Happy Easter salad

Is this not the prettiest lil ole Easter salad you ever saw?  When I walk into the yard and see what God has provided I am very thankful.  As in all things... you have to have the eyes to see... I am learning how to see what has been provided for food that has always been here in my yard.... I just forget you can eat some of these things... The salad has the usual things... different lettuces, arugula, and spinach from my veggie garden but also includes violets, dandelion greens, arugula and turnip flowers.

Scott Spins Vinyl at Chimmera

My husband, Scott who is often heard but never seen on the radio, NPR's Folk Salad, was invited to spin Vinyl at Chimmera's Vinyl Brunch this week. 

This is my son, Dylan and his future wife, Melody.

Worlds Collide ... the morning and afternoon classes meet at the park

We jumped on our chance to find a beautiful day without much wind to paint in the park.  Unfortunately it was very hot with out much shade yet.  Oh well, plein air painters gotta deal with it.  Here are a few pics from our day at the Gilcrease Museum Stuart Park

Spring Storm... Trouble.... SOLD!

I have to remember the sky is one of the main things I love about Oklahoma.  I got home just in time to cover some of the crops that have already popped up in the garden.  Yesterday I painted outside with my adult class in 85 degree weather.  This pretty little storm is expected to first drop hail and then tomorrow drop temps to below freezing and it is APRIL!!

This dramatic sky and others like it inspired this new painting.  My facebook pals had several suggestions for names.  I am leaning towards " Trouble."  Nothing spells trouble like an Oklahoma tornado and throw in a bad hair day....

Oklahoma Vineyard

This is a little 6x6 sketch that later was used to complete a larger work. It took going to France to truly appreciate the beauty of  the unique landscape of Oklahoma.  We have vineyards, fields full of flowers ( not poppies though) and one of the most diverse terrains in the United States with Mesas, Prairies, Treed Mountains,and Mountains with little vegetation, and  Hills.  We are missing the Ocean, which we actually have but it is no longer filled with water :-).  Back to the painting....The little one is sold and the larger one is on auction this week on ebay.  You can bid here 
Want to read my blog about my life as an artist?  click here

For Jesse Aycock, Dylan Aycock and Scott Aycock

Something I am working on for Mayfest

As a working artist I wear many different hats in order to make ends meet.   On Mondays and Wednesdays I facilitate an Art and Healing program on the High Risk Pregnancy Unit at Tulsa’s Peggy Helmerich Women’s Center.  I am considered and artist in residence through the Arts and Humanities Council.  I have done this project for over 8 years and have been witness to amazing, unintended results.  What began as a program to help break the boredom of the young women on the floor who were confined to their rooms and specifically to their beds for weeks and months at a time.  In the confines of those four walls and in that bed there is no chance of interaction with anyone else on the floor, even their own neighbors, many of whom are experiencing the same difficulties.
Add the Art Cart Sessions:
What before were endless days with nothing to look forward to, no one to talk to, the stress and anxiety of being in the hospital, the worry of their condition and that of their unborn children, and the lack of creative input or output at the most creative time in their lives, now with the art sessions the young women have a reason to get out of bed 2 times a week.   Their spirits rise as time draws near for the sessions .  Solitude turns to community.  Worried young women share their stories.  I often hear “Oh, I am in here for that too.”  Second or third time moms often share a successful preemie birth story  with others who have low weight unborn babies that they are worried about.  Tension and Anxiety begin to lessen as the girls work with their hands creating wooden plaques, frames, jewelry, knit, crochet and more.  The room fills with animated voices and laughter.
This week I had 3 Spanish speakers in Art Cart Sessions, two of whom had been in their hospital rooms for 3 weeks w/o ever meeting each other. One of them had attended as often as I would invite her in my very bad Spanish. This time there was a lot of happy Spanish voices in the room and new friendships were made. The English speakers have been faithful attendees and have stayed later after I leave to continue doing art and this time, one of them brought in movies to watch with everyone after the session. This would have NO CHANCE of ever happening except for the art cart sessions.

Is your church or civic Women's Group looking for a great cause to support? I have been working for many years doing an art program with young women on strict bed rest, many of them for months at a time, awaiting the birth of their child. They are all on the high risk unit of the Peggy Helmerich Women's Health Center. The art cart sessions are the ONLY thing they have to look forward to each week. Unfortunately we have run out of funds for the program and are looking for someone to take on the funding. Any ideas out there? Call me or contact me through Facebook. I had a paid position but am having to move to volunteer just to keep the program going. You can also make a donation through The Arts and Humanities Council w attention the High Risk Unit art cart Arts and Healing Program.

A Day in the Life....

After a leisurely attended breakfast, newspaper and coffee, my husband and I went off to attend an interesting discussion at Trinity Church downtown. The day is cloudy and the once lovely spring temperature has steadily dropped throughout the day which is ok by us as it will keep me out of the garden and free me up to paint.  Did I say "keep me out of the garden?"  Well I meant to say that I went out and picked the day's salad greens and threw in a few red bud tree blossoms for good measure, and put up my garden tools just in time before it started to sprinkle.

Looking ahead and seeing the sky darken, I stacked up some firewood up by the house and out of the reach of the rain.  I built a nice fire, put on the kettle, my husband settled in to spend the day writing and I started to work on a couple of paintings that I have been playing with lately.  The one pictured here was started after seeing some beautiful clouds right before sunset the other night.  Fortunately I was near a great vantage point and could pull off the road and snap some photos before coming home.  I was also in the mood for a portrait so I kind of combined them both.

I always think it is a good idea to take small breaks from your work as you move through the process.  It gives you some needed distance and hopefully you will gain a truer perspective on what is working and what is not working for you. And that is why I thought I would stop, snap a photo or two and blog for a minute.  Well gotta get back to the fun.

Cowboys and Indians

My college class's first still life.  Since we live out here in cowboy, Indian country I thought we might work with that theme.  Fortunately my husband had some toys that survived his childhood that made it into this painting.  It is for sale this week by auction on my ebay site.  To visit my ebay gallery and this painting in particular, click here

Help Support the Art and Healing Program at the High Risk Unit

I have worked for the Tulsa Arts and Humanites Council for many years as an artist in the schools, art in the parks and for the past 9 years, for Art and Healing Program.  Well that program is running out of money and so I thought I would put these little studies up for auction to help raise money for the program.  The first one was done on request for a Route 66 art show this year.  It is multi media w photo and pencil and features my mother as a young woman as she traveled from New York to California on route 66.  It is on masonite board.  The portrait is a little demo for my class on looking for planes on the face.  The 3rd one is a little oil study of our own Gilcrease House.  I was leading a workshop there and afterwords, did this study before returning home.  90% of the proceeds go to support the program which serves young pregnant women who are on strict bed rest at a local hospital, many of whom must be confined for months at a time.  This is their only outlet.  It is so much more than art sessions.  It is the one time they are out of their rooms.  They, through the art program, can now meet other moms on the floor in similar situations.  Instead of stress, depression and confinement, they experience joy, make friends who they can visit with during the week ( otherwise they would never have a chance to even meet the woman who lives in the room next door to them.) , share knowledge of their condition, parenting, and of course, participate in creating at the most creative time in their lives.   
bidding starts at $5 with free shipping.
Of course, anyone wishing to donate to the program w/o the auction can do so at the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa.  Make sure to earmark your donation as Art and Healing Program at the High Risk Unit at Peggy Helmerich Women's Center Tulsa.  THANKS!!
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