Brenda Stichter, artist

International Pickup Truck triptych   I remember when my dad started teaching me to drive. He had a 1963 International pickup truck with a standard transmission, blue and white, and it took all my teenaged muscle to move that gearshift. I was learning fairly well, I thought, as we drove on the gravel backroads, and I even managed the hilly terrain with a lot of help from Dad.  But then, it was time to drive IN TOWN. We lived in a small community, built on a hillside along a large lake. Our town boasted the only stoplight in the county (and I think that still holds true!) The stoplight was pretty much at the base of the hill, and from there the road climbed up away from the lake. (The view there is spectacular!) You know, if I hit that light when it was green, the hill beyond it was not too bad, even for a student driver. But, if I got a red light, or had to turn at that intersection... well, let's just say that I had more than one angry driver behind me, and I was one very emb...

Rough Going Over There Along with participating in  an online class, I am still working on a huge painting that I started last October, along with a few works of art (not always paintings) for the class. So my art life has been very full. (I also had the opportunity to take some new work to be exhibited! Delightful, but time consuming!) This painting was finished in 2016 as part of a daily challenge series, and at that time, it was called Abstract 024. I think I am going to give it a new name, and a new introduction to all of you. I am struck with how well it is illustrating my last couple of weeks. It is a loose landscape, and looks a bit rough and chaotic. Yep. That fits well.  10" x 10" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper Ready to frame Click here to purchase via my website. This palette knife painting suggests a foreign landscape, and maybe even sheep in the foreground. And even in this chaotic plac...

Stone Soup T he artists' masterclass that I have been taking online includes art challenges to complete as part of the course. Every few days, we are asked to submit a piece of our art that responds to something we have gained from the class. The second class had more practical tips for me and this stage of my art business.  16" x 20" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on panel Ready to frame Click here to purchase via my website. Part of the class discussion had to do with training and practice - becoming a skilled artist. It made me think back to when I started pursuing abstract painting regularly. One thing that really boosted my skill was participating in online painting challenges. Not only did I practice daily with my tools, paint, and knowledge, but I had feedback from artists who had been painting longer than I had who could move me further along the path.  Stone Soup returned to some of the first concepts I was developing using transparent p...

Still Talking  This week I started attending an online class for Christian artists. It is interactive, and I have not participated in this kind of event before. Yesterday, about two hours before the first event started, I received a call from my Beloved Husband inviting me to accompany him on a delivery, and after only a moment's pause, I accepted (with delight! I love to ride with him when he makes deliveries!) I brought my phone and charger, and attended the class via phone while on the road. I may have been the tiniest bit distracted now and then...  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 purchase via my website. There was so much to take in! First, my being with my Beloved Husband, but having the responsibility to pay attention to my phone was so distracting. Then, seeing the teeny, tiny face of the speaker in the corner of the picture on my phone, while comment...

One Heart, 2019  You might have noticed how little I have been active online lately. Though I am posting some (mostly sharing from Instagram or my website) I am not reading or interacting with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. And there is a good reason for this - I had to change my focus!  As some of you may know, I have a physical condition that responds very badly to stress. Actually, my guess would be that a LOT of people have some kind of physical ailment that limits productivity or comfort, and that stress makes MOST people worse! So I am with you all in this area. I was noticing increasing symptoms and, though these symptoms can come out of nowhere, I was also emotionally responding to the stress.  10.5" 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 purchase via my website. Today I was reading in the New Testament, Matthew 14. I felt empathy for Jesus, who...

Restores My Soul Today I am sharing a painting I originally released in 2018. I chose to reshare this painting today for many reasons, one of which is that it seems to go with these memories that I wrote about my Uncle Steve about a week ago.  NLA 24" x 30" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas Right now I am listening to Uncle Steve sing How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings – Psalm 84. When I was a child, my Aunt Barb and Uncle Steve recorded a couple of albums. Several years ago, my mother took her vinyl records to someone who would put these songs on CDs so that she could share them with my sister and brother and me. While this copy is not perfect, it still suffices to let me hear his voice again, though he is now face to face with Jesus.  A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from my cousin, David. His news was not pleasant – Uncle Steve had been put on hospice. I have been surprised at the level of grief I have felt with this...

Come Before Winter Before the Christmas break, I was spending some time walking in our woods. As 2020 was winding down, I was so aware of all of the difficult things happening. Some things that came about last year seem to be irreparable - like when the crew came to tile our pasture and took down huge sections of our fencerow trees. You can rebuild a fence, and plant more trees, but not 150 year old trees. Oh, I cried when I saw that!  Our country, too, seems to be suffering uprooting and gutting that will not be able to be rebuilt. You can rebuild boundaries, and plant new funding and initiatives, but not 150 year old family businesses and not historical statues and structures and beautiful architecture. And not some friendships and family relationships.  As I walked, I told my Heavenly Father about all that was breaking my heart. My view of our woods was bleak, too, with all of the leafless trees that clearly showed the disease and rot in some of the oldest ones.  Then,...