Brandenburg works in oil, gouache, watercolor, and casein. Energetic marks contrast fields of color, mingling value and movement within her work. Varying levels of representation of light on form, experimentation with materials, understatement and shifting points of view and depth of field create rhythmic, often shimmery moments of transparency and opacity. The Pacific Northwest landscape, the art of photography and the Japanese principles of Notan are primary influences on her work. Raised in a military family, she lived in Germany for six years, and briefly, in Iran. She earned a fine arts and philosophy degree at Humboldt State University and a graduate degree in counseling at Western Oregon University. Oregon based since 1985, she has maintained a home studio while focusing on family and a 35-year career as an addictions and mental health counselor. She resumed painting full time in 2022. The verbs are much the same- cultivating presence, seeing in, uncovering. Her intention is to calm, surprise and quicken the spirit of the viewer.