Brenda Hope Zappitell was born in Miami, Florida, in 1964. She attended college at Florida State University where she received a degree in Social Work. Brenda attended law school at University of Miami where she graduated in 1990 with a Juris Doctorate. After practicing marital law in Boca Raton, Florida, for a short time, she realized she needed to explore a creative outlet. She began painting in 1990 and discovered an unanticipated passion inside of her for art .

Brenda spent several years painting the figure, and taking life drawing classes. During that period of time, she got married and had three children. She then shifted her focus from figurative work to collage. The collage work was juried into several shows, including an exhibition at the Boca Raton Museum in Boca Raton, Florida, and an exhibition at the Cornell Museum in Delray Beach, Florida.

In 2005, Brenda and her husband decided to move their family to Santa Fe, New Mexico, as a lifestyle choice to raise their children in a small but culturally rich locale. The expansive skies and beautiful landscapes inspired her to pursue another genre of painting, abstract expressionism. Brenda began a quest to absorb the visual beauty of her environment and then serendipitously paint those ideas in an abstract manner. This is the basis for her present work.

EDUCATION 

BSW 1986 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

JD 1990 University of Miami School of Law, Coral Gables, FL 

ART EDUCATION

2008 Painting Workshop, Taos, NM

2006-2009 Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe, NM

1991-2002 The Boca Raton Museum of Art School, Boca Raton, FL

1991 Life Drawing and Painting Workshop, San Miguel De Allende,Mexico 

EXHIBITIONS

2010 Darnell Fine Art, Fragments, Claire McArdle & Brenda Hope Zappitell, Santa Fe, NM

2009 Artprize, Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI

2009 Center For Contemporary Arts, 8th Annual Collect: Inside 8, Santa Fe, NM

2009 The Taos Gallery , International Group Juried Exhibition, Taos, NM

2009 The San Diego Art Institute, The Museum of The Living Artist, 50th International Award Exhibition, San Diego, CA, Juror: Julia Marciari Alexander

2008 Center for Contemporary Arts, 7th Annual Collect: Inside 8, Santa Fe, N

2002 Cornell Museum, Inspirations 2002, Delray Beach, FL

2002 The Boca Raton Museum of Art, 16th Annual Art Festival, Boca Raton, FL

2001 The Boca Raton Museum of Art, 15th Annual Art Festival, Boca Raton, FL

2000 The Boca Raton Museum of Art, Artist Guild Biennial Exhibition, Boca Raton, FL

1999 The Boca Raton Museum of Art, Images, Artist Guild Gallery Exhibition, Boca Raton, FL 

AWARDS, HONORS & PUBLICATION

2010 Artslant.com, First, Second & Third Showcase, Showcase Winner

2010 International Contemporary Masters

2009 Myartspace.com, November, Featured Artist

2009 Artslant.com, September, Showcase Winner

2009 The Taos Gallery, International Group Juried Exhibition, People's Choice Award