Former Grand Canyon resident wins realism painting award

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - Former Grand Canyon resident Brenda Howell won the Realism Award of Excellence at the National Exhibition of the Oil Painters of America in Fredericksburg, Texas with her landscape entitled, "South Rim Majestic."

World-renowned master painter Sherrie McGraw juried the awards.

Brenda Howell lived at the South Rim of Grand Canyon from 1999 to 2003. Now the painter lives and works in Fullerton, Calif. and travels to on-location work in her "paintmobile."

The 30 x 40 inch award-winning painting features the Grand Canyon in late evening light.

According to Howell's press release, the main focus of her work is "representative landscapes that reveal something about the story that the earth tells."

The painter's work also explores the relationships of symbolic elements in a landscape and how light affects the forms.

Howell has been painting full-time since 2003. In 2010, Texas' Pearce Western Art Museum organized a solo show for Howell. The Badlands National Park also chose Howell as an Artist-in-Residence.

The landscape painter's work resides in the permanent collections of both institutions and is in private collections throughout the U.S. and abroad.

The Oil Painters of America 22nd annual exhibition is on display at InSight Gallery in Fredericksburg, Texas until June 17.

Howell's work can be seen at www.brendahowellart.com.