New Stairs in an Old House

We, after 20 years or so, have finally gotten around to repairing ( replacing ) the main staircase in our house.  My carpenter opened a cavity under the landing and I thought... " I need to hide something in there for the next person who repairs these stairs in 100 years or so.  I quickly got a front page Tulsa World, a giclee of one of my paintings and a couple of CDs of Scott's and wrote a sentence about who we were.  I wonder if they will even have CDs in 100 years?  oh well.  Anyways later in the day as the carpeter was tearing out the banister, he came to me with a slip of paper and said, " I think this is for you."  It was a letter from Sandy and Rob that was hidden in the banister for us.  They worked on repairing the banister in the early 80s.  Fun!
Thanks to Dennis Welch who worked for several days on this project.

New Garden Bed Prep

You can't paint fresh fruit and veggies unless you can grow or buy them.... I prefer to grow them.  This bed has been a thorn in my side for years.  The thing is that the trees across the driveway have nowhere to get any nourishment so they sneak up into the tiny little bed next to the house.  It is full of tiny hair like roots and I decided to fight the battle.  I dug the whole dang thing out, put down heavy plastic sheeting, added all the cardboard that was in the recycling bin, all the rest if the leaves in the yard, found an old metal slatted shelf to use as a grate/sieve and sieved out all the roots, rocks etc and was left with a nice, fluffy, compost rich soil to start planing short rooted veggies.  Keep  your fingers crossed!

Jesse's New Album just got released!

click here to watch a short video on the making of the album

here is a link to Jesse's website where you can purchase the CD ( amazon, CD baby )

http://jesseaycock.com

I had a few people that were going to be absent from my class the other day so I changed the assignment to " bring a troubled painting to class day."  I had this painting kicking around for a while and decided to play with it.  It was from a 3 hour sitting w a model and although I liked it, I couldn't sell it on ebay so I decided to play with hair and make up and costume and see what happens.

To check her out on ebay, click here

ACEO art trading cards

To bid on one of these little #ACEO sky paintings click here
What fun!  The bidding starts at $23 with free shipping.  I sign and date the back of each of them.  They are each painted in oil on ACEO canvas. 

Avocado 6x6 Original Oil

To Bid

Air bnb moves to the Aycock Home and Studio

For years we host traveling musicians in our home for free when they do a house concert with us so we are kind of used to having strangers ( who quickly become friends ) in our home.  Years ago we also converted our basement into a private apartment which we rented out on a yearly basis.  After a neighbor turned us on to #airbnb and after our son traveled Europe staying with airbnb folks all across the world we thought we would give it a try.  So any of you who happen to come to Tulsa and need a place to stay should check out our little airbnb apartment.   The studio, upstairs is open by appointment and if you pick the right weekend you get to be our guests at one of our house concerts.  We don't have them every weekend.  You can check schedules at houseconcertsunlimited.com  For info about saving your space at the apt  click here to find out more

Paleo Crackers/ pizza crust by Me... as if I have nothing else to do today!

I have been perfecting this cracker/bread/pizza crust for a few months.  And when I say " perfecting," you will see by my measurements that I don't mean "perfect."  Those of you who cook will understand and the rest of you will just have to follow along.   Turn your oven to 375 degrees.  Plan on cleaning  your kitchen as you make the crackers.  If you decide to answer email, water the garden, or even take one step out of the kitchen, you will be sorry.  These things want to burn and will wait until you turn your back to do so.

step 1.  You will use any nuts that are available.  I used a combo of dollar general roasted, salted almonds and some cashews for this. If you want to cut down on the carbs ( which is the whole reason for doing this in the first place ) grab some garbanzo bean flour ( or make your own garbanzo mush ) maybe throw in a little flax seed meal too. 
step 2.  rinse off all the salt on the nuts ( those who are watching salt intake... otherwise, who cares, leave it on ) 
step 3.  Throw the nuts in a blender w a little water to make something that looks like, and is the consistency of cooked oatmeal. Throw in a few cloves of garlic and an egg while you are at it. a dash of olive oil wouldn't hurt and some nice, very sharp, cheddar cheese.
step 4.  dump all that into a big bowl and add some chickpea flour, maybe some Italian spices if you want and some flax seed meal. Add enough water ( or almond milk, soy milk ) to keep that consistency like oat meal. 

Step 5. Now liberally oil a cookie sheet or two.  Sometimes I sprinkle sesame seeds, flax seeds and such on the pan after oiling.  This time around I didn't.
Step 6.  I tilt the pan, use my oiled fingers or an oiled spoon to make sure this gets spread in a very thin sheet all over the pan.

Step 7.  Now is when I added a bit of sesame seeds across the top and sprinkled with oregano
Step 8.  Pop it in the oven  and check after about 5 minutes.  It should be starting to hold up on its own a little.  I pull it out of the oven at this time and cut it into crackers but leave it on the tray and pop it back in the oven for about another 5 minutes.  The sides should start to turn brown a little.

Step 9.  Now pull them out and with a nice steel spatula, flip them all over.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and pop them back in the oven for 5 more minutes or less.  Keep checking .  They are still conspiring to burn on you.
If you are making pizza crust then don't cut it, just pull it out of the oven, slip a spatula under the edges to loosen, flip it over on to your counter and then slide it back onto your tray.  It will now be upside down and ready to put  on your toppings.... now or later.
Step 10.  Sometimes the ones in the middle need a little more time.  Chuck them back in the oven and turn the oven off.  They will crisp up and be ready to eat in no time.  Enjoy!

Another Pre Raphaelite Girl... She's back on the auction block

I started this last semester while my students were working independently.  I think I finished it the other day... one never knows for sure.  It is on auction this week through ebay.  A purchase will assure me that it is, in fact, finished :-)
To Visit my Ebay gallery and possibly bid... click here

Pre Raphaelite Girl with Cat by Margaret Aycock SOLD!

This was a really fun assignment that I gave to my students and of course, not wanting them to be the only ones having all the fun..... I painted one too.  We started with a random photo of a pretty woman and each person had to add a background and an animal.  I loved what everyone did with them... I had bear cubs, cougars and my kitty too.

To bid visit my ebay gallery by clicking here

Melody Takes a Walk

I have been working on this today.  I started with a couple of photos, on of my son's girlfriend and another of a very cloudy moment during an ice storm in which I didn't know that the sun was trying to peek through until after I looked at the photograph.  You can see the progression and changes that I made during the process.  I liked how everything was kind of monotone.  I moved the snow covered dirt road into a better compositional position, played around in the snow myself, with paint and played in the sky.

Pre Raphaelite Girl by Margaret Aycock

This is what I have been playing with today.  I started this painting in my adult class as a demo and finished it over the holidays.  I have been painting Oklahoma landscapes and decided to put her at the edge of an Oklahoma forest.
Be the first to Bid by clicking here to visit my ebay gallery

Persimmons

It is that time of year.  When it gets cold and grey out I look for a relatively warm, sunnier day and finding one,  take off into the woods. I keep my eyes peeled for bare branches with little balls hanging from them.  Finding that tree, my search takes to the ground.  The best persimmons have already fallen.  They are usually unattractive and  mushy which might scare off those who are used to perfect looking fruits and veggies offered at grocery stores.  That is fine with me because those folks grab the pretty looking persimmons on the tree, bite in and find a bitter tasting fruit that quickly gets spit out.  I won't have to worry about them taking my tasty treats.  I have been eating them and painting them throughout the last couple of weeks.  This is the latest one.

To bid

What I am working on today

Some interesting photos, a great subject, a borrowed coat 

not done yet 

Allow me to brag on my kids two birds with one stone....

My son, Dylan is releasing my son, Jesse's 7" vinyl record on his record label, Scissor Tail Records.  So Dylan designed the cover ( excellent job, Dyl ) and Jesse wrote the songs, played several instruments and produced the mini album.  A bunch of well known musicians play on the CD.  You can check it out at http://jesseaycock.com where there is a link to Dylan's label and more info about the release.

After a Walk in the Woods

We took a nice walk in the woods two days ago when it was about 55 degrees out and then worked on this the next day when it didn't get above freezing.  Surprisingly we found a tree full of persimmons long after the season was over.  Every tree in the woods was totally vacant of persimmons EXCEPT one and it was absolutely full of them.  We have had several hard frosts and an ice storm which should have cleared every tree.  Don't know how this one held on so long.  Anyways the persimmons, having been through those extreme weather conditions, had turned a very interesting shade of blue, almost like a blueberry.  I just had to bring some home to paint.  Later in the day we found a tree that had dropped a bunch of acorns too and the squirrels hadn't found them yet.  I have been meaning to try to make some acorn flour and these were so big and meaty that I couldn't resist.  When I started to make the acorn meal and boil it, it smelled just like molasses.  I called my husband in and asked, " what does this smell like?"  to which he replied, " Molasses."  I am excited to try some bread made from this flour.  Perhaps a loaf of banana persimmon bread is in order.

Now and Then

The photo shows what my pretty lilac bush looks like right now.  The painting is what it looked like this summer in all its glory.  Hopefully it will spring back after all this ice melts off of it.  It was about 12' tall.  and today its leaning self is barely off the ground :-(
To bid on this painting and check out my other ebay auctions click here

Aceo trading cards

One of my ebay buyers ordered a few of these and so I tried my hand at them last week.  Turns out they are really fun to paint.  I put these 3 on ebay today.  There is no reserve on the auction.  Each one is hand painted in oil on an aceo trading card.
To Bid

ACEO cards

What fun!  one of my ebay buyers just requested a couple of artist trading cards.  I had never considered doing one before but went to my local art store ( Zieglers ) and they hooked me up.  Since I bought a pack of these little trading cards I suspect I will be doing some more of them.  These two were a lot of fun and I do so love immediate gratification ( these didn't take too long to complete )

Want one of your own?  I can surprise you with a dramatic billowing cloud sky scene or do one similar to those above.  Only $35

Church and Lunch in the Woods

We got up early on Sunday and went for a little foraging trip to the woods.  We found a couple different eatable mushrooms ( which were delicious ), some poor man's pepper, greenbriar, and buckbrush ( we weren't that hungry ) and some delicious ground cherries.  Yummy!

Wood ears ( brown jelly like ) Oyster mushrooms ( gills run under the cap and down stem)

Buck Brush

Greenbriar ( climbs, has tendrails )Some are used like a root crop, try digging them, first through the stickers, then they are tough to get out of the ground, cook like potatoes or you can make flour from them by chopping up and adding to water to later collect the starch in the bottom of the water for flour.

Ground Cherry ( has a little lantern like husk, bright orange fruit delicious

upside down oyster mushroom on willow

poor man's pepper ( best when green )

wood ears