Brenda Stichter, artist

Glory ACEO Today is the last day of the painting challenge, and the 16th day since I broke my arm! I have been sorry to miss out on most of the challenge, but have enjoyed working on these little ACEO works since I have not been able to manage the bigger paintings.  (I have, as of yesterday, been given a 'go ahead' to start working toward flexibility and strength in my arm and shoulder again. So thankful!) Today's ACEO has a big message to communicate in a tiny package! (For more information about ACEOs, click here .) The Scripture verses that I am working from are  Colossians 1:26-27 (New American Standard Bible) that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  It is incredible to me that the GOD of the universe would care enough about me - such a s

Invisible Visible ACEO Last Tuesday evening was a highlight for me, in spite of physical difficulties. With a LOT of assistance from my husband and my daughter, I was able to enjoy the privilege of attending a lecture and showing of art by Makoto Fujimura, an artist I greatly respect and appreciate! His work and words have been influencing my thoughts each day since, and I hope these things will come through in my artwork.  Along with that, today I have been contemplating an idea from today's Bible reading in Colossians. Here is the passage:  Col. 1:15-16 (NASB) He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. I have been thinking about the concept of Jesus being a visible image of the invisible; the idea just cries out for an abstract painting.  3.5"

Be Still ACEO Psalm 65: 1-2 (New American Standard Bible) There will be silence before You, and praise in Zion, O God,  And to You the vow will be performed. O You who hear prayer, To You all men come. 3.5" x 2.5 "  Colored pencil  & watercolor on watercolor paper Tomorrow in Grand Rapids, MI, one of my favorite artists, living or dead, will be speaking, and some of his art will be on display. I am very much hoping to be strong enough to go hear  Makoto Fujimura . 

Wasn't Finished ACEO Please forgive my going on and on about my broken arm... I really do realize that in the big picture, it is a miniature problem. Still, it is making a big daily impact on me personally as I am 'grounded' to a recliner, limited to one hand - thankfully my dominant hand is still working! - and enduring, um... , discomfort. Already, in one week, I have acertained a lot. It is the time in my life when my job is art. (So much to learn and to communicate...) I feel stymied when I cannot do the art I want to do. I feel as though I have been interrupted mid-conversation, and I Wasn't Finished. I do think the Big Picture for me is becoming clearer, and my job today is to continue by working on Miniatures.  Philippians 3:12-14 (NASB) ... but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and re

To be brief, I have evidently broken my arm near the shoulder where it is tough to cast... so my challenge painting is on hold. Sure hope to get back at it soon!

Rejoice This is the third painting in a row with a similar title and a similar theme. I am currently reading in the New Testament book of Philippians, and am continually struck with the concept of joy. Paul is writing as he is suffering, and he is encouraging his recipients to be joyous.  I wanted the painting to convey joy shining through trial... Part of the best part of the work is the strong contrast and more intense color that is completely surrounded by a more muted hue.  I have also been thinking so much of those around the world who are being persecuted for their faith in Jesus Christ. I pray for them, and I wonder if I should pray that they would have joy in the middle of their suffering.  It reminds me what a wonderful life I have. I have everything I need and most of what I want. May I also be filled with joy.  Phil 2:18 "You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me." 11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1"

Joy II study The second in a companion set of paintings, 'Joy II' concerns companionship (interestingly) and friendship, joy and shared direction.  The movement, both horizontal and vertical, are important, both to the painting and to personal interaction. It is significant, too to have both companion paintings expressing some of the same concepts.  Phil. 2:2 - 3 (NASB) "make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves"   study 11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1" white border

Joy study Although this painting started out as an abstract concept based on color and shape rather than based on meaning, I feel that it still fits with the title 'Joy', as well as with this passage from Philippians 1 :3 - 4  "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.  In every prayer of mine I always make my entreaty and petition for you all with joy (delight)." These colors work together making such interesting and pleasant combinations and mixes- like friends who bring each other joy.  I painted two companion paintings today, and the second one will come up in my next post. I am really enjoying being a part of the painting challenge , and can really notice that I have improved in my painting skills since the first challenge I did in June of 2013.  11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1" white border

Confident Confident.  Yesterday was a curious day for me. I started the time out with my time spent in the Bible, and found these verses to be personally very comforting.  Philippians 1:6 (New American Standard Bible) "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." 1 Thes 5:24 "Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass." At times when inadequacy comes knocking (loudly) at my door, it is encouraging to know that the ONE Who has called me will also make sure I don't fail!  The odd thing is, HE also used a couple of other "coincidences" throughout the day to be reassuring. So this painting is called Confident, and it references HIM who can take a mess and make it beautiful!  11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1" white border

Peace Peace. It was actually more difficult than I expected to paint such a 'simple' painting. Maybe that is appropriate for the concept. Doesn't it seem that peace should be simple? 'Just' see everything as I do, and act as I do, and we will have peace. Yeah. Maybe not so much. I wanted something very simple and restful, because several of my recent paintings (in the last month or so) have had a LOT going on. The areas of flat color have a lot of texture in them from textured gesso. I love working on texture! Ephesians 6:15 (New American Standard Bible) " and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace" 11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1" white border

Stand Firm As I worked on ideas for the 30 in 30 painting challenge, I noticed that the phrase 'stand firm' comes up many, many times in scripture. I am impressed by the courage and strength of this command.  Today I chose the passage in Ephesians 6:10 - 18 , which talks about putting on spiritual armor such as truth, peace, and salvation to withstand deceit, cruelty, and evil.  There are several colors that form strata in this painting, and each represents a piece of armor. The broad base is a reminder to stand firm. The splattered colors are reminders to cover all in prayer.  Ephesians 6:10 - 11 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." 11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1" white border

View From My Studio I finished my previous abstract series, and I am hoping to do two paintings today in order to cover some days when I will not be able to paint.  The other day, looking from my studio window, I saw this beautiful sight - the bull and one of the cows in the bright grass. Today I just had to paint it! I tried painting the whole thing with palette knife and LOVED it! What fun! Hope you like my venture into 'impressionism'. :) SOLD 6" x 6" acrylic on cradled panel

Green Surprisingly, I have found the green page painting to be the most challenging so far. And also very tough to photograph! I am just not sure why some are so much tougher than others to get good photos of... Green in the Wordless Book (see my blog post about it here ) represents spiritual life and growth.  Romans 6:22 - 23 (New American Standard Bible)  But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Philippians 1:6 (New American Standard Bible)  For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. $125.00 11" x 14" acrylic on watercolor paper 1" white border

Gold I am loving focusing on one color at a time, with the added color note choices already made. It is making me work hard at my composition and creative choices. This gold painting was challenging because the materials kept changing as I worked! I wanted a similar composition to the other paintings in this series, and the accent color is green. Of course, I didn't want "Christmas Green". The fourth color in the Wordless Book (please go the first page of my series to learn more about the Wordless Book) is gold. Gold represents spending eternity with the GOD Who loves us. Scripture tells about buildings and pavement of gold and precious materials. Here are several verses that influence the golden painting: Revelation 22 :1-5 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit

White Ahhh, the white page! This page of the Wordless Book ( see my blog post here ) is so joyous for me! This page speaks of righteousness - right standing before GOD - through the sacrifice of Jesus. The best way to explain is through Scripture, and a few of the references are  2  Corinthians 5 :17 (New American Standard Bible) Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.  21 He made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. John 1:12 (New American Standard Bible) But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,  Romans 8 :1 (New American Standard Bible) Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  This is the third in my 30 in 30  painting challenge, and so far, I am loving every day of painting! I am hoping that my skills increase thi

Red As I am painting my first week of paintings in the 30/30 challenge, I am working on a 5 painting series based on the Wordless Book, and I hope that each day's work will be an improvement on the former page.  The second page of the Wordless Book is the red page. (I would love for you to see this whole series - I am blogging about the meaning of the booklet, and the meaning of each page. These blogs start on September 1, 2014.)  The red represents the sacrificial death of Jesus for the sake of mankind - for the sake of ME. Red is a reminder of the blood that was shed when HE was crucified in order to rescue us from our naturally sinful state, and provide access to GOD and heaven. New Testament verses that speak of this are  Romans 5:6-10 "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love towar

Black For the first day of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 painting challenge , I am painting 'Black'. I fully realize this could seem like I am being facetious or audacious to paint an almost entirely black painting, but that is definitely NOT what my intent! I have been trying for a month to decide on my theme for this challenge, and have not been able to come up with what I wanted to do.  During the night last night, I decided that my theme for the first 5 days of the challenge is 'the Wordless Book'. From Wikipedia, the Wordless Book " consists of several blocks of pure color that, in sequence, represent a nonverbal  catechism  about basic Christian teachings for the instruction of children, the illiterate, or people of different cultures.   However, the presentation of the book is meant to be a verbal experience, providing the "reader" a visual cue to expound Christian doctrine". My mother used this tool to teach me when I was a child, and I h