Ben was 17 and still a high  school student when he began his professional career in commercial art.  In the years that followed, he was the recipient of numerous national awards of excellence in that field.  He devoted his leisure time to painting for pleasure, and from this pursuit came some of his now well-known paintings.

      In 1972, with the encouragement and support of his family, Ben decided to forego his commercial art career and devote his time and talent exclusively to fine art, to painting the plants and animals, people and places of the Appalachian region he so loves.  His success was immediate- the public readily accepted his paintings and clamored for more like them.  He began to make limited edition lithographic reproductions of his original paintings, and once again he found a success rare in the art world.

      Today his prints are treasured by collectors, and his original oils bring prices ranging from $18,000 to $40,000.

      And still Ben Hampton strived to do what he had always done-to bring the beauty of nature and the lessons of the past alive for others.  For it is only through understanding the past that the present becomes meaningful.

      The humble cabin, the horse-drawn wagon, the old barn- all are characteristic of rural southern Appalachia, and all have found their way into Ben Hampton's paintings.  They are the reflections of a bygone era.

      Ben's mission seems to be to preserve our heritage-the heritage of a great America.