Brenda was born in East London and at the age of 16 gained a scholarship to study for three years at the South West Essex School of Art, followed by three years at the Slade School, London University where she was awarded the Slade Diploma in Fine Art.

With Joan Thewsey she founded Five Women Artists Plus, (5WAP) in 1981. Since then she has gained an Open University BA degree in Social Science.

In 1988 she was awarded a B.Sc (Hons) degree in psychology as a mature student at University College London.