Nancy Franke began painting as a child in Pennsylvania, studying under Glenn Brougher, a noted watercolorist. She majored in Fine Arts at Wilson College and received her master’s degree in Art History at the University of North Carolina. A member of Oil Painters of America, Franke has studied with noted national painters such as Kenn Backhaus, Tom Browning, Kim English, Gregg Kreutz, Sherrie McGraw, Joseph Paquet, Ron Rencher, and Brian Stewart. Prominent working artists of influence are Richard Schmid, Scott Burdick, and Kevin MacPherson.

Franke focuses on still life and figurative paintings, although she has also done some wonderful landscapes and pet portraits as well. With the looseness and spontaneity of her technique, Franke’s paintings are warm, inviting and intimate. Her own wonderful sense of style and taste is reflected in her subject matter and the compositions are interesting, spontaneous and a little rough around the edges. It is this edginess that keeps her paintings fresh and energetic, just like the artist herself.

Franke says, “I seek to capture the flow of light in a lively and fresh manner. I paint primarily from life, and enjoy the challenge of catching the moment.” She has participated in numerous group shows and her paintings are in many private collections. Nancy has been invited to participate in the Quinlan Art Center Members’ Show in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2008. Most recently, she was awarded Signature status by Oil Painters of America, and she has had a piece selected for their National Oil Painters of America exhibit since 2006, which is quite an honor, as they only take 200 paintings from U.S., Canada and Mexico out of over 1,000 submissions each year. In 2011, Nancy was selected as one of 45 Juried Finalists for the American Women Artist’s Juried show, out of a pool of 1200.

Nancy Franke has produced some giclees (canvas prints) of her work that she has sold separately from Huff Harrington.  We do not sell giclees at Huff Harrington and we do not carry the original work that has been turned into a giclee.