Brenda Howell

Brenda Howell’s education in art started with the inspiration and guidance of her mother, who was a painter and art teacher. “She taught privately and I was always welcome and excited to be in the environment of her studio or outdoor classes. I received instruction in drawing and painting and made my first oil painting at five years old. She encouraged me to look at the world with the eyes of an artist, noticing colors and shapes. We took many painting trips together throughout the years.”

     Howell went on to receive a B.A. in Sociology, with honors, from California State University, Fullerton and later studied art at various institutions including Fullerton College, Tulsa Community College, Philbrook Museum School and workshops with Scottsdale Artists School.

     Representative landscapes that reveal something about the story that the earth tells has been the main focus of her work. Her love affair with the Grand Canyon began in 1970 when she and her sister first hiked five miles down the Bright Angel Trail to Indian Garden. After that experience she was always planning yearly visits back to the Canyon. “I am fascinated by landscapes that reveal the earth’s rock layers. When I first saw the Grand Canyon and Painted Desert I was awestruck. I wanted to understand how the various rock layers came to be and why all the variety in color and structure. This interest led to my taking college classes in earth science and geology.”

     The artist worked more than twenty years as a technical/geological illustrator and graphic designer, and later developed a successful freelance business. She continued her study and practice of fine art on a part-time basis. In 1999, with a desire to immerse herself in her favorite painting subject, she decided to take a job at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park and stayed for four years. In the tradition of Gunnar Widforss and other artists that made Grand Canyon home, this experience certainly enriched her knowledge of and intimacy with her subject, the wild landscape.

     Howell has been featured in Southwest Art Magazine’s Artists to Watch and Western Art and Architecture’s Illuminations. She has been honored with solo shows at Sangre de Cristo Art Center in Colorado and Pearce Western Art Museum in Texas. She was also chosen by the National Park Service as Artist-in-Residence at Badlands National Park. Her work resides in the public and private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad and has won awards in such shows as Oil Painters of America National Exhibition, NOAPS Best of America Exhibition, American Women Artists National Exhibition, Salon International, and Art Renewal Center.

     Painting full time since 2003, Brenda paints primarily in oil, both outdoors and in the studio.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.