Colleen K. Howe was born in American Fork, Utah in 1953. Shortly thereafter, she moved to southwestern Montana with her family. Growing up on a 1,000 acre cattle ranch in the middle of the Big Hole Valley definitely encouraged her to love the open landscape. She had many adventures on her paint horse, Pinky, exploring the meadows and river places near her home. She attended a two-room school house in Jackson, Montana, and since her teacher was responsible for four grades, she took advantage of free time by drawing on a seemingly unending supply of manilla paper found on shelves in the back of the room.
     Colleen continued her interest in landscape by studying painting at Brigham Young University and the University of Utah. She then specialized by studying pastel painting with Sally Strand and Doug Dawson. She also studied with Michael Workman. It has taken many years of painting to gain experience and develop her style of clean and harmonious color.
     Teaching has been one of Colleen’s interests. Her plein air painting workshops have been conducted across the United States, including California, Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Utah.In 2008, she led her first 10-day workshop to Provence, France.Another interest has been leadership in existing art groups or forming new artists’ organizations such as the Pastel Society of Utah.
     Colleen’s work has received recognition in local and national competitions. In 2005, she was awarded prestigious signature member status with the Pastel Society of America and American Women Artists. She is one of the invited artists who participate in “Maynard Dixon Country and painting events with the Plein Air Painters of Northern Utah and the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters. Articles about her work have appeared in The Pastel Journal, The Artist’s Magazine and Southwest Art. In 2007, her painting “Mt. Logan” won the Silver Award at the International Association of Pastel Societies Exhibition in Naples, Florida. In 2008, her work was featured on the cover with an 8-page article in the July/August edition of American Artist Magazine.

View her work at: www.colleenhowe.com.

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