Although she showed an early interest in art, her formal training was limited: mainly three winters in Boston with Helen M. Knowlton, who was leading classes for women artists that had previously been taught by William Morris Hunt.

[2] In early 1882, she left Boston to study life drawing for three months at the Art Students League of New York; one of her teachers there was William Merritt Chase.

In general, her mature paintings align with the romanticized Impressionism of Boston School painters like Edmund C. Tarbell, while her design work shows strong kinship with Art Nouveau.

[1] This situation began to change early in Hills' career, spurred in part by the founding of national and local watercolor and pastel societies in the late 1800s.

[1] She was considered one of the best miniature painters in America and something of an innovator in the medium, especially in her use of broad paint handling, bright colors, and line work in place of traditional stippling.

Hills used the photograph as a base to create a memorial portrait; the result, featuring a softened, curlier hairline and a frilly-necked dress, pleased Lavinia.

[1] Hills supported herself in part with commercial artwork, painting watercolors for greeting cards and calendars (especially for Louis Prang), drawing patterns for needlework, and decorating pottery.