Eunice Cottrell Brandt was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1917. She studied art and landscape architecture at the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts in Eugene; Oregon State University in Corvallis; and the Carmel Art Institute in Carmel, California. She worked as a landscape architect from the 1950s to the 1970s. She also worked for the Parks Department in Salem, Oregon. In that role she helped to save the Deepwood Estate, a Queen Anne mansion and gardens built in 1894.

While working as a landscape architect, Brandt also painted and drew, and she exhibited her works throughout Oregon. She began working full-time as an artist in the 1970s, and exhibited nationally and internationally. During the 1970s, she spent significant amounts of time in Afghanistan, India, Iran, and Nepal. In 1973, she became an illustrator for magazines in India. She also wrote short stories, some of which were published in Indian magazines.

Brandt married Philip M. Brandt in 1937. The couple had three children: Philip "Jesse," William, and Lark. Eunice and Philip divorced in 1967. Eunice C. Brandt died in 2000.