Brenda Stichter, artist

Victory  Victory is the title of the fourth painting in this series, and it is a celebration of Easter morning when Jesus rose from the dead!  Matthew 28:1-10 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.” And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great

Absolute (3 of 4) "That painting is torn," I hear in my mind's ear. "It's worthless. You might as well throw it away." Oh, no. This is exactly as it should be.  (Set of 4 paintings,  contact me to purchase entire set) About 5" x 5" on damaged paper Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fa briano watercolor paper Ready to frame Click here to view or purchase Absolute on my website. Absolute. Why have I called this one Absolute? In this painting I see the crucifixion - the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for me. It is the absolute, complete answer to my need for being made whole.  Absolutely every sin, every error in judgement, every slip of the tongue and every lack of compassion is completely paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus.  Just as this painting on torn paper can do nothing to be made whole, I, the damaged creation, can do nothing to be made better. Only my Creator has the absolute solution to my need

 The second of a series of four small paintings, Treachery expresses Judas Iscariot leaving the circle of the disciples of Jesus to turn Him over to His enemies. The lines leaving the edges of the painting are my way of recognizing Judas' leaving Jesus, and the small, darker area reminds me of a spill or a hole in the table.  As in the first of this series, the painting is done on damaged Fabriano watercolor paper. I love the brokenness that is expressed with this 'flaw' in the work.  (Set of 4 paintings, contact me to purchase entire set) About 5" x 5" on damaged paper 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 Treachery on my website. John 13:21 - 30 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”  The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One o

From my Instagram post about this painting: This is the first release in this series of four very small (5" square each) Easter paintings. I chose to paint on torn, damaged paper to express the story of Easter, where the perfect Savior was torn and broken to rescue His damaged creation. I believe the painting titles will be: Fragrance Treachery Absolute Victory At this time, I am not mounting or framing them. I am appreciating the incompleteness for now. (Set of 4 paintings, contact me to purchase entire set) About 5" x 5" on damaged paper 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 Fragrance on my website. A woman approached Him with an alabaster jar of very expensive fragrant oil. She poured it on His head as He was reclining at the table. Matthew 26:7 By pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she has prepared Me for burial. I assure you: Wherever this gospel

 I am working on four little paintings for the Easter season this year, and I decided that today I wanted to share a work in progress blog. It is another year when I am so thankful for the promise and hope of Easter, so I have started these paintings, and they are very near completion.  The paintings are being painted over an older work that had been damaged, and I love that they are making something beautiful out of something so torn. It seems fitting, don't you think?  Maybe you can see in these pictures the crucifixion, resurrection, anointing  with perfume, and unjust trial. A couple of the ideas are easier to see, I must admit.  Today is a significant day  for me  to share torn paintings. Today I am remembering our third child, a son who died right after he was born too early. As you might remember, if you have been following my blog for very long, we lost our first three children to three different causes. Our third, Brock, died from an infection in my body that caused him to

Surprised "This is one of the first layers on this painting, but I love it so much, I just can't keep going yet," I said to my Beloved Husband. He had asked me about this new painting which is hanging where I can see it when we eat our meals. I often hang unfinished work there to get an idea of what to do next with it. "I like it," he told me.  I had started it as another "progressive painting" where I paint a little more each day or two until either someone buys the painting, or I just like it so much that I decide it is finished. The problem is, it might already be at that point!  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 on my website. We had the opportunity to see both of our kids this past weekend, when our son led the music for the Sunday morning service at the church where our daughter attends and serves. What a t

Search Me Warning! There might be some politics in this post. Please skip reading it if you feel the same way I do about reading political things. (Yeah, I am writing it anyway, even though I probably wouldn't read it if someone else posted it. Good grief.) This painting seems light and cheerful. It reminds me of spring. I have had a difficult time blogging about it in this last while, though,  due to the invasion of Ukraine. Somehow, it seems like it is too frothy. Like cotton candy to a starving person.  But, though the colors seem cheery, there are also cuts through the paint. There are textures that come through and stand out. And there is red, for goodness sake.  The shapes in the painting feel like a vortex that is pulling everything in, and that is how the Ukraine conflict has felt to me. Everything seems to be impacted by this war on the other side of the globe, and our own leaders seem to be eating cotton candy - blithely unaware of the significance of their lack of action