Brenda Stichter, artist

Any Day Now 106 - Vase of Flowers This past weekend my Beloved Husband traveled to another state for the funeral of one of his extended family members. We had both intended to go, but then I had an artist event that we thought I ought to attend, so he rode with his cousins.  4" x 4" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep cradled wood panel Edges painted black Click here to view or purchase on my website. My decision had to be made at the last minute as I waited to learn more about my particular event, which was scheduled to be held in Indianapolis. In fact, I had to choose about the funeral before I knew whether I would attend my event. Somehow or other, between my making the decision and his departure, my Beloved Husband found time to get flowers for me! (I am the most blessed wife I know!) John 14: 1-3  “Your heart must not be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if not, I would have told you...

Any Day Now 104 - Cows It is very unusual for me to paint on a Saturday, unless it is en plein air, but today I have continued my daily painting series. I am afraid my Beloved Husband is not a fan of this painting, so I know that this may be a very unpopular painting. But maybe I can help people understand it, and I think it will look nice with the whole group! 4" x 4" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep cradled wood panel Edges painted black Click here to view or purchase on my website. I don't remember whether I told you or not, but there is a brand new baby calf in our pasture! The mama cow keeps him (or her) out in the middle in the tall grass most of the time while she is grazing. The few times I have walked out there, she has walked over between me and baby.  (Stranger danger?) I am actually amazed at just how small this baby is - though it is really tough to tell in the photo.  We currently rent the pasture out to the man who rais...

Any Day Now 103 - Evening Clouds Last night the sky around here was just stunning, and it was the whole, all the way east to west sky. I walked around our property just enjoying the beauty for a long time, and tried to mentally photograph the effects. I tried also using a phone camera, but to tell the truth, neither the camera nor the mental photograph really did the sky justice! 4" x 4" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep cradled wood panel Edges painted black Click here to view or purchase on my website. I think I am coming to a plan for this series, finally! I plan to use the same substrates and the same 6 or 7 (Oh dear. I know 6-7 has become a trend, of sorts, but I really didn't intend to use it!) paint colors, and I will try to paint something from my daily experience. And I think it will be mostly abstract paintings, though I already know what I want to do for tomorrow, and it should definitely be more representational!  Please forgive...

Any Day Now 102 - Sunny Morning Update: I changed both names! If you are paying close attention, you will notice that I have released Any Day Now after I already started the series yesterday with another painting with almost the same title. Well, I warned you that I might decide to change some things with this series, and I think that may be happening already, and this is just the second painting in the group! I have an idea of what I want to do, but since I am still mulling it over, I won't brag about it quite yet. Ha! 4" x 4" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep cradled wood panel Edges painted black Click here to view or purchase on my website. Today I have used the same color palette and the same substrate and have come up with a completely different kind of painting. I do find it interesting how dissimilar the colors can look just by mixing them in another way and by how they combine in the painting.  As of today, I still plan to use the ...

Any Day Now 101 - Flannel I was talking to my daughter on the phone the other day, and I said, "I think I will start..." and I second guessed myself and stopped talking. She said, "a new painting series?" Ha! She might know me pretty well!  4" x 4" Painted with artist quality heavy-body acrylic paint on 1.5” deep cradled wood panel Edges painted black Click here to view on my website. October is not the month when many artists choose to do daily paintings, but I think that is how I will approach this series. Today's painting is full of autumn color, and actually reminds me of a plaid flannel shirt on a cool day. There is also a brighter area which I intended to represent light near the focal point.  In a way, I am diving into this series without quite knowing which direction I want to go with it. I hope to make a painting each day, and I want to make them work well in groupings, but I am still not decided on some things, such as which compositional cho...

Late Summer Gold The other night my Beloved Husband had a delivery to make, and I had the opportunity to ride along with him. (I love those times!) As we were returning to our home, I quickly grabbed my phone out of my pocket and took some pictures through our not-particularly-clean windows as we sped past some places that were beginning to be touched with evening gold. Our summer is turning into autumn, trees are just starting to turn, and the harvest is ramping up around here.  14" x 14" x 1.5" deep Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on cradled wood panel, edges painted black Click here to view on my website. I was thinking about how, as summer is passing, and as the day is turning toward evening, things become so beautiful! There is a golden tint to almost everything, and if we are quick enough and pay attention, it can be a spectacular sight. We first saw our home and woods about this time of year a LONG time ago now, and I have no doubt that th...

Black-eyed Susans Warning: This may be kind of an artist-and-art-business-geek post, and it might get wordy!  This new palette knife painting was finished yesterday, and it feels very expressive to me. I love the way the composition moves my eye around the painting and keeps my interest, and I also love the texture of the paint. A couple of main inspirations for this painting were flowers in the grassy area in our woods, and paintings I have recently seen that combine black and white with small areas of color. The inspiration from the woods is known and loved -  "paint what you know" . On the other hand, the combination of black and white with just a bit of color is a creativity booster and a challenge to figure out how to fit the concept with my own way of visualizing and painting.  12" x 9" Painted with the finest quality heavy-body acrylic paint on canvas panel Ready to frame Click here to view on my website. Here is where I am getting particularly geeky. As I re...