1322 Bayview Road
Middletown, DE 19709
(302) 378-7274

ncwillis@nancycarolwillis.com
birdsong@birdsongbooks.com
www.nancycarolwillis.com
www.birdsongbooks.com
www.williamdwhite.com
www.whyilovejesus.org
www.facebook.com/nancycarol.willis

Studio Hours

Please call for an appointment.

Studio Directions

Turn onto Bayview Road from Route 13 south of the Boyd's Corner (Route 896) intersection. Proceed three miles just past where Route 9 tees into Bayview Road. Turn right into the driveway of a Colonial-eara farmhouse surrounded by the Augustine Wildlife Area.

Artist Statement

Nancy Carol Willis is a native Delaware illustrator and author of natural science children's picture books. She also creates wildlife and landscape paintings and drawings in a variety of media. Most recently, her brush and ink drawings received Honorable Mention in the biannual juried Regional Landscape Exhibition at the Biggs Museum of American Art. Willis’ inspiration comes from a lifetime of observing and rendering Delaware wildlife and habitats. She is a certified naturalist and has volunteer experience rehabilitating and banding native birds.

In 1998, Willis founded Birdsong Books, an independent publisher of natural science children's picture books. Writing and illustrating children's books involves presenting kid-friendly science with the drama and humor needed to excite a child's curiosity and caring for wild animals and the trials they go through to survive. Her award-winning titles include: The Robins In Your Backyard; Raccoon Moon; Red Knot: A Shorebird's Incredible Journey, and The Animals' Winter Sleep (written by Lynda Graham-Barber).

In 2009, Willis received an Established Professional Individual Artist Fellowship grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Her wildlife paintings and book illustrations were exhibited at the Biggs Museum of American Art, the Station Gallery (with friend, A. N. Wyeth), and at the Carvel State Building.

2015 marked the culmination of a four-year research project to document the life and artworks of Willis’ childhood mentor and Delaware artist, illustrator, and muralist, William D, White. Willis worked with the Biggs Museum of American Art to host a retrospective exhibition and publish a large-format biographical catalogue, which won a Delaware’s Best Award for 2015.

Willis has served as President for the Council of Delaware Artists and has twice been invited to created ornaments for the White House Christmas Tree. She has written and illustrated for Outdoor Delaware magazine, the Delmarva Ornithological Society, the Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control, The Delaware Division of Parks & Recreation, and Kindermusik International. For over four years she has led a Christian Writers’ Ministry dedicated to guiding participants through the process of sharing their faith stories and life experiences.