Biography

Nancy Harkins excelled in drawing and painting as a young child and at 16, she accepted portrait commissions. The challenges and simplicity of the watercolor medium captured her imagination in her teenage years and she has never tired of its beauty and versatility.

Strong value contrasts and patterns of light and shadow in Harkins’ landscapes and architectural subjects have won awards in national and regional exhibitions. She has also designed a hybridizers’ medal and a commemorative poster for the American Iris Society. She has received “Best of Show” and “Best in Watermedia” in Women’s Artist of the West’s annual exhibit and was awarded the Silver Medal in watermedia at the Bosque Art Classic in Texas. She has won awards in various watercolor society competitions, and three times in the International Competition of Women in Watercolor. In addition to mounting several solo exhibits, she has shown her work at Gilcrease Museum as part of their “About Face” portrait exhibit and in their “American Art in Miniature” show.

Harkins also teaches watercolor classes at Waterworks Art Studio and on occasion through Gilcrease Museum and Bartlesville Art Association, of which she is a member. She is also a signature member of Southwest Watercolor Society, Women Artists of the West, Women in Watercolor, and a diamond signature member of Mid-Southern Watercolorists.