Brenda Stichter, artist

Recently sold pieces Tomorrow is my second ever art fair, and the first one I have ever done outside! I have been working hard at preparations for this show, and a lot of other (non-art) events this summer, and have missed blogging!  My last show was a success, and I sold quite a few pieces, as this collage shows. I suspect that may mean that this time there will be few sales, but I am looking forward to sharing my paintings with people, and telling them WHY I paint. I mean, besides the fact that I love doing it. I paint to honor my Heavenly Father, and in the hopes that others will want to pursue Him too.  I hope I will be back here soon!

Art Fair on the Lake This past weekend I had the privilege of painting live in the gallery that is currently displaying my paintings. It was also the weekend of the Art Fair, and there were large crowds of people there! The weather was gorgeous, the crowds were cheerful, and the wares were colorful and varied. Such a beautiful event! For this opportunity, I chose to paint 'Art Fair on the Lake'. My hope is that this painting brings to mind the joy of the weekend of color and beauty, and is a cheery addition to someone's home! 20" x 20" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas Click here to view or purchase on my website. 

Forerunner forerunner [fawr-ruhn-er, fohr-, fawr-ruhn-er, fohr-]  noun 1.  predecessor; ancestor; forebear; precursor. 2.  an omen, sign, or indication of something to follow; portent: The warm evenings were a forerunner of summer. 3.  a person who goes or is sent in advance to announce the coming of someone or something that follows; herald; harbinger. 4.  the Forerunner, John the Baptist. According to this dictionary definition, 'Forerunner' is the perfect title for this painting.  As part of my opportunity to have my work displayed at Canal Street Gallery in our town, I have the chance to paint a 'demo' during the huge art fair on the streets this weekend. Wow! What a fantastic way to break into this art business thing! *smile*  At the same time, I AM TERRIFIED! Ok, maybe just nervous and scared and nervous. This will be the second time I have painted in front of people, and it is definitely not in my 'box' as of yet. So, I am practicing. 

Still Life Last night was the last session of classes at Artworks the Galleria of Fine Art  in Ft. Wayne for this time around. I sure enjoyed learning more, and feeling stretched beyond my 'normal' comfort zone. Well, mostly I enjoyed it! *wink* To be absolutely honest, when I came into the class and saw all of the fruit - especially the grapes! - I was discouraged about painting. I was NOT looking forward to painting each individual grape as I saw it set up. Thankfully, I didn't have to do it exactly as it appeared, and our teacher, Nazar, was so good at demonstrating a loose approach to still life painting. I am glad I went! NLA 9" x 12" on deep canvas P.S. I went back to the studio and made some changes. I like it much better now, and hope you do too!