Brett was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites painting highly detailed landscapes on white ground. He was both praised and criticised by the art critic and theorist John Ruskin. Brett first visited Guernsey in the late summer and autumn of 1874 with his family, completing the now untraced seven-foot wide Spires and Steeples of the Channel Islands, his only exhibit at the Royal Academy the following year. In 1884 Brett again visited Guernsey with his family, but this time on board his yacht, the 'Viking'. They had come straight from the Cowes races, via Cherbourg. Brett was on visiting terms with the Governor of the island at the time. This was to be Brett’s last proper cruise because of a number of factors – his wife and children had had enough of these long voyages and Brett himself had been visibly shaken by a mutiny that had taken place during the journey.