American artist Brenda Myrick, born in 1955 in Middlebury, Vermont, is a painter whose practice reflects a lifelong connection to animals, landscapes, and the natural world. She holds a BS in Art Education and Studio Art from the University of Vermont and was trained in watercolor painting at the beginning of her career, crediting her mother for much of this early instruction. While she now works primarily in oil and acrylic, this foundation in watercolor continues to inform the looseness and fluidity of her compositions.
Myrick’s work is deeply tied to her sense of place and her animal communication practice, which enriches her paintings with an awareness of spirit and presence. Her subjects, whether blossoms, animals, or abstracted natural forms, reflect a dialogue between external observation and internal memory. Over the years she has developed what she calls “spiritual notations,” impressions gathered from experience and recollection that return as guiding forces in her creative process. This allows her to create paintings that feel both immediate and layered, bridging realism with abstraction.
In works such as “Soft Prizes” and “Little Saints,” Myrick demonstrates a sensitivity to gesture and atmosphere. Sweeping washes of pinks, blues, and greens dissolve into one another, suggesting blooms in shifting light or impressions of foliage carried on the wind. Loose, expressive brushstrokes intermingle with more defined marks, creating a balance between control and spontaneity. The imagery recalls traditions of lyrical abstraction and echoes aspects of East Asian ink painting, where suggestion often carries more weight than literal representation. The resulting compositions embody both delicacy and vitality, evoking a dreamlike intimacy with nature.
What makes Myrick’s practice particularly distinct is the way she integrates memory, intuition, and spiritual connection into her painterly language. Her paintings are not just depictions but embodiments of her dialogue with nature, animals, and the unseen aspects of lived experience. In this, she offers viewers a renewed sensitivity to the subtle ties that bind us to the natural world. By melding the immediacy of gesture with the resonance of memory, Myrick contributes a thoughtful and personal voice to contemporary painting, one that reminds us of art’s capacity to restore awareness and connection.
