In the 1890s, on a visit to England, Hills became fascinated by miniature paintings on ivory.
She taught herself the painstaking technique and by 1893 had completed a series of miniature portraits of girls from her hometown.
These Seven Pretty Girls of Newburyport, which launched her on a decades-long career as a miniature portrait painter, are now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts along with other of her miniature paintings.
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.

One of her more unusual commissions came in 1896, when Emily Dickinson's sister Lavinia arranged for Hills to retouch one of the few existing photographs of the deceased poet, an austere formal portrait that had been taken when Dickinson was around 16 and which neither Dickinson nor her sister had thought was a good likeness.
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.
Between 1913 and 1937, this portrait appeared in half a dozen volumes of work by and about the poet that were produced by Dickinson's niece Martha Dickenson Bianchi.

In 1897, Hills became the first miniature painter elected to the Society of American Artists and one of very few women in the SAA.
A year later, she became one of the founders of the American Society of Miniature Painters, serving for a period as its vice-president.
Her work with miniatures declined after 1920, due to failing eyesight.
In the 1890s, on a visit to England, Hills became fascinated by miniature paintings on ivory. She taught herself the painstaking technique and by 1893 had completed a series of miniature portraits of girls from her hometown. These Seven Pretty Girls of Newburyport, which launched her on a decades-long career as a miniature portrait painter, are now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts along with other of her miniature paintings. 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.
One of her more unusual commissions came in 1896, when Emily Dickinson's sister Lavinia arranged for Hills to retouch one of the few existing photographs of the deceased poet, an austere formal portrait that had been taken when Dickinson was around 16 and which neither Dickinson nor her sister had thought was a good likeness. 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. Between 1913 and 1937, this portrait appeared in half a dozen volumes of work by and about the poet that were produced by Dickinson's niece Martha Dickenson Bianchi.
In 1897, Hills became the first miniature painter elected to the Society of American Artists and one of very few women in the SAA. A year later, she became one of the founders of the American Society of Miniature Painters, serving for a period as its vice-president. Her work with miniatures declined after 1920, due to failing eyesight.
Laura Coombs Hills