Art Crawl today and tomorrow from 5-8

1135 North Denver

5-8

Come visit us... Wear a Mask though ;-)

We are practicing social distancing.

Lots of paintings for sale, prints, t shirts and more

on another note....I am grateful on this Junteenth

I am a white girl….In gratitude

1.       For Oral Roberts University for being ahead of the curve on race relations and suggesting that black and white people might be roommates.  Where I had a great room mate who, like me, had never considered having a roommate of a different race but was up for the experiment, like me.  We still keep in touch.

2.        For St Aidan’s Episcopal church which was created by the joining of a  black church with a white church in the 1970s, before it was cool for the races to worship together.  This is where I first was involved in an in-depth study about “America’s Original Sin.”  A study that we took on with much pain, especially with our black parishioners who laid bare their lives so we white folks might hear their stories and understand and grow.

   

3.       For friends, Danny and Cassandra Jackson who invited us out for lunch after church to Dennys, where we witnessed that they were overlooked although they were in front of us, where we asked to be seated together in ‘non smoking’ and were ushered to a corner to wait, where countless others were seated while we waited for 45 minutes before being seated in ‘smoking’, where people all around us were given menus and had ordered and been served before we were given menus, where we asked Cassandra and Danny if we “should just walk out?”, to be asked to “ stay, so you can see what we deal with every day.”  Where a couple who had come in after us, been served, had dessert, and were now leaving before we even got our meals, turned to all of us and asked, “ What is the deal?  Why have you not been served?”  Where 3 hours later we left with new understanding.  ( on a side note… they later became a party to the discrimination lawsuit against Denny’s.  I wish I had known about it as we might have been the only white people who were also discriminated against because we were dining with black people.)

4.       For race riot survivor, Wes Young and his wife, Cathryn who first invited us into their home as we went on a home tour of what was soon to be our neighborhood.  I remember telling Wes that it was kind of a culture shock to see so many black faces framed on their stairway, where in my house there were framed white faces.  He remarked that “ for a couple of hundred years we have been in your houses, taking care of your children, cooking your meals, cleaning…. And then seeing how you live for another 40 years or so on TV.  You have never been in our homes.”  That changed from that moment on as we were often in each other’s homes until they died.  They shared the joys of their lives and also the painful moments with me and I learned of the countless, unnecessary harassments Cathryn received from traffic cops, and Wes’s firing from a job where he worked most of his life, never taking a sick day until asking off for a funeral for which he was fired because the funeral lasted 2 days.  These two people, despite countless injustices brought on by powerful white people, never lost faith in us, and through their love, and willingness to work towards that goal, helped create a neighborhood in which social justice, kindness, diversity, and working together rule the day. 

Native American Woman

Native American Woman

11x14

This was painted from an old sepia tone photo that we bought about 20 years ago at an estate sale.I had to imagine colors and placement.  The photo was very very old and I could tell there was someting in her hair and there was a hint of a striped design on the blanket.  In the original photo it appeared that she was on a cliff overlooking a body of water but since we live closer to the Black Mesa, I decided to put her there instead.

A sketch from my mother in law's back yard

8x10 oil

$100

I think I may bring down the importance of the white flowers on the nandina but for now this is what it looks like ;-)

Prairie Burn

16x20 oil on canvas

$450

This was painted from a photo taken by a friend after a visit to a ranch on the prairie.  They do a burn of the prairie land in the spring of the year.  It takes several days and a lot of planning and weather watching to make it all happen.  The burn does some very interesting things to the atmosphere that one might not expect.  From many miles away the sunset was amazing and the sun turned a brilliant RED!  It was weird and beautiful.

Blackberries in Bloom

8x10 oil on canvas

$150

blackberries in Bloom

Gosh I wish I had remembered to run back over there when they became blackberries

The Nam

8x10 on board $150

The Nap

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.

About this website

YOUTUBE.COM

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.