Peach on striped cloth

to bid
The last week of class I had spare time and decided to do a little study while my class worked on finishing up their projects.  This is on ebay right now.

on auction this week

to bid

Did I tell you I have a Traveling Exhibit in France?

hahahah!  A french lady staying at the guest house asked if I could paint over a hideous painting of palm trees that she has put up with for years on her van.  I tried to tell her that it really wasn't my area of expertise but agreed to it anyways.  Seeing her ecstatic face was worth stepping outside of my comfort zone.  The added plus is that I can say my work is shown all over France.

Wild Flowers in Provence

I recently vacationed in Provence, France at an abby where a friend who is a nun there, was celebrating her jubilee year ( 25 years at the abby )  I used my spare time to paint the beautiful fields, flowers, orchards and country roads.  This one is a finished sketch that I have for sale on ebay right now.  To bid click here

my lilac bush

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40% off sale on Tees and Bags

Today I am having a sale through my zazzle store on my tees and canvas bags.  Type in the code apparelbags13 and get 40%off.
http://zazzle.com/margaretaycockdesign

Mayfest Violinist 8x10 oil on canvas

Mayfest is coming up... this is a little painting that I did this time last year.  It is for sale in my ebay auction this week.
To Bid

Revising old paintings

A day to rework old paintings... Every now and then I go through my work and look at things with a fresh eye.  This is a painting that I did last year and something about it kept bugging me.  I changed the face a bit, hair, chest and then changed the arm and added a cape ( if you can't fix it....  hide it :-)  I had made her forearm to long I think but the hand ended up in the right place.  Rather than change the arm I just hid it inside the cloak ... brilliant, eh? The colors are still a little off in the photo above.  it is actually closer to the coloring in the bottom photo.
To Bid

Here is a photo of the older version

Stopping to pick berries 16x20 oil

Last year we had a wild hair and decided to check out the wagon races in a small town near Tulsa.  So glad we went.  We found a great spot to view the whole thing from a little hillside under a persimmon tree.  I got to take a ton of photos and we got to see all sorts of horses, ponies and donkeys.  Anyways... when I got home I fashioned this painting from several photos taken that day.  I pulled it out of the studio and made some changes to the girl on horseback today and then posted it to ebay on auction.
To Bid

Pears

I was recently hired by the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council to do a mini workshop so that people could test the waters of oil painting.  Since I have practiced daily painting for quite some time now, I knew that I could introduce people to oil painting with a simple still life.  This was the outcome of that workshop.  It is on auction this week on my ebay site.  I have my still life notes a few posts down on my blog if you are interested.
To Bid

My God Children Picking Flowers

I was looking for something else and ran across this old painting.  I did this painting about 8 years ago and sold the rights to it to Carpentree which is the company who supplies Mardels all across the country with religious art.  They did a lovely job with it.  I retained the painting and it now resides with the parents of these two precious kids. 

MEME Gallery opening

There is a new gallery in town.  2022 E 11th in Tulsa.  I have a couple of pieces in the show which covers a lot of artistic ground from realism to the abstract, bot 2D and 3D, paintings, and photos.  A great space and great art!

Notes for painting a still life from my book and DVDs

I actually posted this in 2010 but decided to post again so you don't have to search deep into my blog to get this information.  I am doing a mini workshop this weekend at AHAH ( The Arts and Humanities Council, or Hardesty)  in Tulsa.   We will be working on those cute little 6x6 daily paintings.  I will post mine here after the workshop.

 Notes for a Still Life Workshop


Setting up a Still Life.1. Put objects together that might normally be seen together (or not)
2. Keep it balanced
a. Remember that cast shadows and color intensity are part of the balancing act.
b. Use a variety of objects (large, small, short, tall etc)
c. Think about what colors might look good together. Opposites in the color wheel are an easy and sure bet. Opposites work well to form a uniform composition, for example, orange may be used to grey your blue objects when you want to create a shadow side and blue may be used to create shadow on orange.

Abstract Design
1. Begin with a viewfinder or create one with your hands.
a. Lightly sketch abstract shapes and lines. Use a little paint and lots of turp as you should expect to erase as you refine your composition. (Using a clean brush and turp)
2. Give a little thought to your focal point.
a. Decide what to leave in, move around or take out.
b. Avoid putting your focal point in the middle.
a. A focal point is a place where one or more of the following elements exist: 1. The most detailed or interesting object. 2. The lightest light next to the darkest dark 3. Side by side opposites. ( blue/orange red/green violet/yellow)
c. Allow objects to leave the painting area in at least 3 places. Make good use of the painting surface. (Don’t put all the stuff in the middle of your canvas with nothing on the edges)
Your beginning idea in abstract form may look something like this.









Firm up The Drawing
1. Make sure containers are symmetrical
2. Check the ellipse on containers. Top ellipse should be similar to bottom
3. Pay special attention to your focal point. Draw it really well.
4. No need to draw each pedal on flowers. Leave that area vacant.















Add Color1. Block in all local colors first (the main color you see when you look at the object. This is usually a medium value and painted as a solid mass like if you were coloring in a coloring book. The only thing not painted solidly are groupings of flowers and leaves. Lay those in transparently with soft edges. Firm them up in the last stage.


Finishing
2. Add darks, then lights and then highlights (in this order) You have already painted in the medium values in the block in stage and they may or may not need further work. You may have to repaint the medium values when you are trying to create a transition area between the dark/meium or light/medium.
a. Ask yourself “ Where is the lightest light and darkest dark. Compare all other values to them.
b. Squint a lot when comparing but keep your eyes open when applying paint.
c. Use the biggest brush you can for the size of object you are painting.
d. Make your brush strokes interesting, going up, down across, diagonal using the sides of the brush rather then the point unless working on detailed areas.
3. Pay attention to where edges disappear (where one dark value meets another or medium value meets medium or light meets light.)


Applying thick paint is the last stage to be
used in the lightest areas only. Brush is
almost flat and parallel to the surface of the canvas


Finished Painting

Prairie Brook

To Bid

This was a painting that I started on site and finished in the studio.  Friend, Richard Higgs took my husband and I to some of his favorite off the beaten track places.  This was one of them out in the Tall Grass Prairie in Oklahoma

2 class assignements in my adult class

This is a painting that I just completed ( I think ) in my adult class.  I demo the process to my students.  We all start with the same photograph and each of us manipulates the photo and background to please us.  My girl ended up on a bluff in Ireland.  She now has long red,brown hair and is younger than the girl in the photo.  Anyways here she is and if you would like to bid on her, you can by clicking here
I have several other paintings on auction this week as well. 

 

On another note all together, I thought I would post a cool painting one of my students just completed in our " self portrait " assignment. I really liked it.  to begin she laid on the floor while another student arranged her hair and took her photo.  We then manipulated the photo using photoshop.  I love photoshop!  Great job, Tina!

I thought it would be fun for you all to see what might happen if you leave a painting in the hands of the artist for too long.  I have had this painting around for a while and brought it out the other day to list on ebay.  When ever you bring something back to your attention after not looking at it for a while, you notice things.  I decided to add and subtract a few things to make this a better, more balanced painting.  It is listed on ebay this week for still, a low start price w no reserve.  see how many changes you can notice.

to bid click here
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MUSICIAN SERIES IN ACRYLIC

I usually painting in oils but doing these little mini paintings of musicians called for acrylics as there was really no blending on these pieces, just application of paint, side by side.  I have just completed 2 series of these paintings and these were left overs.... I chose different photos of these artists to use in the final paintings..  Anyways I decided to do something fun on ebay and start the auction at $37 with the winning bid getting to choose which painting they wished to buy.  If you want to bid or if you would like to visit my other auctions click here

30% off sale today only on my artsy zazzle products

http://www.zazzle.com/margaretaycockdesign

Avocado

You have to paint these things really quick as they get brown almost as soon as you cut them... That means you finish your painting before dinner and add the avocado to your favorite salad ... which I will do :-)
To Bid on this painting click here

A day in the life of a portrait lesson

This is a sampling of our work, mid project at TCC.  I think it is interesting to see all the different takes on the same photo.  We use a photo as a jumping off point and change anything we want.  Fun!  Mine will be on ebay soon.  See the photo attached to the middle painting.

Tornado

I have a great auction going on in both my ebay sites this week.  To bid on this painting Click here
To visit my other full ebay gallery Click here

SOLD! A Spooky Girl

Buyenlarge 06590-7P2030 The Aw (Google Affiliate Ad)Pre Raphaelite like painting.... I call it " The Good Witch"  I don't know.... I was demonstrating portrait painting to my class around Halloween and got into a spooky mood.  This one is on auction this week for a very low start price of $75 for a 16x20 original oil!

 I combined the bottom two photos and added a few of my own touches

 

To Bid Click Here
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Community Garden in my Neighborhood

I love my neighborhood.  This is what I did on my very cold Saturday.... I helped 40 of my neighbors turn an empty lot into a garden.  We had 2 huge truck loads of manure delivered, tons of leaves and mulch, and cardboard were also delivered.... we made a layer cake of 1st, cardboard, manure, leaves and woodchip mulch.  We created  berms around our fruit trees ( planted 2 years ago ) too.  We had invited a permaculture guy who helped us and guided us.  The neighbors directly across the street fed us all a great lunch... they were thinking maybe 10 or 15 people might show up and rose to the occasion of 40 of us.  Someone else took care of hot coffee and breakfast snacks earlier.  I brought over some nice dry firewood and another neighbor brought some pinon wood and we built a beautiful bonfire to warm us in the drizzle. 

 along this picket fence grows blackberries

 see our cute pavilion in the back ground?

 young folks pitched right in with us

 my bonfire is just getting rolling

almost done... time for lunch

Red Roses

Sister painting to the one on auction this week through ebay.  This one is in my ebay gallery as well.  Check them out... click here

more pennies ( dimes and dollars ) from heaven

Well the other day I was feeling overwhelmed by some pretty big expenses...one rental house needed a new roof, the house next door needed to have the sewer snaked and the rental house my son and I own together, needed a MAJOR sewer repair that involves a $5000 street cut!  Anyways, those who know me, know I have this little theory, superstition, that folks on the other side who love us, send us a message of love and hope by leaving pennies on the ground for us to find.  So I get out of my car at the grocery store and what do I find, but a dime.  At my next stop, I get out of the car and what do I find, but another dime!  Well I put up a " Thanks for the encouragement to Jesus, Dad, Grandma and Beverly and went on my way.  I told Scott what had happened.  As unluck would have it, Scott was having an equally bad day.  When he arrived home very late after doing the radio show he threw something in my lap.  He said " This is what I found when I got out of my car at the station. "  It was a wadded up DOLLAR!... I told him of course that it was a message the he too was greatly loved and that he should put out a " message received to Jesus, Grandma Inez and Grandpa Parker. :-)  We are still muddling through but the refrain from the old Bob Marley song, " Every little thing's gonna be alright... " is echoing through our brains :-)

Mayfest Fiddler 8x10 oil

To bid on this painting and enter into my online auction where I have over 80 paintings on auction for one week only, CLICK HERE

Big auction this week on ebay

I will try to post a painting a day this week as almost every painting in my online gallery is on auction this week in order to raise $$ for a new roof and a new sewer line :-(  .  So if you have had your eye on one of my pieces and it was just out of reach for you, chances are it is within reach this week.  Many are priced less than 1/2 price and some real bargains at less than $40
to bid on this one and enter into my gallery, click here

The Magic Age

If you leave a painting too long in the artist's hands, she is going to end up changing something.  This painting was in the studio and got moved to above the fireplace a couple of months ago.  The longer I looked at it the more something bothered me.  It is great to see your painting with fresh eyes.  Anyways, after working out the problems in my head, I decided it was time to work them out in person.  The stripe on the ball was formerly way to bright and took a lot of attention. ( bad )  The boxes right behind the doll were too dark and needed to be brightened and lightened just a hair in order that the painting become more balanced.  So here is the new piece.  I will look at it a while longer and see if there are any more changes due before re hanging... Now I am thinking one bright marble on the box might just be the ticket :-)  Oh, I almost forgot.... I just put this on sale on ebay for one week.... at 50% off.  What a steal!  One of my favorite paintings.  I have about 6 others on 50% off sale too.  to view and enter into my ebay gallery click here

SOLD! Peaches and Cream 6x6 oil

I reworked this little 6x6 last week and posted to ebay with a very low starting bid and no reserve.  I actually have a couple of peach paintings on auction this week.  Both end in one day.  to bid click here

From that link you may also enter my greater ebay gallery where I house around 80 other paintings.  Always feel free to make an offer. 

China and Art

Well the word on the street is that the art market is being effected by Chinese pretenders.  It has probably been going on for quite a while now and I have been unaware of it.  I have long been aware of the icky "hotel, motel" art that pops up from time to town in traveling convention like sales that sell mass produced oil paintings but now these things are cropping up on ebay and some of them, at first glance, look pretty good. 

A recent drop in sales on ebay has caused me to go looking for the reason why.  Here is what I found.  Lots of very very cheep art produced  in China.  We can't even buy the canvas at the price that some of these "original" work is selling for.... sometimes only a dollar.   From my research on the net and through a personal, well known, artist, friend, apparently, not only is this stuff cheep, it is often stolen from us and reproduced!  My artist friend discovered ugly knock off bronzes that were coming out of China years ago that looked very similar to her own ( only not well made and the faces were unattractive).  They had the gall to even sign her name to the work.  I ran across others in the USA with similar experiences through the internet. 

I hope those of you who purchase art will forgo the cheep imitations coming out of China, and continue to support 'real' artists, working hard in this and other countries around the world.  Many of us work very hard at our craft, spend years honing our skills only to have our hard work stolen and reproduced in China and then sold right back here in the states.  Thanks for reading my little rant.

Quartz Mountain at the Gloaming 8x10 sketch

A trip to Quartz Mountain had me doing a lot of onsite oil sketching.  What a wonderful weekend.  Here is one sketch that was done just a few minutes before the sun set.  We had fun scrambling up onto the mountain shortly after finishing this sketch to try to catch the light and take some photos of ourselves.  Man, does that sun move fast!  We certainly got our exercise and also some great photos.  Ok, so back to this painting.... I just posted this on ebay for auction.  Those wishing to bid or enter into my ebay gallery, can click here

Fairy Tales oil on canvas

I teach adult oil painting in Tulsa.  When I set up this still life for the class I kept coming back to the theme of fairy tales.  This painting doesn't depict any specific tale but has elements of many with the crystal ball ( wizard of oz , snow white.... )  , Black crows ( a symbol of impending doom maybe), a magic wand....books of spells, an apple ( snow white ) an empty box ( treasure, pandora... ) Anyways here is the finished painting which I quite like.  It is on auction this week on ebay with no reserve, starting at $395.  Click here to bid or to see more of my work

Peach 6x6 oil

I was looking over some of my paintings that have been in the studio for a while and decided to rework a couple.  This is one that got a little attention this week and is on ebay at $39 with free shipping this week.  to bid

SOLD1 Red Haired Girl 20x24 oil

This began as a class demo.  I started with several photos.  a few of pretty girls and a few from our trip to the Wichita Mts.  Like Frankenstein, I took a hand from one photo, a face from another, a pretty outfit from another and borrowed the hair from another photo.  All combined into this painting of a lovely girl taking a walk through the woods.  I think all little girls imagine how wonderful it would be to have very long hair.  If we grow up to be artists, we realize our dreams through our painting.

She is on auction this week on ebay .  To visit her on ebay click here

I reworked her flesh a little and then took a photo in a darker room.  Man the color sure is different.  I need to go retake this in light!

Better.  Can you tell what other changes I made?  see below for answer :-)

I took a little bit of hair off the top and left side.  I took a tiny bit off the chin and added a little to the left side of the forehead and left cheek.  I also brought a hint of blue further out to the left to suggest a portion of her dress.  I feel better.