Nancy Bass honors the beauty and character of each animal she portrays. Her paintings explore our relationship to the animal world and the intelligence and sensitivity of animals. Her first memory of making art is a series of poodles she drew at age three, using every color of crayon in a Crayola box. Bass’s devotion to representing animals has continued ever since. Bass was born in 1957 in Peoria, IL and studied art at Drake University in Iowa. For thirty-five years, she lived and worked on a farm in Virginia where she raised a herd of cattle with her husband. There she began to develop her first significant body of works: a series of close-up portraits that recognize cows as individual, knowing subjects. Bass has received honors from the Art2Life International Competition, The Artist’s Magazine, The Richeson 75 Animals, Birds, and Wildlife Competition, and the Bethesda Painting Awards. She now lives and works in Guilford, CT. Awards:Oil Painters of America 2025 Online Showcase - Honorable MentionArtist in Residence - Virginia Center for the Creative Arts - Amherst, VAFinalist and Award winner - The Artist's Magazine 2012, 2013, 2014,2015, 2016,2017, 2019,2020Semi Finalist - Bethesda Painting AwardsSecond Place- American Artist Annual Juried Competition - Animal Division 2019First Place - The Artist Magazine International Competition- Animal Division 2020Juror's Award- Art2Life International Competition- 2021 Select Exhibitions:2026. Coors Western 2026 (forthcoming). Denver, CO2025. Coors Western 2025, Denver, CO Susan Powell Valentine Show, Madison, CT New Haven Paint and Clay Club juried exhibition, New Haven, CT Susan Powell Spring Show, Madison, CT Oil Painters of America Spring online Showcase2024 Coors Western 2024 American Impressionist Society 4th Annual Juried Online (Juror: Peggy Kroll Roberts) Mountain Oyster Club Keyes Gallery, Branford, CT Second Street Gallery, Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Charlottesville, VA2023 Coors Western (Juror; Rose Fredrick) Second Street Gallery, Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Charlottesville, VA2022 Coors Western (Juror: Rose Fredrick) American Impressionist Society Online (Juror: Ann Lars) Second Street Gallery, Teeny Tiny Trifecta, Charlottesville, VA2021 American Impressionist 4th Annual Online Juried Exhibit ( Juror: Peggy Kroll Roberts Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, Escondido, CA. American Women Artists Juried Online Exhibition – Lifting the Sky2020 Ensemble - Together Again, The Painting Center, New York, NY