Electric Jazz

Brenda Bredvik

Brenda Bredvik was born in Michigan in 1965, but her works in oil are strongly influenced by the open sky and clear, bright light of California, where she has made her home for the last 12 years. Her work includes abstract landscape views and geometric architectural forms, painted with emphasis on strong color relationships and careful design, rather than exact representation of the subject matter.

Bredvik graduated Magna cum Laude from Pratt Institute, one of the country’s premier art colleges, where she earned her BFA. Her studies included a rigorous schedule with a heavy emphasis on design and color theory ranging from Old Masters theories and techniques to 20th Century minimalism and color field painting. Although she is well-versed in classical methods of painting in the manner of masters such as Rembrandt and Caravaggio, she chooses to paint in a contemporary style. “I’m always striving to be the best painter I can be. Therefore, I am constantly experimenting and trying new things. I’m not going to paint the same painting all the time just because people will buy it. It’s hard to learn new things that way.”

Bredvik studied in New York City, and enjoyed a successful career as Art Director and Graphic Designer for retail clients from New York to San Francisco to LA, but when life brought her to Southern California she found new inspiration in the bright, warm, open landscapes. Bredvik creates her oil paintings in the studio, but does a great deal of work in the field. She travels constantly throughout the Southland and usually does watercolor sketches on location. Since her work is based more upon design and composition, it isn’t necessary for her to copy a scene exactly in a painting. Says the artist, “But I still like to do my homework and study things first hand, as they exist in Nature. Then, when the time comes, I have the knowledge to create as necessary.” In her process, Bredvik usually begins with actual places but later evolves them through her imagination into stunning architectural compositions of shape and color.