Independence Gallery
Brenda Hart
I consider myself a classical still-life painter, sometimes with a touch of storytelling and fantasy. I also love painting food, why? Because I love food! The best part is you get to eat it afterward. I have been painting and drawing for as long as I can remember; I still have drawings from 5th grade. It just came naturally. I paint with both oils and acrylics; it seems I can’t make up my mind which I like the best. I like naming my paintings; it’s fun.
Sometimes, the name comes first. Never formally trained, I studied at The Boulder Academy of Fine Art with L.V. Davis and with Peter Katz in Denver. I’ve also traveled to England 3 times to study Trompe le oeil mural painting with Janet Shearer.
While I continued to paint, I also had “regular” jobs. My claim to fame is that I was the first woman coal miner, at least in the state of Illinois. That was a life-changing experience. Then, on a trip to Peru, I discovered their beautiful handicrafts and decided to haul home a box to sell. What started as one box turned into containers and a 35-year business. We even developed a line of painted jewelry. I still put interesting or quirky objects from my travels into my still life paintings. Now, I paint and also run a feral cat rescue in rural Fort Lupton, Colorado.