Born in Tanzania, East Africa, to parents of Dutch and French descent, Len Brondum began her career by studying textile design and graphic arts at the Technical College for Fine Arts in Durban, South Africa, and worksed as a textile designer before coming to the United States in 1965. For the next 23 years (through 1987), she was primarily occupied with raising a family, although she continued to develop her artistic talents on a part-time basis through private study, adult education classes, and periodic workshop presentations. Since then, Len has passionately pursued her career, yielding a proliferation of truly exciting images and impressions.

  Len is probably best known for her vibrant silk canvases. Having discovered a relatively unknown technique involving mineral dyes applied to silk, she has succeeded in raising this technically demanding medium to new heights. But painting on silf is not the only medium she enjoys; there is also a love for pastels, acrylics, and vitreous (glass) "enameled" portraiture, as well as bold and vibrant patterns applied to clothing and accessories.

  Well on her way to establishing herself both as a designer and fine artist, Len’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and organizations throughout the Finger Lakes and Rochester, the New York area, as well as several locations across the nation. Her "Desert Storm" paintings were exhibited at the 82nd Airborne Museum located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and are permanently housed at The Citadel military college of Charleston, South Carolina. A file of Len’s work is in the archives of the National Museum of Women in Arts, Washington, DC. She has won numerous awards.

  Her work has been featured in The Complete Book of Silk Painting by Diane Tuckman and Jan Janas, Silk Painting for Fashion and Fine Art by Susan Louise Moyer, The Best Silk Painting by Diane Tuckman and Jan Janas, and Surface Design Journal. Len has taught at The Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, has lectured at Rochester Institute of Technology, and had an invitational one woman show at the World Trade Center of New Orleans.

  She will be teaching a workshop in silk painting at The Gallery of the Yates County Arts Center, July 7, 9, and 11.