Brenda Stichter, artist

Some of the sold paintings  from the Open Studio  What a delightful weekend! It was great to see new and old friends at my Open Studio event, and even though attendance was a little shy compared to some other years (we had SUCH beautiful weather, and I am guessing most people were outside enjoying it!) it was a success, and a huge encouragement. Thank you to those who attended - and if you missed it you can contact me about an appointment for a visit, while I still have a fairly clean house and studio!  I have started working on a painting based on my reading in Isaiah, and I am loving getting back into trying to communicate huge, intangible concepts with abstract paintings, using color and composition as a language. It is a very challenging pursuit, but of course, I love it! My first color layer was already on the canvas during my Open Studio - a deep anthraquinone blue - and I have just started working with some new colors. I am excited to see the interplay happen as I ...

In the midst of my prep for my Open Studio, I took a break with the BEAUTIFUL weather we had last week and tried my hand at painting outside (en plein air). I have tried painting outside a few times, but I would like to get better at it. Having only a short time to work, I decided to try an *ACEO size canvas paper, sample tubes of acrylic paints and I painted using only a palette knife. I hadn't realized what a big difference high winds make, but oh my goodness! In spite of my inexperience, I do really like how this little landscape turned out. "They" say to paint what you love, and that is just what I did; I painted our woods as seen from our back yard.  Oh, it was great to be painting! When I am working toward some kind of art event, I often don't find the time to be in the studio painting, and I MISS IT so much! The next little while in my art schedule is packed with events, and I will have to fight for time with paint and canvas. Well, it will be all the sweeter w...

Arise, My Love  You might have seen a few previews of this painting as I have worked on it. I posted some on social media, and used a photo of me working on it as a sort of announcement of my upcoming open house on April 22 & 23, 2022. It is on the new, fancy easel my Beloved Husband gave me for Christmas, and has been slowly progressing in the middle of our family room pretty much since Christmas! These bigger canvases don't quite fit  in my studio   for me to work on them without too much moaning and groaning on my part.  48" x 48" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep gallery wrapped canvas Edges painted black Click here to view or purchase on my website. It has passed through quite a few points where I really liked it and wanted to stop. Some of them would have been lovely paintings, and maybe I will revisit the concepts behind them. One of the earliest steps was to paint the entire canvas purple. It was a brand of paint that was u...

I have been working on a large painting to get it out of my family room, because I finally have my Open Studio/Open House scheduled, and it will be here before I know it (or am ready!) Here are some details. Friday, April 22 from 5:00 - 8:00 Saturday, April 23 from 9:00 - 8:00 Our home will be open with many paintings displayed throughout, and I will try to tidy up my home studio, too.  New paintings that have not been on display at my open houses before as well as some older favorites will be exhibited.  My paintings look so much better in real life than they do on a screen, and I sure hope many of you can come and see them.  Local friends, head north from the Warsaw Walmart on State Road 15 and watch for a big sign along the road to find us. We are about 2.5 miles north (toward Leesburg) on the east side of the road. Looking forward to seeing you!