B R E N D A H O W E L L

C a n y o n s & W e s t e r n L a n d s c a p e s

A b o u t t h e A r t i s t

Brenda’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. 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. The artist relates, “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. At about this time Mount St. Helens blew its top and that event was such an emotion-laden and powerful statement of the earth’s processes I would never look at volcanic rock and ash layers the same way again.”
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 was honored to be given a solo show at Pearce Western Art Museum in Texas in 2010. She was also chosen by the National Park Service as Artist-in-Residence at Badlands National Park in the Fall of 2010. Her work resides in the permanent collections of both institutions and is in private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad. Her work has won many 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.

Solo and Group Exhibitions

2024 —Oil Painters of America Annual National Exhibition, Mark Arts, Wichita KS

2023 — National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society Best of America Exhibition, Principle Gallery, Alexandria VA

2022 — Finalist in Landscape, Art Renewal Center’s International
ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

Nov 20, 2022 —Mountain Oyster Club Art Show and Sale, Tucson, AZ

Sept 15, 2022 — American Impressionist Society 23rd Annual National Juried Exhibition, Mary Williams Fine Arts, Boulder, Colorado

July 15, 2022 — Women of the West, Santa Fe Trails Fine Art, Santa Fe NM

Nov 2021 — Mountain Oyster Club Art Show and Sale, Tucson, AZ

Sept 2021 — National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society Best of America Exhibition, Dana Gallery, Missoula, MT

July 2021 — National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society Associate Members Online Exhibition

Aug 2020 — Oil Painters of America Western Regional Virtual Exhibition, Illume Gallery, St George, UT

Aug 2020 — Oil Painters of America 29th Annual National Exhibition, RS Hanna Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX

Feb 2020 — Representing the West: A New Frontier, Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, CO

Nov 2019 — Mountain Oyster Club Art Show and Sale, Tucson, AZ

July 2019 — Plein Air Painters of New Mexico Small Works Show, Taos Museum at Fechin Studio, Taos, NM

Nov 2018 — Mountain Oyster Club Art Show and Sale, Tucson, AZ

Sept-Oct 2018 — National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society,
28th Annual Best of America Exhibition, Eisele Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio

Nov 2017 — Plein Air Painters of New Mexico,
Annual National Juried Exhibition, Sorrel Sky Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Nov 2017 — National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society,
Small Works Exhibition, Cathy Kline Gallery, Parkville, MO

Oct-Nov 2017 — National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society,
27th Annual Best of America Exhibition, Castle Gallery, Ft. Wayne, IN

Jan-Feb 2017 — New Mexico Art League,
Biologique Juried Exhibition, NM Art League Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

Nov 2016 — Plein Air Painters of New Mexico,
Annual National Juried Exhibition, Sorrel Sky Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Sept 2016 — Oil Painters of America,
Salon Show, Castle Gallery Fine Art, Fort Wayne, IN

May 2016 — Oil Painters of America,
25th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Southwest Gallery, Dallas, TX

2015 — Art Renewal Center’s International
2014-2015 ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

2015 — California Art Club "Landscapes of the West II"
Olaf Wieghorst Museum, El Cajon, CA

2014 — Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show
Mountainsong Galleries, Carmel, CA

2014 — Art Renewal Center’s International
2013-2014 ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

2013 — Holiday Treasures Salon
Debra Huse Gallery, Balboa Island, CA

2013 — 4th Annual 6 inch Squared Exhibition and Sale
Randy Higbee Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA

2013 — Beyond Boundaries
California Art Club - Orange County Chapter,
Randy Higbee Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA

2011-13 — May Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

2013 — Oil Painters of America,
22nd Annual National Juried Exhibition, Insight Gallery, Fredericksburg, TX

2013 — Art Renewal Center’s International
2012/2013 ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

2012 —International Guild of Realism Annual Exhibition
Jones & Terwilliger Gallery, Carmel, CA

2012 — 3rd Annual 6 inch Squared Exhibition
Randy Higbee Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA

2012 — 10th Annual Holiday Small Works Show
Segil Fine Art, Monrovia, CA

2012 — Something Superbly Small Show, Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA

2011 — Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show
Lee Youngman Galleries, Calistoga, CA

2011 — Arlene Siegel Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

2005-2011 — Windrush Gallery, Sedona, AZ

2010 — Pearce Museum Artist-in-Residence Solo Exhibition:
The Big Picture: Paintings of the Western National Parks
Pearce Western Art Museum, Corsicana, TX

2009 — Dodson Galleries 26th Anniversary Group Show
Dodson Galleries, Oklahoma City, OK

2008/2009 — Art Renewal Center’s International
2008/2009 ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

2008 — Two Artist Show,
Hueys Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2008 — Open Hands, Open Hearts,
Nussbaumer Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2007 — An Evening in Santa Fe Invitational Show
Gallery on Glassell, Orange, CA

2007 — Salon International 2007,
National Juried Show, Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art, San Antonio, TX

2007 — Oil Painters of America,
16th Annual National Juried Show, Whistle Pik Galleries, Fredericksburg, TX

2007 — National Society of Artists,
23rd National Juried Show, Houston, TX

2006/2007 — Little Gems,
Alla Prima Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL

2006 — Night Visions,
Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, AZ

2006 — Inspiration from the Forest,
Ghost Ranch Visitor Center Museum, Abiquiu, NM

2005 — American Women Artists Annual Juried Exhibition,
Texas Art Gallery, Dallas, TX

2005 — Arts for the Parks Mini 100 Exhibit,
Jackson Lake Lodge, Grand Teton National Park, WY

2004 — Artists of the Grand Canyon,
Medicine Man Gallery, Tucson, AZ

2004 — Flagstaff “Open Studios”,
Historic Monte Vista Hotel, Flagstaff, AZ

2004 — Celebration of Fine Art,
Scottsdale, AZ

2003 — Art Exhibit at Grand Hotel,
Grand Canyon, AZ

2002, 2003, 2004 — “Appetizers for the Visual Feast”,
Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, AZ

2002, 2003, — Flagstaff “Open Studios”,
Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, AZ

2002 — Grand Canyon Art
at the El Tovar, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

2001 — Art Exhibit at Phantom Ranch,
Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

2001 — Grand Canyon Art
at the El Tovar, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

1999 — American Embassy Art Exhibit,
New Delhi, India

1992 — Kansas Watercolor Society Five-State Juried Exhibition,
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS

1992 — Louisiana Watercolor Society 22nd Intl Juried Exhibit,
World Trade Center, New Orleans, LA

1991 — Kansas Watercolor Society Five-State Juried Exhibition,
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS

Publications

Oct/Nov, 2020 — Western Art & Architecture, Illuminations

Nov, 2013 — Southwest Art Magazine, Artist to Watch

June, 2013 — Grand Canyon News, Williams, AZ

June, 2013 — Fullerton Observer, Fullerton, CA

May, 2010 — Explore Magazine, Corsicana, TX

Apr, 2010 — Art News DFW, TX

Mar, 2010 — Corsicana Daily Sun, Corsicana, TX

Feb, 2009 — Pinyon Press, Grand Canyon, AZ

Sept, 2007 — New Mexico Woman Magazine, Albuquerque, NM

August, 2007 — Southwest Art Magazine, Boulder, CO

April, 2004 — Mountain Living Magazine, Flagstaff, AZ

Sept, 1997 — Tulsa Woman News, Tulsa, OK

Awards and Honors

2023 — ARC Staff Award, 16th Art Renewal Center’s International
ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

2020 — Peoples Choice Award, Representing the West: A New Frontier, Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo, CO

2017 — Second Place Award, National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society,
27th Annual Best of America Exhibition

2013 — Realism Award of Excellence, Oil Painters of America 22nd Annual National Juried Exhibition

2010 — Artist in Residence, Badlands National Park

2008/2009 — ARC Staff Award, Art Renewal Center’s International
2008/2009 ARC Salon™, www.artrenewal.org

2007 — Southwest Art Magazine Award, Salon International 2007,
Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX

2007 — Phillip G. Paratore Jr. Memorial Award, National Society of Artists,
23rd National Juried Show, Houston, TX

2005 — Merit Award, American Women Artists Annual Juried Exhibition,
Texas Art Gallery, Dallas, TX

1992 — American Artist Magazine Award, Louisiana Watercolor Society 22nd Intl Juried Exhibit, World Trade Center, New Orleans, LA

1991 — Juror’s Award, Kansas Watercolor Society Five-State Juried Exhibition, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS

1990 — Best of Show Award, Tulsa Community College, Tulsa, OK