Brenda Hofreiter

Selected Juried and Invitational Exhibitions:

2000 - "Sunbowl Art Exhibition" - Juried Exhibition - International Museum of Art,
El Paso, Tx.
"Not Under Glass" - Juried Exhibition - St. Louis, MO
"Santa Fe Trail Art Show" - Juried Exhibition - Mitchell Museum of Western Art,
Trinidad, CO
2001 - "National Woman's Exhibition" Juried Exhibition - Impact Artists Gallery,
Buffalo, MY
"Objects of Desire" - Juried Exhibition - Terrace Gallery, Orlando, FL
"Blue Moon Invitational" - Invitational - Osceola Center for the Arts,
Kissimmee, FL
2002 - "Thomas Center Regional Juried Competition - Gainesville, FL
"Art 3 By" - Fine Arts Juried Competition - Maitland Arts Center, Maitland, FL
"2002 Spring Internatinoal Invitational Exhibition" -Invitational,
Upstream Peoples Gallery, Omaha, NE
"Of Mind and Spirit" - Juried Exhibition - San Juan College, Farmington, NM
"Osceola Center for the Arts Annual Juried Exhibition" - Kissimmee, FL
"Oil Painters of America National Juried Competition" - Hilligross Gallery,
Chicago, IL
"Landscapes II" International Juried Competition - Omaha, NE
"Kanapaha- En Plein Air" - Invitational Paintout and Exhibition, Gainesville, FL
"First Night St. Pete" - Invitational Paintout and Exhibition, St. Petersburg, FL
" For the Love of Art" - Juried Exhibition - Avalon Gallery, Orlando, FL
2003 - "Poscards from Paradise" - Juried Exhibition - Maitland Arts Center, Maitland, FL
"Zeuxis" - Invitational Exhibition - Palm House Gallery, Winter Park, FL
" 3rd Annual St. Petersburg Plein Air Painting Invitational" - St. Petersburg, FL
"William Bartrum Invitational Paintout 2003" - Invitational Paintout and
Exhibition, Micanopy, FL
"Arts in Nature" - Paintout and Exhibition - Mead Garden, Winter Park, FL
"Paint the Town" - Orlando Magazine's Featured Artist Exhibition - Oval Gallery,
Orlando, FL
"Cedar Key National Juried Exhibition - Cedar Key, FL
2004 - "Paint the Town" - Exhibition and featured article in Orlando Magazine - March
"Scenes from Home - Florida 'en plein air' - Lesley Boyd Gallery, Orlando, FL
"Mayor's Gallery Exhibition" - Juried Exhibition - Orlando City Hall, Orlando, FL
"Renewal" - Steinway Gallery , Altamonte Springs, FL

2004 - "Splendor in the Grass" - Mount Dora Center for the Arts, Mount Dora, FL
2003 - "Time Sensitive Material - Natural Florida" - Wheedon Island Preserve,
St. Petersburg, FL
2002 - Kissimmee City Hall - Kissimmee, FL
Bank of America - Sanford, FL

Brenda Hofreiter is a fourth generation Floridian originally from Miami. Pursuing an interest in three-dimensional art, Brenda attended The Grove House School in Coconut Grove, and created wheel thrown pottery and sculpture. It was in traveling to Europe and seeing the works fo the masters that began her interest in two-dimensinal art. After moving to the Winter Park area in 1983, she began coursework in painting and drawing at Crealde School of Art. She was awarded a two year Fellowship at Crealde and became the Fellowship Manager of the Painting and Drawing Department. It was during her tenure as a Fellow, that Brenda discovered her passion for plein air landscape painting in oil. She has attended workshops and has studied oil painting with Greg Kreutz and plein air painting with Ken Backhus. The California Impressionists and the American tradition of painting "en plein air" continue to inspire her.

Brenda has been painting professionally since 1999. Her plein air paintings of vanishing Florida have been acccepted and won awards in numerous local, regional and national juried shows and have found favor with national and corporate collectors.

Brenda is a Signature Member of Plein Air Florida, Associate Member of Oil Painters of America, Founder and Past President of Plein Air Painters of Central Florida and a member of International Plein Air Painters and the American Impressionist Society.

As a Florida native, I have grown up loving the outdoors, so painting oil landscapes "en plein air" is a natural for me. Watching the sun transform the world as it moves across the sky is a constant joy, and capturing it in paint is a constant challenge.

I am inspired by the work of the California Impressionists and the American tradition of painting "en plein air". Although I have some formal training in painting and drawing, I feel my most profound learning experiences as an artist have come directly from nature itself. I find the experiences of painting on location to be both challenging and rewarding. Like the Impressionists, I prefer to work in layers of oil, wet over dry. I also enjoy working in a larger format than is usual in plein air painting, so several trips to the site at the same time of day are usually required for completion. This allows me to experience the site in a variety of weather and lighting conditions and to choose which light effects or mood will best suit my impression of the scene. I try to remain open to the possibilities until the last stages of the painting when I must lock in the light and mood believably throughout the entire painting. To help in achieving this, I use intensity of color to excite or relax the eye, deepened shadows to create an air of mystery and timelessness, and soft edges to create atmosphere. The length of time required for completion developes an intimacy with the location, and helps to imbue the resulting painting with an authentic sense of place. I would like the viewer to feel that they can walk right into the painting and see the world through my eyes.

When I travel to distant locations where time is limited, I create smaller paintings with a more direct or "alla prima' method of painting. Because of the time frame for completion, the brushstrokes are bolder and more direct. The resulting paintings have a more energetic and spontaneous feel.

Whatever the method, when a painting is completed, I feel as through I have become a a part of the land and it has become a part of me. My creative process goes beyond simple observation, and produces a spiritual connectedness that I try to capture.

It is my hope that the resulting paintings share the beauty, peace and serenity that I find in the natural world. Their creation has allowed me a greater connection to this time and these vanishing places of Florida.

2011 • Honorable Mention, " Visual Overture Magazine" - Summer 2011 Edition - Atlanta, GA
2009 • PaintAmerica Second 100, Paint America Association Board of Director
2009 • 3rd Place Painting - “ Plein Air in Florida” – South Florida Museum of Florida Art & Culture,
Avon Park, FL
2007 •1st Place Patron’s Choice Award – “Near and Far Horizens” – St. Augustine Gallery,
St. Augustine, FL
•Award of Merit – “Crescent Beach Paintout” – Island Fine Art - St.. Augustine, FL
•1st Place – Painting – “Osceola Center for the Arts 2007 Juried Show” - Kissimmee, FL
•Patron’s Choice - “Images” - New Smyrna, FL
2006 •Artist in Residence – Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park – Keystone Heights, FL
•Award of Merit – Painting – “Crescent Beach Paintout – 2006” – Crescent Beach, FL
•Purchase Award – “More Postcards from Paradise” – Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL
•Honorable Mention Oil and Book Publication- “Best of Florida Artists and Artisans 2006”
•Patron’s Choice - “Images” - New Smyrna, FL
2005 •Artist in Residence - Georgia Department of Natural Resources –Sapelo Island National Estuarine Research Reserve, Sapelo Island, GA
•Artist in Residence - South Carolina Givens Ferry State Park – Ridgefield , SC
• Award of Merit - “Paint the Town” Juried Competition – St. Petersburg, FL
2004 • Juror’s Choice Award - Azalea Plein Air 2004 – Valdosta, GA
2003 •Patron’s Choice Award – “Images” a Fine Art Festival , New Smyrna Beach, FL
2002 •Award of Merit - Painting, Maitland Spring Art Festival, Maitland, FL
2001 •Special Recognition Award - “Landscapes II, Period Gallery, Omaha, NE
2000 •Patron’s Award, Santa Fe Trail Art Show, Trinidad, CO
1999 •Honorable Mention, Downtown Orlando Arts Market, Orlando, FL
1998 •2nd Place, Painting & Drawing - 18th Annual Juried Student Exhibition, A & W Jenkins Gallery,
Winter Park, FL
1997–1999 • Fellowship - Crealde School of Art, Winter Park, FL