Honey Crisps

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A Children's book on edible 'weeds'

I don't know why I remember this.  Maybe it is because I was the new girl in class and was pretty shy in the 6th grade.  I remember our teacher asking the question, " what is a weed?"  Being in a farming community, hands went up all over the room.  Mine stayed in my lap.  "Dandelion," one shouted.  Another suggested another common weed.  The teacher kept saying, "No.  No.  No."  Until I raised my hand and was called upon to answer.  I said tentatively, with a question at the end of my statement, "Any plant that you don't want to be there?"  I beamed with pride that my answer was the one he was looking for.

I have long ago had a relationship with the "weeds" in my yard, garden and in the untended fields around the places I have lived.  My mother passed down a great recipe for dandelion green salad and from there my meals of late have included, wood sorrel, purslane, poke weed, dandelion, lambsquarters and non traditional parts of traditional garden plants such as the leaves of sweet potato, the shoots of peas and radishes, the leaves of carrots, beets, broccoli and more.

I have decided to create a children's book on the subject.  Here is the first painting for the book.  It is unfinished but I couldn't wait to share it with you.  The little girl character, Claire, is holding purslane.

Her Jedi Knight 11x14 oil

I was on facebook the other day and saw this adorable photo of my neighbor and her little boy.  I loved the way she is looking at her brave knight and the way the son created halos around them both.  It was such a sweet moment that begged to be painted.  I really love this painting.

For those of us who have been lucky enough to have children who have not had to see the inside of a hospital, I choose to donate a portion of the funds from the sale of the painting to St Judes, for the children and families who have not been as fortunate.
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A Walk on the Wild Side

To Bid on this Painting Click Here

My son, Dylan's latest record

For those who love to listen to ambient, transe like music while you paint, you should check out all the record on http://scissortailrecords but in particular the new one...
Read the review here:
http://bigtakeover.com/recordings/talk-west-all-worries-at-once-marmara

A Walk on the Wild Side

This painting was inspired by the ever present, dramatic skies we have out here in Oklahoma and an old photo of my niece at the beach wearing a sarong that was flying up behind her as she walked.  Add some red boots, a few dress straps and you have an Oklahoma girl at the edge of the prairie watching the storm roll in.  She kind of becomes part of her surroundings with her hair joining with the cloud forms.
To Bid and enter my Ebay Gallery Click Here

Hardworking Americans up for Americana Music Award. Congrats Jesse Aycock!

2014 AMERICANA HONORS & AWARDS NOMINEES

 

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Build Me Up From Bones, Sarah Jarosz

The Lights From The Chemical Plant, Robert Ellis

The River And The Thread, Rosanne Cash

Southeastern, Jason Isbell

 

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Rosanne Cash

Rodney Crowell

Robert Ellis

Jason Isbell

 

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR

The Avett Brothers

The Devil Makes Three

Hard Working Americans

Lake Street Dive

The Milk Carton Kids

 

SONG OF THE YEAR

"Cover Me Up", Jason Isbell

"A Feather's Not A Bird", Rosanne Cash

"Ohio", Patty Griffin

"Only Lies", Robert Ellis

 

EMERGING ACT OF THE YEAR

Hurray For The Riff Raff

Parker Millsap

St. Paul & The Broken Bones

Sturgill Simpson

Valerie June

 

INSTRUMENTALIST OF THE YEAR

Larry Campbell

Fats Kaplin

Buddy Miller

Bryan Sutton

 

The Americana Honors & Awards, presented by Nissan, returns to the historically cool Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN on September 17, 2014 (as part of the Americana Music Festival - September 17-21, 2014 at venues throughout Music City). The iconic Jim Lauderdale will once again host the Honors & Awards, while the phenomenal Buddy Miller will lead the All-Star Band. Described by Paste Magazine as “the worlds best awards show” the Americana Honors & Awards have featured once-in-a-lifetime moments, unforgettable performances and legendary collaborations.  Tickets for the Honors & Awards show come with the purchase of Americana Music Festival & Conference Registrations.

Icy Hot

My nephew who is studying to be a mountaineer sent me this photo of a rarely visited place on the planet.  He had to climb up icy mountains and camp in the snow in order to get this rare photo.  I thought it looked both freezing cold and somehow, warm with that brilliant sun in the sky and reflected back on the icy snow.
To bid click here 

Peonies

To Bid or Purchase

In person the background is a bit more brilliant.  It is sometimes hard to get the camera to be accurate and then to adjust the photo so the reds are right ( which they are more brilliant as well ) takes the blues in a different direction.  Ok, so enough excuses...It is just because I really love this painting and want to show it in it's best light... but I am also lazy and do all my photographing myself.  :-)  Anyways I love the time of year that I can paint peonies.  I paint them as if they are going out of style and in a way, they kind of are as they are around for such a short time that one must paint quickly if you are to capture their beauty before they fade.  This one and several smaller ones are on auction and fixed price on my ebay gallery site this week.  to bid, click above

First Fridays in Tulsa

I am excited to announce that I will have 3 paintings in the Gilcrease Museum downtown location this evening and 1 painting in the AHHA Tulsa Artist Coalition show.  I might make mention of the fact that Scott ( my husband and prize student ) also has a piece in both shows.  I am very proud of him.  And speaking of Scott, this very week his new book arrived on our doorstep.  He will be doing a book signing next week at Decopolis Book Fair in Tulsa. 

This is the piece that I have in the AHHA show.

SOLD! Nude Back oil on Wood

To Bid

A friend of mine was in the process of moving out of his woodshop and loaded me up with scraps and random door projects.  This is a small door that he built (7x13ish) which I thought looked like a frame waiting for a painting. 

SOLD! .....RAINY UMBRELLAS

TO BID

This painting was a very fun study that I did with my class.  We took a not too interesting photo, fiddled with figure placement and added an impressionist touch and came up with a very pleasing composition.

 

FREE DOWNLOAD TODAY ONLY

download Scott's book, These Stones for free today at Amazon Kindle

Moon Flower Violin

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To Blog

I have a friend who builds musical instruments and repairs them.  A couple of years ago he gave me a blank violin to play with.  This is what I came up with.  It is available for sale and will be completed upon your order.  I thought the Jimsonweed flower would be a great idea as a subject to paint on it as it always, in my mind has magical qualities and of course, is intoxicating in it's scent and beauty... but you have to be awake to see it as it begins to open as the lights go down... Moon Flower.

These Stones, Poems and Lyrics By my husband, Scott Aycock Free Download!!

Congrats to Scott!  Put this on your schedules.... Next weekend, Friday through Sunday Scott's book of poetry will be available for a free Kindle download on Amazon.  Anyone wanting a hard copy can contact us, of course but in the mean time, want to read it for free.... Download it next weekend.  It is a book of both poetry and lyrics that have been compiled, revamped and organized from poetry and songs written over the course of about 30 years or so.  It also includes some artwork and photos at the chapter divisions by local artists, Darren Dirksen, Louise Higgs, Scott Aycock, Margaret Aycock, JoAnn Young, Dylan Aycock, Rachel Ann Dennis. 

Yellow Tree

To Bid

I am having a back to school sale... you know, everything you need for back to school... like a new painting :-)  This painting was done actually at my school.  I took my students out to the west side of the campus where we were able to look into the deep woods and actually saw a small group of deer that day.  This was just a little oil sketch but thankfully time did not permit going any further with it.  I love it.

This week I have reduced several paintings and placed them on auction for the low price of $135 ea.  There are some real gems among them, several reduced from over $200.
To shop at my ebay gallery click the link above and see if you can find something that strikes your fancy.

Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek in studio on My husband's radio show...Folk Salad

Jesse Aycock ( pedal steel ) with HARD WORKING AMERICANS w/ special guest JASON ISBELL - Straight To Hell ...

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Air BnB at our house

For any of you who might come to Tulsa to visit the Gilcrease or Philbrook Museums, the arts district downtown, or take in a concert.... you might consider staying at our house.
We have a cute basement apt with a private entrance that we rent out through airbnb.com
For those of you who love to buy art..... Please don't hesitate to schedule a tour of the studio upstairs.  Would be happy to have you pour through the stacks of oil paintings that line the studio. 

Olive Grove in Provence

This is a painting that I did from onsite oil sketches from our trip to Provence last year.  We were fortunate enough to be able to stay in the heart of the area with a friend who is a nun and lives in a beautiful abbey there.  We stayed in the guest house and only had to walk out the side door to the poppy fields or the back door to the almond groves.  There were beautiful fields and woods everywhere.  Always in the background was the beautiful blue mountains that Van Gogh, Cezanne, and countless others have painted.  This one is on auction this week in my ebay gallery.  If you click the link below you can visit the auction and this will also give you access to my other paintings in the gallery and other auctions.
To Bid

The pond at Oxley

This is a little plein air study that I did in the woods at Oxley Nature Center in Tulsa.  I belong to a foraging group and this is one of the trails we often use.  It is past persimmon time and all the lilies are gone but still a beautiful, peaceful place to paint.  It is on auction this week on ebay.  To bid

Here are our entries for The Tulsa Artist Coalition Show

Mine:

and Scotts' :

Gearing up for several upcoming shows

Both Scott and I have entered several upcoming shows recently.
The Gilcrease Museum Show accepted 5 of our entries!
Mine:

And Scott's entries :

SOLD! Flower Market

I just did this little painting with my adult class.  We were aiming towards a particular, very impressionistic style.  I think we got it.
To Bid click here

                                   Correct Color above   Correct Composition below

Billowing Clouds on an Oklahoma Prairie

This painting of one of our fabulous, Oklahoma skies will be entered in an upcoming show, unless, of course, it sells on my ebay auction first.  I have been doing a series of outside paintings ( skies) and inside paintings ( nudes ) which can all be seen on my ebay auction site.  To enter in, click here

SOLD! Nude Back

I am having so much fun painting the nude.  Hopefully you all aren't getting bored with the repetition.  One can get lost in the subtle changes in flesh as it turns towards the light, reflects light upon itself... a delight.  This one is on sale on ebay now on auction.  I have several and will work a deal if someone wishes to purchase more than one.

To Bid
To Blog

Prix de West thoughts

Well I just got through browsing through the wonderful paintings on the Prix de West show which features the best of the best... you know, all the folks in South West Magazine... And I made the mistake of taking a peek at the sold prices of the paintings.  Most were over $17,000 and on up to about $65,000.  My first thought was, "gee, I am not asking enough for my work!"  I love it when any of us can make a decent living by the work of our hands and years of practice but, $17,000?  The thing is, there are amazing paintings being painted right now by wonderful artists who are experts at their craft, and who have put in the years and practice who are not selling their work for those prices.  Must we all hire a marketing person, a publicist, an agent, in order to make a living at this?

No.

Those of us who don't go in that direction have control over their own lives, can sell their work to people who really love the pieces they buy ( rather than purchases for investment only), our friends can actually afford a piece or two.  We make a meager living but speaking for myself, I love the life I lead.  I get to teach students who really want to learn, I get to know that my work has gone to homes where the paintings are cherished, I get to paint what I want, when I want and I am still excited at each and every sale.  I feel blessed.

The Season's First Apples 8x10 study

I took my new puppy over to the community garden and found some apples on the ground.  I wasn't quite sure whether the apples on the tree were quite ripe yet but the one's on the ground were fair game for using in a painting and then eating so here is a little study that I did of them.  I could have taken them a step further but I liked the lose feel of this little study so I think I will mark it finished and pop it on ebay.  To Bid and see what other goodies I have in my ebay gallery, CLICK HERE

Penny and Sparrow House Concert

On Friday night we had our house concert with Penny and Sparrow.  Great harmonies, really nice guys too.  They came to the studio of Folk Salad the following day to do an in studio interview that should air in the next couple of weeks.  click here to visit the concert that we moved to a friend's cool space, Studio Soul.
Penny and Sparrow house concert at Studio Soul

Finding food in my back yard

Since I have places in my yard that get no mowing ( my garden ) I am able to see what might sprout up on its own.  I pull plenty of Bermuda grass but I am finding so many edible things that want to be there naturally.  Last night I made curried greens from some of the plants that I allow to stay in the garden.  Just for fun, I researched their nutritional value . ( I love Google!)  Turns out that Purslane has more omega3 fatty acids than ANY other green veggie and was among the highest in Vitamin A.  Dandelion was in the top 4 green veggies for over all nutritional value.  Lambsquarters, more good stuff than spinach!  Poke Sallet ( don't EVER eat this raw, boil and pour off water and then cook again )   High in protein, folate, magnesium, Vitamins A and C and B6.  Wood sorrel for a lemony taste Vitamin C.  And this stuff doesn't have to be planted, tended, weeded, poisoned!  It is provided for you for FREE ( which is my favorite word )

Why is it we have so trained ourselves that it isn't food unless we buy it?  I don't know but if you took a look at the prices on ORGANICALLY grown anything you might start taking a look at what grows in your own yard.  Why not do an experiment.  Turn over a small portion of your back yard and see what editable goodies find their way to you.

This is some purslane that I found growing in my basil box. 

My new painting buddy

She is in charge of rags and paintbrushes.

SOLD (for a song!) Female Nude Study

Just for fun I have just listed this for .99 cents on ebay.  It is a study on 16x20 stretched canvas.  I also have several finished nudes on the site on auction this week but they all have start prices about $200.  To enter my ebay gallery and place a bid click here

A couple more changes

I have been working on a series of nudes this month.  A group of us artists hired a model for several days of exercises.  I thought I was finished with this last week and put it on ebay.  This week I made a few more adjustments and 'finished' it again.

To Bid

SOLD ( #s 2 and 4) A few new paintings with our sessions with a live model

Gifts from the garden

Last week it was so wonderfully cool and wet that I got the whole garden weeded in the matter of a couple of hours.  Then we went away for the weekend and when I returned.... did I mention "wet" ?   Anyways there were tons of weeds and now there are too many mosquitos and it is nearly 100 degrees out so needless to say I think I will let the weeds win this battle till it cools off again.  On the up side, my luck with cucumbers is on again, off again (I don't poison ) and apparently this is my year.  getting tons of cucumbers, peppers and my tomato plants look great but not nearly enough tomatoes to suit me.  This year I am trying a couple of new things... goji berries and ground cherries.  both are growing like gangbusters but the goji berries don't live up to their hype.  I will dry them and then see what I think but the fresh ones aren't tasty enough for me.  The ground cherries, on the other hand, are a great addition to the garden.  I really like the taste and I like the unique little lanterns you find them in.

Peaches and blackberries are from our community garden just behind the house.

Sunset Road

To Bid
To Blog
One thing about Oklahoma is you never have to look very far for an amazing sky.  I have added several beautiful Oklahoma Sky paintings to my ebay gallery and to my auctions this week.  This is one of a small distant storm.