Artist’s statement:

I paint abstract paintings, inviting people to breathe deeply and respond to a gentle call toward hope. My paintings are full of color and are carefully constructed to encourage a pause for wonder and curiosity. They are the result of a search for hope when life seems bleak. A hunt for joy when darkness is overwhelming. A desire for beauty when everything seems ugly.

I am inspired by, and respond to beauty, nature, and my Creator. This is where I find a steady place of hope from which I can extend an invitation through my paintings.

On my substrates, my starting point  focuses on composition, color theory, and principles of art. I choose the tools and concepts which I think will communicate my ideas in the most interesting and beautiful way, and start there. At that point of the work, the painting itself almost always takes over, and part of my joy in being an artist comes from responding to what I see there. I love getting lost in the process of painting, watching, and painting again. I love the surprises that come as I work.

An experimental painter, I paint with acrylic paint and mediums, natural additives such as mica and sand, and sometimes gold leaf or other substances. Brushes, kitchen tools, plastic cards, and many other things are part of my tool kit. 

Artist bio:

Brenda Stichter (1963), b. Sioux City, IA

With a commercial art degree from UNW St. Paul, Brenda Stichter started out in advertising, but has turned her focus to painting in her Indiana home studio since 2010. Her abstract acrylic paintings portray her personal response to beauty, nature, and her Creator. She enjoys using her art training and life experience to build strong abstract compositions.  

Stichter has been awarded the BoldBrush Award for Abstract, and the BoldBrush 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place for Abstract, and has received numerous regional art awards. She has been selected to participate in the Hoosier Salon (award winner), the SALI National Abstract Art Exhibition, and the Acrylic International Biennial Juried Exhibition. She has works featured in Artists Magazine Best of Acrylics 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 and was awarded an honorable mention in the Artists Magazine, 2025 41st Annual Art Competition.

She is a member of the Lakeland Art Association, Warsaw, IN; the Fort Wayne Artists Guild, Ft. Wayne, IN; and the Hoosier Salon