Mayanna Howard

Mayanna Howard, a Las Cruces, New Mexico artist, is a watercolorist whose pallette includes the colors of the southwestern part of the United States – Terra cottas, accented with blues and greens.

Her work is predominately adobe buildings and churches, windows, doors, and other Southwest scenes. Paintings by Mrs. Howard are in homes from Connecticut to California including British Columbia, Canada and Europe.

She began to be creative early in life by drawing Barbie-like figures for clothing she designed for entertainment. By high school she was making clothes for her friends and herself.

Mayanna grew up during the 1950's in Clayton, New Mexico. Going to a WPA-built high school known for it’s music and art/crafts departments had a great influence on her artistically.

While raising her family, she operated a home-based business which designed and made purses for sale on consignment, but once her children started college she went to work for a local high school and managed the building and personnel there for nearly 20 years.

Inspired by a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, she began making 1 to 12 scale miniature wooden furniture in the colonial style as a hobby in 1976.

In 1997, she retired and went back to school for two years to study art where she discovered watercolor. In addition to that, she has attended several workshops given by noted artists such as Judy Wagner, Betty Carr, Ken Hosmer, Fred Chilton, and Bill Bissell.

Mayanna is a charter member of New Mexico Watercolor Society Southern Chapter, Corresponding Secretary of Las Cruces Art Association, and serves as Director of Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery. She currently shows at Mesilla Valley Fine Arts Gallery and Emerald Isle, both in Mesilla, New Mexico.