BRENDA SYLVIANatural Beauty

Getting outside into nature is an important part of Brenda Sylvia’s artwork and her life. For anyone lucky enough to live or visit the Virgin Islands, there are daily opportunities to experience breathtaking natural beauty. In her paintings, Brenda captures this beauty and her emotional response to the places she loves. Often this manifests through her expressive use of color. Vivid color is everywhere, from the glorious sunsets and beautiful flowers to the amazing turquoise water and colorful fish, both outside in nature and now on the walls of the gallery.

The bright light in the Caribbean showcases the Islands’ beautiful colors. Living on St Thomas fed Brenda’s obsession with color. When creating her vibrant acrylic paintings she starts with more than 40 different colors on her palette.  Even with all of those to choose from, she still mixes and alters each color she applies to the canvas. Before starting a new painting, Brenda selects a contrasting color to tone the base of the canvas which creates even more energy as her colors optically interact. For her expressive paint application, Brenda uses brushes of all shapes and sizes.

Besides painting, Brenda worked as a first mate and snorkel guide on a catamaran and power boats, an ecotour kayak guide, and as a fire dancer.  All of these jobs led her outside surrounded by the beauty of the Virgin Islands.  In her 2023 show, Natural Beauty, she shares some of the island views she has come to love so much, both above and below the water. Whenever possible, Brenda starts a painting on location, but she also uses for reference some of the many hundreds of photos she has taken on her Island adventures.  The Natural Beauty of the Virgin Islands feeds her soul.  You can experience her love of the Islands through her paintings at the Mango Tango Art Gallery.