Bill Farnsworth

As a 1980 graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design, Bill has spent the past twenty-three years creating paintings for books, magazines, advertisements and fine art commissions of landscapes and portraits.

Bill was born in Norwalk, Connecticut and spent most of his life in New Milford, Connecticut painting landscapes of the rural area, while supporting himself and his family with his growing illustration career.

He is a member of the N.Y. Society of Illustrators, SCBWI, and The Oil Painters of America. His realistic paintings have appeared in many national shows and he is included in many important collections throughout the United States. His awards include N.Y. Society of Illustrators Annual Show, the Salmagundi Club, Arts for the Parks Top 100, Kent Art Association, Ridgefield Artist Guild and Best in Show from the Housatanic Art League.

He has won numerous awards for his illustrations for children’s books, including The Stepping Stone Award, Young Hoosiers Award, Napra Nautilus Award, Teacher’s Choice Award and The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. In 2009, Bill’s painting Into the Harbor won the 2009 National Oil and Acrylic Paintings Society "Award for Narrative Excellence". The painting Waiting for Breakfast was exhibited at the 2009 Oil Painters of America eastern regional exhibit. This is a coveted honor for painters, since so few of the submitted paintings are chosen.