David Loren Bass grew up in rural Arkansas where he spent much of his time outdoors. He attributes that early immersion in nature as helping him understand and depict the landscape in his later years as an artist. While he had no formal training in art during his early education, his teachers encouraged him to develop his natural talents as an artist. He attended the University of Central Arkansas and graduated with a B.S.E. in art education with an intent to become a teacher. He pursued that vocation in the United States and in Morocco where he taught at the Defense Department’s Overseas School. He first began to transition to a career as a full time artist while in Morocco. When he told one of his student’s parents that he was thinking about leaving his teaching career to become a painter, but was unsure of that decision, the parent said, “You will never know until you try it.”
Having made the decision to become an artist, he resigned his position in Morocco and returned to the United States to enter graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. While there he benefited from the instruction offered by faculty members who were all practicing artists. Since graduate school he has built a successful career as a landscape artist and has traveled throughout the world from Greece to Central America to far West Texas. He paints with both oils and watercolors and starts his paintings with pencil sketches in the field. He then turns his attention to his canvas, starting the painting on site and later finishing the works in his studio.
His paintings are characterized by bright, vibrant colors, and strong, energetic brush strokes. Most depict the bright light of midday. He has said that there is a point in the process of depicting a scene when the painting ceases to be a replication of the subject he is depicting and transforms into something entirely new.
His work can be found in many private and public collections across the country. A full range of his work and the many locales that he frequently paints can be found at www.davidlorenbass.com.