WAOW Artistry of the West
The WAOW Artistry is slowly being built to provide a page on our site to promote each artist. This project began late summer 2024. We have over 300 members to load here on their pages. You can search by name, location or by subject matter to find an artist.
Sharon Markwardt • New Mexico • waow
Sharon Markwardt is a life-long artist with a Fine Art degree and a Biology minor. She grew up in Texas, the daughter of an Artist and an Engineer, and now enjoys an artist's life in Santa Fe, NM. The colorful style for which she is known emerged in the last decade or so, and paralleled her entrance into horsemanship, with its associated injuries and challenges. She laughingly credits her mare with “throwing her into western art!" since her colorful style emerged after a fall. She had the courage to get back in the saddle, and eventually learned the value of calm assertiveness. A new boldness entered her art, and she moved from watercolor to oils. Her color perception altered, as did her subject matter: stronger, brighter, more Western. Sharon enjoys pushing her colors and designs while retaining realism and attention to detail, injecting humor whenever possible.