Brenda Stichter, artist

Heartfelt Ezekiel 36:26 "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." I am starting this post with part of the Old Testament passage that I left off with in my last post. This section of the book seems to have caught my attention each time I have read through it, judging from the many colored marks in my Bible. (I try to choose a different colored pencil each time I start through the Bible again, though I do sometimes forget.)  God promises to switch out the dead, stony heart (behavior and belief) of the people for a living heart, and  I love that ! A living heart is one that is responsive and can be in relationship with the personal God instead of just following rules. And this living heart and relationship is why, in my last post, I wrote about reading God's word and spending time interacting with Him. It is because He has given me a heart for relation...

Black and White This week, I was asked to do a black and white ad for a publication. Black and white. Hmm.  When I was in school, my books were black words on white paper, but I hear from my teaching friends that there are screens in classes now. There are still people who read actual books, and probably even newspapers, but I find myself more likely to read my Kindle when I travel or use my treadmill, and that may or may not be black and white. I would venture a guess that most of us rarely actually see much that is just black and white in the real world anymore.  6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel And, oh boy, does that preach! (Warning: I'm 'bout to preach...)  I have been reading in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel for quite a while now. It is a long book of the Bible, and it has a lot of difficult passages. A lot. I have seen that Israel was about to experience the consequences of their sin - God repea...

New Every Morning #19 It is a beautiful, sunny day in Indiana - something that actually doesn't happen very often here! I mean, we have beautiful days in the winter, but they are usually beautiful CLOUDY days. As I look out the window that overlooks our pasture, I see a bright blue sky, with dark trees, green and golden grasses, white snow and purple ice on the pond.  6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Two of the paint tubes I used for this one, Cobalt Teal by Golden and Quinacridone Red, also a Golden heavy body paint, are almost full and have no smudges on the paint tubes. This is pretty uncommon in my studio! These are colors that I have not used enough yet to know their characteristics very well, and that makes them fair game for my daily painting series. (Practice makes familiar, if not perfect!) They are both transparent colors, which I LOVE. I feel like the transparent paints tend to add depth and richness to ...

Near the Brokenhearted Today was my first day back in the studio after my most recent trip. I got several paintings started after getting the first couple of layers painted on my New Every Morning series painting. While that one just isn't finished yet, this one that I was working on between layers came together unexpectedly and expressed what has been heavy on my heart for the last two days. I have a dear friend whose heart is just breaking. I have been praying for her and will continue to pray, but I had not really expected to see it so clearly portrayed in one of the paintings I worked on today. 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. The tears that drop across the red shape are iridescent silver. This particular silver medium is one my son got me for Christmas a few years ago - a real surprise to me! I didn't know he knew how and where to find good quality a...

New Every Morning #18 "I can't see across the lake," I said to Mom. "It's snowing pretty heavily, and it's windy." "Good thing YOU'RE driving," she answered with a chuckle. Yeah. Good thing. Ha! I am out of practice when it comes to driving in Minnesota winters. Though we had some near white-out conditions, and the beginning of some drifting, by the time we returned in the late afternoon, the roads were already quite passable.  Minnesota is good at dealing with winter! 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Click here to purchase on my website. This time spent with Mom is precious to me. (Not necessarily easy, since we are working on moving her to a smaller place to live, but precious.) I am grateful for the opportunity to be here and help. I am also kind of loving this crazy little abstract. It is a great picture of how some of these mornings feel, and it fit...

New Every Morning #17 For some reason, high school friends have been on my mind these last several days. Most of them I have not seen since I graduated, and some I have run into only a few times since then. The other day, my old "flame" came to mind. I rarely think of him, actually, so when I did, I thought I should pray for him. Do you do that too - pray for people who unexpectedly come to mind?  As these thoughts were on my mind, I was looking through the window out on an icy world. Every branch on our trees is coated and sparkling, but also heavy and sometimes breaking off. So much beauty, but if the limb is not healthy, or if it grows too far away from the trunk, it is vulnerable to damage from the ice.  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 thankful that every day - every single day - I have the opportunity to be close and healthy with God, my C...

New Every Morning #16 "I got plowed out yesterday," she said, "and we have about 5" or 6" more today. It should be no problem to pick you up." While we here in Indiana have had ice, snow, and wind, Mom has had snow and cold! And I am heading to see her tomorrow. Now, if I were visiting my in-laws instead, I would be seeing some warmer temps and maybe even beach time! (Doesn't the beach sound fabulous?) NLA 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Since my life has been, um, complex lately, there have been so many obstacles and things to juggle. So many ducks to keep in a row! So many things piling up that can distract me from the most important things. (I know that every one of you reading this can probably commiserate with me on this!)  Knowing I will be short on studio time has forced me to work harder during the time I have and to paint more, and earlier in the day. I...

Love Letters Yesterday I painted a very similar painting, and posted it to Facebook before blogging or uploading it to my website. When I asked my FB friends what I should call it, I got some fun responses (mostly after I had already named and posted it) including the name Love Letters. This is a title that really caught my attention, so I chose to finish this painting with that name in mind.  I am not sure whether you can see ALL of the color and shimmer and texture in this little Valentine. I did collage a few pieces once again, but most of the work is acrylic paint.  SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel, with some collage Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. I want to share with you part of a poem that my son introduced to me. I think it is beautiful. I did not have to ask my heart what it wanted, because of all the desires I have ever known, just one did I cling to for it was the essence of...

Hugs and Kisses Valentine's Day is coming, and I am celebrating early. (I may have already told you that.) This little piece was such fun to play with today! It is mostly acrylic paint, with a touch of "mixed media" to give some additional texture.  SOLD 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel, some mixed media Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. "Thou sluggard! Get ye up. Throw thou a party. Today calls for a celebration." Taken from the introduction to You Bring the Confetti, God Brings the Joy by Luci Swindoll.

New Every Morning #15 Lamentations 3:22-23 "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." NLA 6" x 6" Painted with the finest quality acrylic heavy-body paint on Art Bite panel Ready to frame Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting. Ralph W Emerson

One Heart Lately, I have discovered that my mind is very, very divided. I would love to think that it is just my thoughts, but I suspect that my heart - my soul - is somewhat divided too. Of course, we all are divided when it comes to our time and energies, but our hearts...  10.5" x 14" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on acid-free, heavy weight Fabriano watercolor paper, including iridescent and interference colors and lots of texture Ready to frame Click here to view on my website For the last few months, I have worried about things to the point where I am "chewing" them, mentally, almost all of the time. This reminds me of the expression of a dog "worrying" a bone. From finances to responsibilities, loved ones to business plans, fellowship to time commitments, the thoughts become almost ragged with my working them over and over.  The thing is, my Bible tells me NOT to worry. Over and over! For example:  Philippians 4:6...

From the Heart The last morning I was in Michigan after attending the Calvin Symposium on Worship, my daughter and I joined a worship service with the class that came up from Dallas Theological Seminary. Though we were late, the group welcomed us and made room for us at the table. The 'service' was primarily a time of sharing, and was led by a musician that you probably have in your playlist. It was a group of about 15 people, and those who shared were humble and vulnerable, sharing from their hearts. The first song that I was part of in that setting was Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, led tenderly on guitar by the musician I mentioned.  If you recall from my post on the painting Doxology , the music that week moved me deeply. This time was no different. I had a tough time producing a voice through tears - tears of response. Also, once again, the message came through that EVERY GIFT comes from my Heavenly Father who loves me, and is the Fount of every blessing.  22...