For the first time in its history, the Gold Medal for best Oil Painting has been awarded to a woman –Sharon Brening, a Arizona master artist wins the gold medal award for best oil at the Western Artists of America Annual Show and Sale held at the Pearce Museum in Corsicana, TX. Forty master artists and sculptors displayed their work for judging and purchase during the six-week long exhibit.
(Phoenix, AZ)  -  When Western art is mentioned names like Charles Russell, Frederic Remington, Albert Bierstadt and Howard Terpning come quickly to the tongue - but Sharon Brening (www.sbrening.com), a master artist from Peoria, Arizona - is looking to add her name to the list of master painters of the Western genre.   After competing with dozens of other painters in the prestigious Western Artists of America Show & Sale at the Pearce Museum in January 2011, Brening won the Gold Medal for Oil Painting, considered by many to be the annual show’s top award.

“This is a major step for me in my artistic career,” said Brening.  “The competition featured many of the best artists in the world in western art and I am honored that my painting – I Saw an Eagle Fly - was selected for the gold medal.”

Ed Holmes, president of Western Artists of America, was not surprised Brening won the award.

“For the first time ever, the gold medal award for best oil painting has...