Check out the Art Focus Magazine Article

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Artist Statement for my Oklahoma State Capital Show

Oklahoma, The Place Where I Call Home

Artist Statement

I found out last year that I would be given the honor of a one woman show at the Governor’s Gallery in the Oklahoma State Capital Building.  Shortly thereafter I received a grant to complete the project from Oklahoma Visual Artists Coalition.  I have spent the year painting in some of my favorite places in Oklahoma.

This project took me all over our fair state, from the mountains at Quartz Mountain and the Wichitas to the vast prairie land at the Tall Grass Prairie.  When I started this project I planned to visit the outer reaches of the state of Oklahoma but then life happened.  My husband had a heart attack in the spring of the year which drew me closer to home.  While my husband recovered, I gave myself permission to enjoy the beauty in my own back yard where we have been moving away from a grass lawn and instead, have created water, flower and vegetable gardens.  This spring I found that no matter where I turned in the back yard, I could find something beautiful to paint, so included in this series are many paintings from my own gardens.   The peonies have traveled with us for 30 years, from house to house and travel further back in time to my husband’s great grandmother’s flower beds.  Some of the roses were salvaged several years ago from the area where now sits the Tulsa jail. 

I grew up in the Catskill Mountains of New York where I lived near a beautiful trout stream which ran right behind my house.  I spent many a day playing in the creek and exploring the woods and fields around my home.  Thanks to Petra Field Camp who supplied my lodging along Flint Creek where I have been able to explore, play and paint the Illinois and Flint Rivers and the Clear Creek at Clear Creek Monastery. 

There is still nothing more inviting to me than a dirt road.  Many of the paintings of the Osage and Tall Grass Prairie lands are off the beaten track.  Thanks to fellow explorer, Richard Higgs (NPR’s Folk Salad Radio Show), I was able to paint in some of the more remote places in the Tall Grass Prairie without getting lost.

Last year on a return trip from the prairie we spotted a sign advertising wagon races in Skiatook.  Again, a dirt road beckoned us.  We found we were too late for the races but put it on our calendar for this year.  The painting, “Stopping to Pick Berries,” came from some of the photos I took the day we sat in the shade of a persimmon grove and watched the races.  I can highly recommend it.

You can hardly paint in Oklahoma without painting at least one cowboy and one tornado.  I included the cowboy in my still life. “Cowboy Dreams,” and the tornado actually came from a very quick photo taken out the window of the car as we were coming home from Flint Creek.  We were trying to decide “should we stop or should we put the pedal to the metal and get out of here?”  We decided on both. (This painting will be in Capital Show only )

I teach adult oil painting lessons in Tulsa and when I am teaching at TCC every semester I choose a master painting to work from so that I can demonstrate techniques of drawing, measuring, brush work, and glazing.  The resulting painting is unrecognizable from the original as hair, clothing and background are transformed.  I love any excuse to paint a wonderful Oklahoma sky which you will see in the background of two of these paintings.  (The portraits will be in Capital Show only)

I am also the wife of a singer/songwriter ( Scott Aycock), and the mother of a singer/songwriter/musician ( Jesse Aycock ) and composer/musician ( Dylan Aycock).  My husband is also co host with the above mentioned, Richard Higgs on NPR’s music show, Folk Salad.  We also host musicians in our home concert series, House Concerts Unlimited.  All of this is to say how I came to paint the series, “The New Tulsa Sound.”  My life is not only surrounded by art.  It is also full of music.  I love what the young musicians are doing in Tulsa.  There is such a spirit of generosity among these guys and gals and a respect for tradition that has been inspiring us all in these parts for many years.  They were the inspiration of the painting of these portraits.  I have many more to go and some of them have been snapped up by Horton Records already, but I wanted to share some of them with you and encourage you to look them up and support their music.  The genres range from folk, rock, blues, jazz, and world music. (The series has been on display at Living Arts during “Oh Tulsa,” and will be in Capital Show only)

I truly want to thank the Oklahoma Arts Council for inviting me to display at the State Capital.  It is such an honor for me.  I also want to thank the Oklahoma Visual Artists Coalition.  They have been an encouragement for me as an artist throughout my career and were especially supportive, financially, in this endeavor.   Thanks to Steve Liggett and Living Arts for allowing me to preview the show in Tulsa so that I could share it in the place where I call home. 

A lazy Sunday

 A photo that we are tweaking for the chap book

Some of the smaller paintings getting weeded out for the show.

What a delightful day.  We spent a lazy morning drinking coffee, reading the Sunday paper and watching Sunday morning political shows.  The afternoon was spent working on Scott's chap book and organizing and working on paintings for my upcoming capital show.  Later we moved to the back porch, lit a fire to keep the mosquitoes at bay and had a nice supper while listening to Scott's radio show, NPRs Folk Salad.  We came in and went from public radio to public tv and have been watching and listening to Tony Bennet singing w all our favorites,Amy Winehouse, Aretha Franklin, KD Lang, Nora Jones, Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga and more, all singing those great old torch songs.  Now those are songs to fall in love by! 

SOLD! Playing in the creek on a summer day, 16x20 oil

I did this painting from photos and oil sketches done at Flint Creek  in Oklahoma.  I love to go play in the creek.  These are my great nephews.  This and other paintings are on sale through my ebay gallery.

Irises 11x14

My very favorite painting place this year, has been my own back  yard.  This was painted a couple of weeks ago as the irises were beginning to bloom and the red bud tree had lost its red flowers.  I am painting for a big show at the state capitol right now.  It will feature favorite places in and around Oklahoma.  If you would like to bid on this painting or enter my ebay gallery, click here  If you would like to visit my blog, click here

SOLD! Red Apples on Green Plate

This is an 8x10 oil on stretched canvas.  I started it as a class demo and finished it later in the day.  It, and many other paintings are on auction this week through my ebay gallery.  Check them out by clicking here

Beautiful Iris 8x10 oil

I recently received notice that my proposal for a one woman show at the state capital was accepted and with that acceptance came a wonderful grant to help me prepare for the show.  I plan to do a series of Oklahoma landscapes and where better to start but my own back yard.  I have done several garden sketches and some finished paintings of some of the flowers growing there.  This is one of my favorites.  It is on auction ( sorry the price isn't reduced as much as I like to do on my ebay site but this one is scheduled for the capital show so I don't feel as free to reduce the price on it till after the show.... of course if it sells before the show.... well, it will be one less thing to haul to Oklahoma City :-)  To visit my auction on ebay click here  I have a lot of other paintings that have been greatly reduced for the auction.  Check back daily as new ones move out of the ebay gallery and on to the auction daily. 

SOLD! Tornado 12 x12 oil on canvas

To bid on this piece and enter my ebay gallery click here

This painting is 12x12 oil on canvas.  There was a storm approaching as we left our favorite swimming hole and headed for Tulsa.  As we were driving we got more worried as we spotted an ominous wall cloud to our left.  Figuring we could outrun it we slowed down long enough for me to snap a photo or two and then we high tailed it outa' there.  I have this on auction for only 3 days as it is scheduled to go to the invitational gallery at Tulsa's Mayfest next week.  If it sells, I still have some time to paint for Mayfest :-)

Iris Garden 11x14 oil

I have spent every spare moment in the garden, either gardening or painting.  I am working on a series of paintings that will be displayed at my one woman show at the Oklahoma State Capital Gallery this summer.  ( If they don't sell on ebay first, that is :-)  This one is in my ebay gallery right now along with about 7 other finished pieces... and many other paintings.  To purchase, you may contact me or purchase through ebay. Click here to visit my ebay gallery. 

We had a delightful day, save one minor incident, at the tall grass prairie preserve.  Richard was our tour guide and lead us to some really cool places.  We found an old abandoned chapel on the way, visited a hilltop graveyard in the middle of nowhere, saw an abandoned rock quarry, bison, coyote, deer, scissortails ( our state bird) and unfortunately, a scorpion.  ( our unfortunate incident was that Scott got stung by a scorpion while lifting a cool limestone rock to add to our flower garden).  Remembering old westerns where the looser of a cowboy arm wrestling contest was subsequently stung by a scorpion and died a horrible death, scott became concerned about the sting and we headed to town to make sure he would be ok.  Thankfully we had the presence of mind to stop a rancher and to google scorpion stings on Richard's cell phone ( once we were in range).  The rancher assured us that if there was going to be a problem we would already know and google confirmed so we backtracked our 15 minute trek on dirt roads back to the  spot we intended to hike and paint.  Scott was fine.  I brought two books on tall grass wild flowers and edible wild plants.  We found tons of wild flowers and most memorable was indigo, wood sorrel,( which we found to be a delicious lemony snack ) , wild iris.  Although I pointed to delicious recipes for milkweed, I couldn't convince the guys that it was worth gathering.

Richard and Scott had camped in the area previously ( a couple of years ago ) so they knew of some beautiful spots to paint.  They left me sitting beside a beautiful little stream and they hiked on upstream.   Richard found the saw that he left up there two years ago and subsequently forgot it again and left it in our car :-)

I was able to knock out two worthy little sketches and the guys were able to go exploring.... ( them on a large level, me on a smaller level )

After 6 hours of driving and hiking in the prairie, and on the way back to civilization I commented " Ya know, this landscape reminds me of Scott's trip hunting in Wyoming.  I wonder if there is any deer hunting up here, even though we haven't seen a single deer."  As I said the word, " deer" one crossed right in front of us!  We got a big kick out of that, let me tell ya.

Richard wanted to make sure we stopped at his favorite rib place in a small town on the way home.  Those of you who know Scott, know how picky he is about his ribs, having been spoiled on Memphis BBQ.  Not willing to take a chance of being disappointed, he ordered something else.  Richard let us both try one of his ribs.  Needless to say, they won Scott's stamp of approval and we will definitely be going back there again.  Apparently, according to newspaper clippings on the wall, the place has won numerous awards on it's ribs.

A good time was had by all.  Enjoy the pics. Expect to see some of these Scenes in new paintings.

Margee

This is how I spent my Friday afternoon

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Beautiful Girl

This is a painting that I just finished with my adult class.  As I was painting and teaching, I decided to video tape the process.  I began with a master painting so that my class and I would all be on the same page at the beginning of the process and so that I could teach the process of measuring using the eye as a unit of measure.  I allowed each student to bring in other photos and background with the light coming from the same direction in order to change the hair, costume etc.  I have this video for sale on my ebay site.  It retails for $20 but is on auction this week on my site.  To bid on it, see other paintings, visit my ebay gallery and online auctions click here

SOLD! PETUNIAS

This is a painting that I just finished in my adult class.  I was demonstrating for the class how to paint in oil in an opaque way and also in the way one does w watercolor.  I just put it on my ebay auction where I sell a lot of my daily paintings and my larger pieces as well.  If you are just starting to collect the square daily paintings, please check out my auctions.  Many start below $50.  To bid on this painting and enter my ebay gallery click here

Red Barn

I found this little barn on my way to school and thought I would stop over on the weekend to paint it.  Goodness, you would think that I was the only game in town.  So many people felt like they needed to pull over to check out what I was up to... Maybe it was all those " Posted, No Trespassing " signs :-)
I have a slew of paintings on my ebay auction this week.  To bid on this one and gain entry into my ebay site, click here 

Prairie Road 12x12 oil

A prairie road painting.  I followed a dirt road back behind a casino at the edge of town.  Found this great dirt road surrounded with red sumac and yellow goldenrod.  Beautiful!  This is on auction this week through my ebay gallery along with many other paintings added daily throughout the next couple of weeks.  To bid on this and visit my gallery click here

If you are interested in a very interesting kickstarter project with my son, singer/songwriter, Jesse Aycock click here to find out more about his latest CD with Neal Cassal and George Sluppick.  It is going to be awesome! 

Paradise in Bloom 12x12 oil on wrapped canvas

This past summer I did a series of scenes along this prairie oil road.  The sumac was a deep red and the golden rod was in full bloom.  Thankfully I am not allergic like so many of the folks around here, so I could stand and paint in the field till the cows came home :-)  Fortunately no real cows anywhere to pester me, just the gentle click and whine of the oil pump.  This painting is on auction this week and several of its brothers and sisters are in my ebay gallery.  To bid on this click here 
To find out more about me and my work, purchase my new, full color how to book on oil painting or any of my 4 instructional DVDs, you are in the right place.  Check the sidebar of this blog.

Prairie Sky

This is one of my series of prairie sky paintings.  I really like this one a lot.  They are all 12x12 and on wide wrapped canvas.  They look great in groupings.  I have a few of them on auction this week on ebay.  To bid on this one and have access to the rest of my ebay gallery, click here 

Prairie Road 12x12 oil on canvas

This is a sister painting to one that I have on auction right now on ebay.  I did a series of these studies last fall.  Out in back of a local casino is an old oil road.  Just for fun I decided to take a drive way back there on the prairie and found tons of great painting subjects.  I have all of the series in my ebay gallery and one or two on auction this week.  To bid, Click Here

My husband is still in the hospital and so I am working from there. I am having a big auction all this week to help pay the bill. Thank God we just got new insurance and they will carry the weight of most of it but it is 6 days and counting so I know it is going to be huge. I just posted this on ebay:

 I promised my class an plein aire class session and found a pretty place on campus on Thursday to take them the following week.  Weather can change pretty quickly 'round these parts and the weekend turned wicked cold but by Tuesday we were all in T shirts again so I figured we would treck over to the pretty spot.  Unfortunately the cold wind knocked every last leaf off of all the trees except this one which was smaller and more protected maybe.  That worked out fine for us as that gave a nice violetish background for the bright yellow tree.  You know how we artists love to work w opposites on the color wheel.... at least I do.  I have this on auction this week along w about 45 other paintings.  you can check this one out here and then click the link to visit My Store in that link and you can see the other paintings both on auction and in my ebay gallery.  Click here to go to my painting

Hospital Bill Sale on Ebay

cli k here to bid on this piece

My husband had a heart attack on Valentines day and we are both in the hospital.  I hear there is another heart attack when you get the bill so while we are here I decided to put everything I have on auction this week.  I am adding stuff a little at a time for the next few days.  If your favorite painting isn't in the mix, feel free to make me a good offer.  My husband is on the mend but a few complications are keeping us here for another few days... a very expensive bed and breakfast w/o any beautiful scenery :-(

my ebay gallery can be reached through http://midwest-fine-art.com

my blog is at http://margaretaycock.com

This particular painting was commissioned by the folks at Carpentree who supply religious art for Mardels.  They made a print from it and framed it so beautifully with a little cut out in the matt under each cup reading " Faith  Hope  Love

This is the original oil that was used to create the print

SOLD Sunset on the Reserve 8x10 oil

I am beginning to work on a project of painting different scenes within my state of Oklahoma for a show that I will have at the State Capital Gallery in the summer.  It is pretty colorless and bare out there right now but fortunately the sun began to set as I sketched and I was able to capture ( I hope ) the pretty trees as they turned from their pale gray to bright yellow.  to bid on this painting in my ebay auction, or just to visit my ebay gallery... click here  If you are interested in purchasing one of my painting how to videos or my new full color book on oil painting you may do so here, on my blog.
here are a couple of photos from that day, one before and the other during the sunset

Co Exist art show up through March

SOLD Prairie Girl 16x20 oil

This is the painting I have been working on in my adult class.  We all started with a portrait originally painted by Bouguereau and then added our own take on it.  I love to paint the Oklahoma sky so I put my little girl in a prairie dress and sweater and put her in an Osage landscape w a beautiful sky.  I just posted this to ebay, both in my ebay gallery and on auction through my ebay gallery.  To visit the gallery, click here
To learn the process of painting a portrait like this, check this blog for my new instructional DVD.

French Convent

I don't travel outside the country but I have friends who do :-)  Thanks so friends, Bill and Linda, who visit their daughter every couple of years or so at the convent where she lives in France, I get to see their beautiful photos.  I used one of them to paint this impressionistic little landscape.  I have it on auction today for a few hours left ... on ebay.  To bid, click here  I also just finished a new video of how to paint a portrait in the tradition of the masters.  It hasn't gone into mass production yet ( that will take several months ) but is available here on my blog.

I just finished editing my latest instructional video!

Lemons and Magnolia Flowers

This is a painting that I did as a class demo.  Magnolia flowers have such a lemony smell.  I thought about including the lemons and perhaps tea with lemon in the still life.  It is for sale this week on my ebay auction.  I have about 24 paintings left on auction this week which is coming to close in the next day.  to bid click here

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Yellow Flowers in Reflective Vase

I was going to set up a still life for my students and another instructor had left this great reflective vase w yellow flowers in the room.  We created a still life around it.  What fun!  I have a painting video that details the process of painting reflective objects on my blog as well as a couple of other DVDs and my new full color instructional oil painting book.  .  This painting is on ebay right now and you can bid on it by clicking here

SOLD Petunias 16x20

This painting was actually done in the studio rather than outside.  I did want to create the feeling that it was outside though and added the typical ( for this part of the country ) prairie background.  This painting is all about the flowers.   I have it and about 40 other paintings on auction this week.  To bid on this one or visit my ebay gallery, click here.

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Reworked version of Louise in the Meadow

Picnic

My adult class had been working on an outside scene w a table set for a ladies picnic.  I had a new student who wanted to do the same but didn't know how to approach it so finding a canvas in the studio that needed to be painted over I demonstrated the process to her.  Using a canvas that already has paint on it can produce some interesting results.  This painting is a little darker than the 1st one as the underpainting affects the top layer of paint.  I still liked the results and my new student produced a successful first painting.  I have this and the first painting on ebay this week on auction w no reserve.  It is 16x20 oil on stretched canvas.  To bid or enter my ebay site to see my 40 other auction paintings click here