Brenda Stichter, artist

Full of His Glory This might be a long blog post, but I had what I found to be a really interesting thought this morning about a part of my Bible reading, and I would like to tell you about it! I hope you can stand my story-telling as I try to help you 'see' what I 'saw'. 30" x 22" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper Ready to frame Click here to purchase from my website.  You might remember this part of the story, because I am fairly sure I told you before, but stick with me for a minute. One year, for my birthday, my Beloved Husband took me to visit several galleries as my gift. It was a fabulous gift! We ventured all over the city and in and out of galleries and an art museum (and had delicious philly cheesesteak sandwiches with mountains of fries) and he went into each one with me. He usually found the best leather chair in each place, and patiently waited for me. At o...

Cadmium Triptych - C This is part 3 of the triptych I have painted (working ahead) for the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge for day 27 ! I have been glad for the time to paint ahead and also for the push to spend daily time in the studio. This crazy week has me going in circles, but I have actually been in the studio working on paintings almost every day.  I saved my favorite of the triptych for last this time. I like the composition, and it reminds me of ... something...  6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on hand-made, prepared wood panel Ready to frame Click here to purchase from my website. I am off to the studio (hurray!) and paperwork (not-so-hurray!). Talk to you tomorrow. Cadmium Triptych

Cadmium Triptych - B Today I spent quite a bit of time in the car, and as I often do when I travel, I listened to podcasts. One of the things I listened to got me to thinking about how I would define success for myself as an artist. It is a question that is a familiar one to me, since I am well aware that success looks different to different people. For example, when I returned from the Makoto Fujimura workshop and retreat that I attended, I thought about how probably everyone would consider him to be a successful artist, but I would not want to walk his path.  6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on hand-made, prepared wood panel Ready to frame Click here to purchase from my website, or to see the entire triptych.  My driving time today came unexpectedly - one more chapter in a busy story set in the month of September. As I drove toward home this evening, I reflected that for me, part of being a success would have to be defined as being...

Cadmium Triptych A Due to yet another very busy week, the posting for the next three paintings (part of a triptych) will be very brief - again! It is tough to find the time to both paint and blog during these busy weeks. This triptych has been painted using primarily cadmium red, orange, and yellow. These are opaque, intense colors, as you can see!  6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on hand-made, prepared wood panel Ready to frame To view or purchase on my website, click here. 

Scent of Autumn Lilacs "Close your eyes and smell this," I said to my Beloved Husband, "and now open your eyes. Doesn't this look like what you smelled?" I have to admit, he didn't quite find the same inspiration that I found in this little painting. In my opinion, it is a great representation of the scent of the lilac blossoms that I picked off my bush just a couple of days ago! I didn't realize that lilacs would ever have a stray autumn bloom, but oh boy, I have been enjoying this one!  Sold 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. This gift of a late lilac blossom reminds me of a verse that was one of my favorites when I was in college. Actually, I think it is still a favorite, now that I think about it! James 1:17 (HCSB) "Every generous act and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the F...

Today for my challenge painting, I decided to  finally  get out my nihonga oyster shell and brushes and try using some of what I learned at an artist retreat and workshop with renowned artist, Makoto Fujimura.  I chose to paint on paper my Beloved Husband brought back from Honduras about a year ago. It is handmade paper made from tobacco. I have had a tough time finding anything that I thought worked well with this paper - UNTIL NOW! I just love the way these elements work together! I hope to find a good way to use them.  The Hebrew word I have written is supposed to be hesed. (Since I don't know Hebrew, it turns out that I got a few things wrong... I spelled it backwards, and got some of the letters a tad bit misshapen, but my Hebrew scholar seminarian daughter will help me get it right next time!) This word shows up a lot in the Old Testament, and according to my study Bible notes, it means "loyal, steadfast, or faithful love and stresses the idea of a belongin...

Restores My Soul Update: Click here to read another blog post about this painting. Today we celebrate my daughter's birthday! Woo-hoo! I am excited to go visit her! (Can you tell by all of the exclamation points?!?)  24" x 30" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas Click here to view on my website.  Restores My Soul has been on my easel for quite a while, and I love the details. I have been working to paint my response to Psalm 23, and I like how this fits the first few verses:  Psalm 23:1 - 3 (ESV)  The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.      He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.      He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness     for his name's sake. There is so much more I want to tell you, but it will just have to wait! Time to go and celebrate my daughter!  detail detail detail ...

Beloved What a full and crazy week this has been already! It has been very good, but very busy. Somehow or other, September - when I am participating in the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge - is always a little crazy.  SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on hand-made, prepared wood panel Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. September is also a very special month to me for other reasons. For one thing, my daughter was born in September, and this weekend, we will be celebrating with her! I am so looking forward to seeing her! Also, September is the month my Dad was born - September 19th as a matter of fact.   Dad died 18 years ago. When he was in the hospital, on the way to a no-big-deal test, he looked up at his nurse and said, "Tell my wife I love her." He did that twice, as we later found out; Dad died during that procedure. None of us ever had the slightest doubt about whether Dad loved Mom, and it is pre...

The Heavens Declare Day 18 of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge - it just doesn't seem like it can have been that long already. I feel like I am just getting underway!  12" x 12" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper Ready to frame Click here to purchase from my website.  On this painting, I finally got my chance to use one of Golden's new colors for this year, Cobalt Teal. I guess it is technically re-released, but I was not familiar with it before now. I find that I love that it is a transparent color! Transparent paints are my favorites, because I love the way they mix with other colors, and one can always mix with black or white if she needs an opaque color.  There is also a variety of textures and a sprinkling of natural mica flakes on this work. The complexities and colors (again... tough to see in this photo!) are things that make me love this painting. Here is a Bible pass...

Empty Nest During this extraordinarily busy art season, I have been personally struggling with some things that have caused me to seek help and guidance from God's Word, the Bible. Having His clear direction is a great start to getting my behavior back in line, and helps me have an appropriate perspective on things. (Now, sometimes following His instruction is still a real challenge... )  As I was seeking His help, I was reading the short New Testament books of 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. 3 John 1:4 has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and I found it showing up in my painting.  3 John 1:4 (CSB) I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in truth. I am finding that the longer my kids have had their own homes, the more I am feeling the 'empty nest', and am missing them, but not necessarily in a droopy, sad way. I find that I miss their colorful, sparkling personalities and conversations. I miss the laughter and debates we had as we h...

September - D And here is the last part of this four piece Autumn grouping. I love the grouping together, and I love the interplay between these particular colors. I was comparing Southern Ocean Blue by Matisse with Phthalo Turquoise from Golden, and then combining and mixing them with Nickle Azo Gold, Titanium, and Buff Titanium. Not only are these good complementary colors that play well together, some of them are transparent colors that can layer and interact together in ways that I enjoy working with.  SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to view on my website.

September - C The beautiful gold of leaves and crops that are just starting to think about changing color, the brilliance of the September sky, and the green of lawns and trees are represented in this grouping of small paintings that I have painted for the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. It has been a lot of fun painting often, and also sharing some thoughts with you as I share the work. These little daily works keep me covered, so to speak, for the challenge while I am also painting larger things. I hope you will be watching for those too! SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to view on my website.

September - B The second of four autumn paintings, this is part B of September Multitych. It seems particularly appropriate to have this one for today, because the sun is shining here in northern Indiana, and the temperature is warm, and the blue tones here remind me of a swimming pool!  SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. I am posting these four paintings one at a time for the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge while I work on larger works in the studio. I hope you enjoy them!

September A I have a little triptych in my bedroom that I painted when I first started working on abstract painting, and i t is still a favorite for me. At that time,  I was studying "with" online teachers, practicing with colors, and learning about blogging and managing an online presence. Every once in a while, I try to redo that little set. Today, I painted a multitych of four paintings in the same colors (and I also put in some time on two bigger paintings on my easels).  Studio days are the best!  SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. Today I will post the first of this set, and a collage of the combination of all four. I think they would make a nice grouping, framed and hung together. I am calling this grouping 'September' because the colors remind me of this month when summer and autumn are battling for each day. Today, neither one won - it was...

Mist Today's challenge painting is mostly iridescent silver with a lot of texture. See below for a photo of 'Mist' taken in the shade. 12" x 12" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas Click here to purchase from my website.  I am short on blogging time today, but here are a couple of things that have been inspiring to me.  Quote from C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity       "Some writers use the word charity to describe not only Christian love between human beings, but also God's love for man and man's love for God. About the second of these two, people are often worried. They are told they ought to love God. They cannot find any such feeling in themselves. What are they to do? The answer is the same as before. Act as if you did. Do not sit trying to manufacture feelings. Ask yourself, "If I were sure that I loved God, what would I do?" When you have found the answer, go and do it....

In Memoriam* My Beloved Husband sometimes asks, "Don't you wonder when the last time was that we... " about different things. For example, when was the last time we took a family bike ride, or what was the last diaper we changed on our kids, or when was the last time we dialed a rotary telephone? I think many people try to be aware of moments, but still, they pass without any fanfare.  This past weekend was cold and rainy here in northern Indiana, and I wondered how the summer had passed me by so quickly. What was the last day when I could have sat outside in the sun and soaked up some vitamin D in preparation for winter? Well, I told myself that the next nice day, I would be sure to soak up some sun. Today is warm and sunny, and for some reason, the mosquitoes seem to be less active than they were yesterday, so I am typing outside rather than spending the daylight hours painting as I usually do.   (Besides, the painting on my easel is more than a one day pro...

For today's challenge painting, (and, yes, I am several days behind!) I am sharing another painting that is difficult to photograph. I am sure it couldn't be the skill of the *ahem*  photographer that causes these difficulties! It is a painting with so many layers that I have lost track of them. There are tiny hints of color here and there, but it is mostly gold and transparent black layered over and over. Iridescent paint often represents GOD in my paintings, and I think black carries its own connotations.  Here is something that I noticed when I was studying this painting. When I am looking upward at this 'pure gold' painting, with the light hitting it from above, I see many tiny sparkles where the light hits the iridescence of the gold paint. And also, (so interesting) the sparkles show up better in the darker areas! As we would say around our house, "That would preach!" Doesn't it make you think of how things are more beautiful when your eyes are ...

Even There It is a good thing I have been working ahead for this 30 in 30 challenge! It just seems like I am really struggling to keep up with things. On top of that, the painting I have been working on just won't be done, so I will have to use one of my 'reserve' paintings. As it turns out, though, it is a perfect fit for today.   This morning was a rough one for me, and when it came time for my quiet time of reading my Bible, the passage I came to was Psalm 23. I was not looking forward to reading that chapter because it is so familiar. How could there be any spiritual help or encouragement in such a well-known passage?  Well, I should know better than to question! As always, God's timing was absolutely "on point". I found much to think about, to remember all day, and to encourage me.  SOLD 11" x 14" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper Ready to frame Click here to ...

Chosen One Day five of the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge is here, and I have been diligently painting and blogging each day. In fact, I have been working ahead in preparation for the VERY busy early part of this month.  22" x 30" painting Framed size: 26.75" x 35.5" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper, floated in a white frame Contact me to purchase.  Yesterday, I had been working on homemaking and administrative work all day, and when my Beloved Husband got home, I had not yet painted. He knows how much I love being in my studio, and how much good it does me. He chose to help me with some photography, and then sent me to my studio while he did some of my chores! What an incredible man! This painting is the first one I have had framed by a gallery/frame shop. I am starting to research what kind of professional framing I can find for my work. (Up to this point, when I frame...