By the time she graduated from Dreux American High School in France, Betty had already won countless awards and ribbons, and the open admiration of her teachers.

Encouraged, she went on to study at the American Academy in Paris.

What has emerged from Betty's formal training, and from her God-given talent, is a style distinctly her own, a style distinguished by its eloquent simplicity. She is a remarkably versatile artist, skilled in many mediums, comfortable with many subjects.

But her first love is drawing faces - exquisite, intimate, searching portraits.

Betty's subjects include statesman and heroes, recording artists and movie stars. Her work graces the homes of several governors and scores of entertainment world celebrities. One of her greatest admirers was the late Joan Crawford, who changed the decor of her Hollywood mansion each season but insisted that her Harper gallery remain year-round.

Although Betty is challenged by her commissioned work for the wealthy and the famous, she finds equal inspiration in a farmer's weathered face. "Every face has a story to tell,' she says. "The lines around the eyes, the set of the lips - each detail means something."

Nowhere is Betty's careful attention to detail, or her uncanny ability to probe the character of her subject, more apparent than in her world-renowned Elvis portraits. Numbering more than 10,000, these works document every period of the entertainer's life, capturing subtle moods and unconscious gestures. She is "the" Elvis illustrator.

"Every time I draw him I see another side, almost another person," Betty says. "Just when I think I've exhausted all the possibilities, have sketched every angle, every expression - I begin to draw and discover another."

As she grew older, her interest in Elvis intensified rather than diminished. "He has such a wonderful face," she says, "so varied. From one angle it's soft, baby-like, from another, it's hard, almost cruel. I think that as I matured, my perceptions of him - and my sketches - matured too."

Ironically, Betty never met Elvis. "One time my father bundled up about 400 of my drawings and sent them to Grace land," she recalls. "From then on I received Christmas cards. But I only saw him once - from way back at a concert."

If the two had met, Elvis would have liked Betty Harper, writes James Ritz in the forward of Betty's Bantam collection of Elvis drawings. "He liked sincere people...he liked creative people...he liked inspired people."

Len Leone says Elvis "owes something to the art and energy of Betty Harper - immortality."

Betty doesn't see it quite that way. "I owe so much to Elvis," she says. "There was something incredibly inspiring about him. He pushed right to the limit of his potential, always himself, always trying to be the best he could be. When I had doubts, he made me feel like trying a little harder."