a little landscape lesson

Since my class can't meet right now I decided to send them a little assignment.  I might as well share it with you too so here it is....

Moonlight Rodeo

$750 16x20 oil on canvas  Contact through my blog if interested.

today's paintings for sale

I am happy to send a close up of any painting you wish to purchase.  Shipping is not included in the price.  Contact me if you wish to purchse.

Sold!

Plein Aire Persimmons

I have been posting 1-3 paintings per day for sale on my Face Book page.  I am donating 50% of the greatly reduced ( in most cases ) sales to local covid 19 relief funds.  Check out my facebook sale here...https://www.facebook.com/Margaret.Aycock.Artist

Tulsa World Newspaper article

https://www.tulsaworld.com/entertainment/look-for-the-helpers-creative-family-uses-art-music-to-benefit-musicians-restaurant-workers/article_3e1b7e93-a9b4-5973-acdc-ea22db1428f1.html

Covid 19 relief fund sale

Ok, so I am going to kill several birds with one stone here. I am going to post a painting a day as I make the brave attempt to clean my studio. I am going to slash the price well below retail. If you purchase the painting I am not requiring it, but any extra cash you want to donate will be appreciated. I am then going to split any sales with the Red Dirt Relief Fund and the Tulsa Restaurant Employee Relief Fund. This could be fun! If you need shipping please include $20 more, otherwise arrange with me for pick up or delivery. If anyone has a brilliant idea on how to work this better, let me know but I am thinking the first person to say, " I want to buy this painting," gets it. They can pay for it through pay pal ...sending money to friends and family so that Paypal doesn't take a cut. Some of these paintings will be sketches and some will be demos and some will be finished paintings. some were done years ago and some, last month. Help me clear the studio while helping Tulsans in need.. Please pass along to your pals.... unless you want to be the first to purchase ;-) I will be adding a couple of paintings each day.

Tornado 16x20 oil on stretched canvas.. $130

Nude 8x10 oil on stretched canvas.... $85

Sunflowers 8x10 oil on stretched canvas $125

Bison on the Tall Grass 16x20 oil on canvas $195 SOLD!

Listening to Music Still Life oil on canvas 16x20 $195

Arkansas River in Colorado 9x11 oil on canvas $ $125

Beach GirlsMy take on a master 11x14 oil $120 SOLD!

These are the paintings as of today: If you want to purchase you can let me know using the contact on this website. As days go by I will add more.

SOLD! Pandemic 2020

This is how I am dealing with things.  The good news is that I actually like my tornado dreams.  They always involve a lot of drama of course, but always end with me finding a great hiding place to ride out the storm.  I am usually a heroine who saves others along with myself.  Let's hope this whole thing turns out the same.  Stay safe out there folks. 

Pears

6x6 oil painting on canvas.  This was done earlier this year when the pear tree was covered with pears.  A great excuse to hang out in the back yard.  This painting is $150 and can be purchased directly from me.  To visit my artist blog :  http://margaretaycock.com

Fireflies show starts this week. Juried Women over 55 Art Show in Tulsa

This show has been moved to digital.  

Creek paintings

I think my favorite way to paint is small and quick and onsite.  These were all painted on 8x10 canvases en plein aire in Oklahoma.  The Flint River, Bird Creek, Chickasaw national Park and Spring Creek.  Actually it is often hard to let go of these as they are like someone taking your favorite photograph of your favorite day out of your photo album.  Fortunately the ones that are no longer with me have gone to good homes :-)

A day in the wild places

When it is too cold and yucky out, I sometimes take myself to the wild places by painting.  The top painting was really already finished but then I saw a few touches that could make it a better painting.  The following one is of my son, Jesse and his dog Scruff.  I took the photo at a nearby park but decided he would be better off hanging out by my favorite creek. Both of these paintings are for sale on my ebay site but you may always purchase through this site for a slight discount as we knock out the middle man.  .  

Dirt Road with yellow flowers revisited.

The painting below with the figures in it was done last year but I never really warmed up to it.  This year I took another look and decide the figures detracted from the scene and so I removed them.  See if you can find a few other changes that I made between these two paintings.  You may purchase the 20x24 painting directly from me for $275.  If you would like to visit my ebay gallery you may 

click here

Dog Day at the Beach revisited

So I posted this painting a few weeks ago but left it out for review.  It just wasn't measuring up to the drama that I saw in the original photo so I played around with it yesterday and now I think it is done.  I have this on ebay w a start price on auction at $275.  If you want to purchase directly, for $250 let me know.

to visit this painting on ebay where you can also click to see all my other auction and buy it now paintings click here

Jesse Aycock and the back story of his amazing record.

This has nothing to do with art.... well maybe a little in that music is an art, but I thought I would share this that my son, Jesse wrote about his experience in making his wonderful record.  I might add that his dad had just gotten out of the hospital after having a heart attack and he walked out of the hospital, got in the car, and I drove him straight to the Church Studio where he would let the music heal his body and his soul :-)  It was a magical, life affirming experience for us all.  The record was amazing, beautiful, otherworldly.  

It was just another normal day in Tulsa.... I had stopped into Cheap Thrills vintage clothing to do some rummaging before heading home. On the drive back this thought of making a record kept cycling around in my head. At one point I remember thinking “do I have enough songs to make a record and who would fit the vibe best”. It came to me instantly - George Sluppick and Neal Casal with Eric Arndt ! I had known of Neal since I was first introduced to his music in middle school by my dad. I was instantly a fan and really felt a strong connection to what he was doing. I had just met George pretty recently and had been playing with Eric for awhile. I will get more into this later -

Fast forward to the early 2000’s. I had finished making my first record “life’s ladder” and released it into the world. I received a message from someone named Lex on MySpace (who is now a friend of mine) saying how much she loved the record and that she wanted to send it to her friend, Neal Casal. She also wanted to send his music to me. She thought we should know of each other and maybe one day collaborate. I told her I was honored she liked the album and that she didn’t need to send me Neals work because I already had it. It wasn’t long after that I opened an email from Neal expressing how much he loved the record Lex had sent him, and that we should play music sometime. I couldn’t believe that someone I looked up too so much actually wrote me, and liked was I was doing, and wanted to jam sometime ! I wrote back and expressed how much his letter meant, and that I loved the idea of collaborating.

Fast forward again .... Neal comes through Tulsa with the Cardinals a few years later and hits me up out of the blue. At this point we had never met face to face. I picked him up from the bus that was parked outside the Brady Theater and gave him a tour of Tulsa. He had his camera so I figured he would like to see some of the stranger parts of town and some of the landmarks. After running around a bit I wanted to bring him by to check out my record collection. In talking with him I realized we had very similar taste in music and shared the same passion / addiction of collecting vinyl. We flipped through a bunch of stuff and picked around on guitars a bit before running back to the venue.

Fast forward a few years later ....My friend Eric and I were spending a lot of time in Little Rock, AR playing with our friend Jason Weinheimer who also ran a studio. Jason mentioned that he knew this great drummer from Memphis, George Sluppick and that we should meet him. He said George was coming through that weekend and that we should come over and jam at the studio. We got in my car and drove over. As soon as we started playing together I thought this is magic. George and Eric sounded great together ! We spent the rest of that night jamming and hanging out. By the end we all agreed we should keep playing together.

Fast forward a few months later .... I get a call from George and he says “hey man guess who I’m sitting with ?” I say “who” he says “Neal Casal”. “I tried out for this band the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, and am now the drummer. We were talking about Tulsa and your name came up. Thought we would give you a call.” What a small world.

So getting back to where I started ..... I’m leaving the vintage clothing store and thinking about making a record, and who I would want involved. It came to me instantly, Neal, George and Eric. At that very moment I got a call from George who I hadn’t talked with in months. He said “hey man what you got going on ? We have some time off with the brotherhood. Wanna do some shows or make a record ?“ I couldn’t believe the cosmic forces at work. I said “ I was literally just thinking of this.” I knew Leon Russell’s old Church studio had some gear moved back in after sitting abandoned for years. I thought it would be so cool to do something in there. My friend Jason Weinheimer from Little Rock said he’d come over and run the session. George, Neal and Eric were all into it, so I started making calls and had a session booked by the end of the day. It was all falling into place perfectly. We had 10 days to make a record in one of the most vibey places on the planet. During the session we got a surprise visit from David Hidalgo who happened to be in town for an experience Hendrix tour. He was hanging out in the control room with Jason while we were tracking and we had no idea. We all came in and said hello and listened back to what we had just cut. David was sitting in this chair smoking weed out of an apple when he said “can I try something ? I have an idea” we all looked at each other and said of course ! He went in, and in one take played this insane solo that almost seemed out of place. When he came back in the control room he said “now run the tape backwards” when we listened back our jaws dropped to the ground. It’s was pure magic ! He then went back to his hotel to grab his Hidalgophone guitar for another tune we cut called “out to space”. During the session we also got a visit from the legendary Jimmy Karstein. He shared all kinds of wild stories about tracking in the church back when Leon had it, and going on the road with JJ Cale. He also played some mean maracas on a few tunes. If you wanna hear a good Karstein story find a copy of “Don Nicks Road Stories and Recipes” there’s a great one in there. There were lots of magical moments throughout the whole experience. By the end we came out with a great record called “Flowers & Wounds” and some wonderful memories.

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JESSE AYCOCK - STRANGE CLOUD

Recording of "Strange Cloud" from Jesse Aycock's "Flowers & Wounds" album at the Church Studio in Tulsa, OK (aka Leon Russell's church studio home of Shelter...

On the Shore w Dogs

This is a 16x20 oil painting done from a friend's vacation photo that she took on the east coast.  I was attracted to that interesting sky and the little figures on the expansive, reflective shore.  This painting is on auction right now on my ebay gallery but can be purchased here for $190.  To visit the painting on ebay, click here.  The startling price on auction is $145 if you want to join the fun.

recent paintings

Oklahoma Visual Artists Coalition 12x12 fundraiser SOLD AND SOLD!

These are the two paintings that we entered in the show.... The Mock Orange Blossoms by me, and the dramatic Oklahoma Sky by my favorite student, Scott Aycock.  Sold!  and Sold!

Tulsa Artist Fellowship sketching group w live model

I have been fortunate to be able to attend several sketching opportunities in Tulsa provided by the generosity of Tulsa Artist Fellowship and specifically, Cynthia Brown, one of the fellows.  I wish they would do a longer pose than 15 or 20 minutes but I guess it is good practice and I actually especially liked the results of the seated nude that I painted on a canvas that had been painted over w a greyish green/blue color.  I liked how it showed up through the flesh.  If I had had more time I might have ruined that part and tried to make it "perfect."  Either one can be purchased for $125.

Video of the painting of the portrait of Father Powers

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipM9jd4QVaMjJ3oVtWzH6iev17gmB-x70eNjDrBA

SOLD! Revisit an older painting

I think it is important to revisit paintings that haven't sold, or that you are not real excited about.  We all have them.  I do a lot of plein aire studies and then just put them away if I don't have time to take a second look in the week in which I painted them.

On my way home one day, driving through my neighborhood, I spied this relic of times gone by.  Many years ago in the 1920s, there was a huge race massacre in what is now, my neighborhood.  Houses from that time sat empty for many years as much of the neighborhood was burned to the ground in the riot by an angry white mob.  Fast forward to when we first moved into our home.  This area is several blocks away and held the remnants of once loved homes which now housed occasional vagrants.  The city decided to raze the remaining homes and make way for a university ( which never got built on the land) So now stands only the stairs and an occasional tree or flower.

This redbud caught my eye that day and I decided to paint there in the field.

I revisited it today ( about 5 years later )  Below are the before and after photos.  The painting can be purchased directly from me for $200.  9x11 oil on linen, on board.

Father Jack Powers

These are all out of order but you can see the progression below.  When I get a moment I will try to order them correctly.

Colorado Stream

If interested in purchasing, $148  contact through this website.  This was a little demo sketch that I did for our adult painting class.

Crop an oil painting? SOLD!

Well cropping usually belongs to the watercolor painters but I think I am going to use it on this painting.  This was originally a 16x20 painting of one of my 3rd cousins who was waiting to see her grandpa's boat come into the harbor in Alaska.  I loved the photo and worked from that but when I finished the painting seemed to be less and less about the little girl and that wasn't my intention so.... I cut it out of the stretchers and will crop the painting on photo shop a time or two to see what best serves the intent of the painting and then stretch it anew.  I liked her whole outfit as to me it really says " I live in Alaska."  But I may loose the little boots to cropping.  Haven't decided yet.

Brook at Chickasaw National Park Oklahoma

This is a plein aire painting that I painted at the Chickasaw National Park in Oklahoma.  Crystal clear, spring fed brook.  So pretty.  It is 8x10 and can be purchased for $200

Wild Fork Show

I always jump at any chance to hang work at Wild Fork in Utica Square.  I will have a show running from mid July through Mid September.  I am working to get everything framed right now and should have everything hung for the 15th opening.  The food is always great, the atmosphere is wonderful, as is the service.