[1] Although born in Eastbourne, Bruford was an active participant in several of the artist groups based in Cornwall throughout her adult life.

[2] This connection led Bruford to taking art classes at Forbes School of Painting in Newlyn during the 1920s.

Later, Bruford took art lessons from other artists based in Newlyn, including Ernest Procter and Harold Harvey, and also studied under Lamorna Birch in the 1930s.

[4][5] Bruford and the Cornish artist Richard Weatherby (1881–1953) lived together at Mullion Cove in the late 1920s but although at one point they were engaged they never married.

[3][7] Bruford was a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, in total having some thirty-two works accepted for display there between 1924 and 1955.