Brewer's bond with nature and animals began when she was very young. She was a quiet and introverted child who preferred to spend her time outdoors interacting with nature rather than playing with other children. All animal companions, from sparrows to pet goldfish, were lavished with elaborate funerals upon their passing during her childhood. The desire to venerate animals after death followed her into adulthood, eventually spilling over into her work while studying at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) in the early 1990's. During her formative years at MCAD her work centered around the preserved bodies of animals. Initially she utilized naturally mummified animals she would find. Eventually she began incorporating the remains of her pets into her work. By the time she graduated, she had mastered her own mummification techniques that rendered her subjects preserved, and immortalized, indefinitely. These early works were shrines to the animals they incorporated. Their bodies were adorned in gold leaf and laid to rest in metaphorical ossuaries. Her gilded corpses have remained a constant throughout her career and she often combines them with taxidermy to create her unusual zoolatrous sculpture.