Brenda Stichter, artist

An Essay on Pied Beauty If memory serves, which is questionable, the first assignment I received in my Freshman Advanced English class in college was to write a paper on a poem. We were handed two poems and were to choose one of them. Everyone in the class seemed agitated by the assignment (including me) with little instruction on what we were to write about the poems to fill our allotted pages. All of the other students that I could hear were choosing the same poem, so I chose the other, even though I thought it was harder, and I didn't understand it. 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 view or purchase via my website. The poem I chose to write about was Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins.  Pied Beauty  BY GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS,  1844–1889 Glory be to God for dappled things – For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple upon tro...

A Prayer For Peace Often, part of the process of making a painting is working out color choices and composition, and just "practicing" or resolving how the paint will act and interact on the canvas. So today I am releasing a study (which is essentially a daily painting) that is part of the preparation for a larger work currently on my easel. With this smaller work, I am focused on the same thoughts and direction as on the large painting I am working on.  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 view or purchase via my website. The painting on my easel is based on Philippians 4:5-7 "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near.  Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God , which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts an...

"Your pictures about home," my dear friend wrote to me in an email, "... I am homesick for something--I don't know what." Oh, isn't that the truth!? To be honest, I had not even realized that home was a recent recurring theme in my work before I got her email.  12"  x 12" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas Click here to purchase via my website. I have spent a little time this morning looking back at some of my posts about home, and gracious! there are a lot of them! You know (since I have told you many times before) that I consider myself an introvert, and maybe that is part of the reason that home is so important to me. Not that it is unimportant to anyone, ( see another blog post about home here ) but it is sure a recurring theme with me. As I looked at and thought about this painting, the words Home Free kept coming to me, along with an old song by artist Wayne Watson. Here are some of the ly...

Lately I have been reading the poetic and timely New Testament book of 2 Corinthians, and I am finding so many things to think about and paint! I actually have several works in progress again.  This evening I am sharing a portion of a self portrait that I painted yesterday. I was thinking about this verse when I decided to try a selfie, so to speak.  2 Corinthians 3:18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit. I was thinking that probably in that day a mirror was a highly polished piece of metal, and one's reflection couldn't be seen as clearly as we see ourselves today. All of the paint on this portrait is metallic. Even the thick, blackish paint is an oxide with sparkle in it. As I have mentioned before, I use the iridescent paint to remind me of GOD, so why did I use it in my self portrait? Well, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says I am bein...

Make Yourself Homely "Make yourself homely," my Beloved Husband likes to say when welcoming guests to our home. (Make yourself at home might sound more familiar!) He likes to play with words; can you tell? He is such a friendly, outgoing person and he absolutely loves guests. Somehow it seems like we rarely have time for company, but he would be with friends every day if he could, I think. "Stay home, stay safe" the current phrase reads. Now that our state is nearly completely open, I am thinking back on the days when staying home was mandated for our area, and the impacts that had (in smaller ways) on people. We had to learn to do without the high octane entertainments, and constant motion, and new and exciting venues. It reminds me of something I read in a small book I bought many years ago, almost by accident, called  Joy Breaks . Joy Breaks is a compilation of short writings by four authors, one of whom is Luci Swindoll. I found that I really enjoy her writing,...

Every Good Gift "I would want to buy that if I saw it in a gallery," I thought when I saw this painting this morning after finishing it last night. I absolutely love it! This painting is warm, glowing, and it surprises me to think that I painted it. Artist friends, you know how that feels, right? When one just sneaks up on you like that? I have been working on this one for more than a month, including the time while I was doing my daily painting project, and it was going slowly. But suddenly this week, I knew what I wanted to do with it!  When a painting that is "all one color" (my Beloved Husband would tell me he could color it with just one crayon, or maybe two!), I love to see the "shadow" and "light' in the painting. I was not sure the best way to achieve it on this one, so I spent a lot of time perusing my pinterest board of other artists' work, my daily art boards that I follow, and several contest sites that I participate in to study li...

Art Fair on the Lake, 2015 Yesterday I posted a painting on my website that I am surprised is still available. I painted Art Fair on the Lake in 2015 during the Winona Lake (IN) Art Fair in the shop that was exhibiting my work, now called the Beaded Peacock. The owner invited me to paint live during that weekend. Other years have had me in my tent sharing my paintings with the Art Fair attendees, and while it is fabulous to have air conditioning and be painting live for people to visit, it is also invigorating to be part of the vending at a high quality art event.  I am sad that we do not have this kind of event to attend and participate in this year. I have met many new friends and had opportunities to tell the stories of my paintings to people in these settings. Won't it be great when we can do more of this kind of gathering again? 20" x 20" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas  Click here for this painting on my websi...

'Tis of Thee This evening I am listening to fireworks in my neighborhood as I type. My hope for this painting was to celebrate Independence Day here in the United States, but it has been a difficult painting and a difficult time trying to get a good photograph. I guess I should not be surprised. It has been a difficult year, hasn't it? This painting started out as a red, white, and blue painting, but quickly started changing! I used three different interference paints, red, blue, and gold, which are iridescent and show up differently under different lights. But because of that, I lost the colors I was chasing, so I have many, many layers of paint. One thing I like about the layering and different kinds of paint is the feeling that the painting has a history. The colors are deep and each layer impacts the layers yet to come.  I definitely feel that the layers of history in our nation are impacting what is yet to come here too.  I am thankful for the country in whic...

Road Lilies Several years ago, my Beloved Husband stopped with me by a train track where there were "road lilies" growing, and he helped me dig some up and transplant them to our property. These orange lilies grow wild near the road, presumably wherever they are not mowed off. I always look forward to seeing them around this time of year.  Well, the lilies we transplanted have spread a little bit and are blooming enthusiastically right now, and I love seeing them at our house. My BH is careful not to mow them off when he mows the pasture area.  The shape of these flowers has been so intriguing to me this year. The graceful, long stems above the leaves, and the oval/triangle shapes of the blooms themselves keep me watching them during their short blooming season.  6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to purchase via my website. Occasionally a painting will almost paint itself in my mind before I ...

Overflow Last night another painting of mine sold via my website. I am so excited about it! This makes several paintings in the last two months, and I am just overwhelmed with thankfulness. The first four months of this year were so slow, and many show and exhibition opportunities have been cancelled, so it is so encouraging to have sales again. It reminds me of  Psalm 23:5b  You anoint my head with oil;  my cup overflows .   My cup is overflowing with blessing from my Heavenly Father, and with gratitude to Him. I want to be clear - I was blessed by Him before I sold anything this year, too. But what delight to find that my work, that comes from my heart, speaks to someone else. It means more than you know! 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to purchase via my website. As I have mentioned, I have really taken pleasure in this series from Psalm 23. I was surprised how much I have enjoyed this pa...