Peonies in a Greek Vase

One of my favorites from last week's peony painting frenzy.
It is on auction this week along with several others.  To bid or visit my ebay gallery
click here

My Childhood home work in progress

I ran across a faded photo of the house where I grew up and decided to paint my memory of it.  It is getting close to being finished.  I am having fun painting my memory... the tree that I can still remember where to put my hands and which leg goes over which branch in order to climb it, the winding pathway to the dirt road that lead through the corn patch down to the river, and the tall mountain that we loved to climb across the street.  There was a spring that came right out of the bottom of that hill.  I used to take a little cup, climb under the barbed wire fence and fill my cup with the freshest, coldest, best water I have ever tasted.

Vegitarian Lunch from the garden

I encourage everyone to have something planted in a garden, even if that garden is a bucket on the patio.  This is what we had for lunch yesterday.  It was so pretty ( and good) that I just had to take a photo of it.  I might add that we had mint and wood sorrel tea to go with it.

more peonies and primroses

set up in an east facing window

Transparent wash with general shapes and colors

Start adding opaque paint with areas of medium values and then darkest values within those larger medium value shapes.  Try to hold on to the beautiful transparent lights where you can and where they benefit the work.

Soften some edges and sharpen those in the focal point area/areas.  Sometimes less is more in my book anyways.  I don't like to have things look to tightly rendered.  I am going for a more painterly look in my work..... sometimes achieving my goal.

 

I think I am done painting peonies for the season.  This is my 10th painting, and I believe it will be my last till this time next year.  For those of you who are artists I thought I would include the process.  Although it is an oil painting, it starts out very much like a watercolor.  With peonies you have to work fast.  You pretty much have one day per painting as by the next day they have started to droop.  It sure is nice to stand on my breezy back porch and breath in the scent of all these beautiful flowers and then on top of that, get to paint them!  This painting and the others are in my ebay gallery.  I will sporadically put them on auction from time to time as I do my other paintings.  As always, you are free to make an offer, especially if you desire more than one painting.

To visit my ebay gallery click here 

Another Peoney Painting

To purchase and/or visit my Ebay Gallery click here
These are so much fun to paint and I suspect there are more of these little paintings to come as the weather has been so cool that the season seems to be lasting a little longer and we haven't had horrible winds and rain storms to knock all the blossoms off.  I am so lucky, I get to be surrounded by beauty and get to breath in the beautiful scent as I paint.  Keep checking as I will post more as they come. 

Painting Peonies

I have been painting as fast as I can.  I just listed this painting and 7 others on ebay.  All peonies. 

                                                                                                   

To visit this painting and the others just posted click here

Peonies and Primroses by Margaret Aycock 11x14 Oil on Canvas

I have been painting peonies as fast as I can this week.  I haven't even had time to put any of them in my ebay gallery until today.  This Painting is an original oil on canvas painted from life of Peonies and Primroses.  They have both traveled with us from house to house over 30 years, the Peonies having traveled through time even longer, coming from the home of my husband's grandmother in Arkansas.  I love painting them every year and having their sweet scent fill my house as I do so. It lists for $350 on my ebay website but for my blog followers it is $300  to purchase:

To visit my ebay gallery  click here

Red Roses in a Jelly Jar

One of my favorite paintings on auction this week.  To place a bid or just visit my auction site Click Here
To visit my painting blog Click Here

Peonies

The peonies are in bloom and I expect to be painting them all week.  This is my first run at them.  Once finished, they will be for sale in my ebay gallery or feel free to contact me privately.  Here is my step by step process.  Since my light is gone for the day I figured I would post what I have and take a big step back from the work.  To visit my ebay gallery where I have many other paintings for sale, Click here

Deer in the Woods

This week I am revisiting some of my paintings and repainting portions of them.  This is one of several.  It is now on auction through my ebay gallery along with many others as this week I am posting 5 paintings per day to celebrate having a positive feedback score of 800.  I That was a lot of work... or should I say, fun.  :-) To visit my gallery auction, click here.  
Feel free to make that score turn from 800 to 801.

Blue Bird and Tulip

A new painting on auction this week... just in time for Spring.  We are having a May Day celebration in our ebay gallery all week.  I am listing 5 or more paintings a day on auction this week.  Check each day to see if your favorite painting has been added.
To bid on this painting click here.

Happy Easter salad

Is this not the prettiest lil ole Easter salad you ever saw?  When I walk into the yard and see what God has provided I am very thankful.  As in all things... you have to have the eyes to see... I am learning how to see what has been provided for food that has always been here in my yard.... I just forget you can eat some of these things... The salad has the usual things... different lettuces, arugula, and spinach from my veggie garden but also includes violets, dandelion greens, arugula and turnip flowers.

Scott Spins Vinyl at Chimmera

My husband, Scott who is often heard but never seen on the radio, NPR's Folk Salad, was invited to spin Vinyl at Chimmera's Vinyl Brunch this week. 

This is my son, Dylan and his future wife, Melody.

Worlds Collide ... the morning and afternoon classes meet at the park

We jumped on our chance to find a beautiful day without much wind to paint in the park.  Unfortunately it was very hot with out much shade yet.  Oh well, plein air painters gotta deal with it.  Here are a few pics from our day at the Gilcrease Museum Stuart Park

Spring Storm... Trouble.... SOLD!

I have to remember the sky is one of the main things I love about Oklahoma.  I got home just in time to cover some of the crops that have already popped up in the garden.  Yesterday I painted outside with my adult class in 85 degree weather.  This pretty little storm is expected to first drop hail and then tomorrow drop temps to below freezing and it is APRIL!!

This dramatic sky and others like it inspired this new painting.  My facebook pals had several suggestions for names.  I am leaning towards " Trouble."  Nothing spells trouble like an Oklahoma tornado and throw in a bad hair day....

Oklahoma Vineyard

This is a little 6x6 sketch that later was used to complete a larger work. It took going to France to truly appreciate the beauty of  the unique landscape of Oklahoma.  We have vineyards, fields full of flowers ( not poppies though) and one of the most diverse terrains in the United States with Mesas, Prairies, Treed Mountains,and Mountains with little vegetation, and  Hills.  We are missing the Ocean, which we actually have but it is no longer filled with water :-).  Back to the painting....The little one is sold and the larger one is on auction this week on ebay.  You can bid here 
Want to read my blog about my life as an artist?  click here

For Jesse Aycock, Dylan Aycock and Scott Aycock

Something I am working on for Mayfest

As a working artist I wear many different hats in order to make ends meet.   On Mondays and Wednesdays I facilitate an Art and Healing program on the High Risk Pregnancy Unit at Tulsa’s Peggy Helmerich Women’s Center.  I am considered and artist in residence through the Arts and Humanities Council.  I have done this project for over 8 years and have been witness to amazing, unintended results.  What began as a program to help break the boredom of the young women on the floor who were confined to their rooms and specifically to their beds for weeks and months at a time.  In the confines of those four walls and in that bed there is no chance of interaction with anyone else on the floor, even their own neighbors, many of whom are experiencing the same difficulties.
Add the Art Cart Sessions:
What before were endless days with nothing to look forward to, no one to talk to, the stress and anxiety of being in the hospital, the worry of their condition and that of their unborn children, and the lack of creative input or output at the most creative time in their lives, now with the art sessions the young women have a reason to get out of bed 2 times a week.   Their spirits rise as time draws near for the sessions .  Solitude turns to community.  Worried young women share their stories.  I often hear “Oh, I am in here for that too.”  Second or third time moms often share a successful preemie birth story  with others who have low weight unborn babies that they are worried about.  Tension and Anxiety begin to lessen as the girls work with their hands creating wooden plaques, frames, jewelry, knit, crochet and more.  The room fills with animated voices and laughter.
This week I had 3 Spanish speakers in Art Cart Sessions, two of whom had been in their hospital rooms for 3 weeks w/o ever meeting each other. One of them had attended as often as I would invite her in my very bad Spanish. This time there was a lot of happy Spanish voices in the room and new friendships were made. The English speakers have been faithful attendees and have stayed later after I leave to continue doing art and this time, one of them brought in movies to watch with everyone after the session. This would have NO CHANCE of ever happening except for the art cart sessions.

Is your church or civic Women's Group looking for a great cause to support? I have been working for many years doing an art program with young women on strict bed rest, many of them for months at a time, awaiting the birth of their child. They are all on the high risk unit of the Peggy Helmerich Women's Health Center. The art cart sessions are the ONLY thing they have to look forward to each week. Unfortunately we have run out of funds for the program and are looking for someone to take on the funding. Any ideas out there? Call me or contact me through Facebook. I had a paid position but am having to move to volunteer just to keep the program going. You can also make a donation through The Arts and Humanities Council w attention the High Risk Unit art cart Arts and Healing Program.

A Day in the Life....

After a leisurely attended breakfast, newspaper and coffee, my husband and I went off to attend an interesting discussion at Trinity Church downtown. The day is cloudy and the once lovely spring temperature has steadily dropped throughout the day which is ok by us as it will keep me out of the garden and free me up to paint.  Did I say "keep me out of the garden?"  Well I meant to say that I went out and picked the day's salad greens and threw in a few red bud tree blossoms for good measure, and put up my garden tools just in time before it started to sprinkle.

Looking ahead and seeing the sky darken, I stacked up some firewood up by the house and out of the reach of the rain.  I built a nice fire, put on the kettle, my husband settled in to spend the day writing and I started to work on a couple of paintings that I have been playing with lately.  The one pictured here was started after seeing some beautiful clouds right before sunset the other night.  Fortunately I was near a great vantage point and could pull off the road and snap some photos before coming home.  I was also in the mood for a portrait so I kind of combined them both.

I always think it is a good idea to take small breaks from your work as you move through the process.  It gives you some needed distance and hopefully you will gain a truer perspective on what is working and what is not working for you. And that is why I thought I would stop, snap a photo or two and blog for a minute.  Well gotta get back to the fun.