Sunday, April 22, 2012

We had a delightful day, save one minor incident, at the tall grass prairie preserve.  Richard was our tour guide and lead us to some really cool places.  We found an old abandoned chapel on the way, visited a hilltop graveyard in the middle of nowhere, saw an abandoned rock quarry, bison, coyote, deer, scissortails ( our state bird) and unfortunately, a scorpion.  ( our unfortunate incident was that Scott got stung by a scorpion while lifting a cool limestone rock to add to our flower garden).  Remembering old westerns where the looser of a cowboy arm wrestling contest was subsequently stung by a scorpion and died a horrible death, scott became concerned about the sting and we headed to town to make sure he would be ok.  Thankfully we had the presence of mind to stop a rancher and to google scorpion stings on Richard's cell phone ( once we were in range).  The rancher assured us that if there was going to be a problem we would already know and google confirmed so we backtracked our 15 minute trek on dirt roads back to the  spot we intended to hike and paint.  Scott was fine.  I brought two books on tall grass wild flowers and edible wild plants.  We found tons of wild flowers and most memorable was indigo, wood sorrel,( which we found to be a delicious lemony snack ) , wild iris.  Although I pointed to delicious recipes for milkweed, I couldn't convince the guys that it was worth gathering.

Richard and Scott had camped in the area previously ( a couple of years ago ) so they knew of some beautiful spots to paint.  They left me sitting beside a beautiful little stream and they hiked on upstream.   Richard found the saw that he left up there two years ago and subsequently forgot it again and left it in our car :-)

I was able to knock out two worthy little sketches and the guys were able to go exploring.... ( them on a large level, me on a smaller level )

After 6 hours of driving and hiking in the prairie, and on the way back to civilization I commented " Ya know, this landscape reminds me of Scott's trip hunting in Wyoming.  I wonder if there is any deer hunting up here, even though we haven't seen a single deer."  As I said the word, " deer" one crossed right in front of us!  We got a big kick out of that, let me tell ya.

Richard wanted to make sure we stopped at his favorite rib place in a small town on the way home.  Those of you who know Scott, know how picky he is about his ribs, having been spoiled on Memphis BBQ.  Not willing to take a chance of being disappointed, he ordered something else.  Richard let us both try one of his ribs.  Needless to say, they won Scott's stamp of approval and we will definitely be going back there again.  Apparently, according to newspaper clippings on the wall, the place has won numerous awards on it's ribs.







A good time was had by all.  Enjoy the pics. Expect to see some of these Scenes in new paintings.
Margee

Monday, April 02, 2012

page 19


page 18


Beautiful Girl


This is a painting that I just finished with my adult class.  As I was painting and teaching, I decided to video tape the process.  I began with a master painting so that my class and I would all be on the same page at the beginning of the process and so that I could teach the process of measuring using the eye as a unit of measure.  I allowed each student to bring in other photos and background with the light coming from the same direction in order to change the hair, costume etc.  I have this video for sale on my ebay site.  It retails for $20 but is on auction this week on my site.  To bid on it, see other paintings, visit my ebay gallery and online auctions click here


Thursday, March 29, 2012

SOLD! PETUNIAS

This is a painting that I just finished in my adult class.  I was demonstrating for the class how to paint in oil in an opaque way and also in the way one does w watercolor.  I just put it on my ebay auction where I sell a lot of my daily paintings and my larger pieces as well.  If you are just starting to collect the square daily paintings, please check out my auctions.  Many start below $50.  To bid on this painting and enter my ebay gallery click here


Monday, March 19, 2012

Red Barn

I found this little barn on my way to school and thought I would stop over on the weekend to paint it.  Goodness, you would think that I was the only game in town.  So many people felt like they needed to pull over to check out what I was up to... Maybe it was all those " Posted, No Trespassing " signs :-)
I have a slew of paintings on my ebay auction this week.  To bid on this one and gain entry into my ebay site, click here 

Monday, March 12, 2012

Prairie Road 12x12 oil

A prairie road painting.  I followed a dirt road back behind a casino at the edge of town.  Found this great dirt road surrounded with red sumac and yellow goldenrod.  Beautiful!  This is on auction this week through my ebay gallery along with many other paintings added daily throughout the next couple of weeks.  To bid on this and visit my gallery click here

If you are interested in a very interesting kickstarter project with my son, singer/songwriter, Jesse Aycock click here to find out more about his latest CD with Neal Cassal and George Sluppick.  It is going to be awesome! 

Monday, February 27, 2012

Paradise in Bloom 12x12 oil on wrapped canvas

This past summer I did a series of scenes along this prairie oil road.  The sumac was a deep red and the golden rod was in full bloom.  Thankfully I am not allergic like so many of the folks around here, so I could stand and paint in the field till the cows came home :-)  Fortunately no real cows anywhere to pester me, just the gentle click and whine of the oil pump.  This painting is on auction this week and several of its brothers and sisters are in my ebay gallery.  To bid on this click here 
To find out more about me and my work, purchase my new, full color how to book on oil painting or any of my 4 instructional DVDs, you are in the right place.  Check the sidebar of this blog.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Prairie Sky

This is one of my series of prairie sky paintings.  I really like this one a lot.  They are all 12x12 and on wide wrapped canvas.  They look great in groupings.  I have a few of them on auction this week on ebay.  To bid on this one and have access to the rest of my ebay gallery, click here 

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Prairie Road 12x12 oil on canvas

This is a sister painting to one that I have on auction right now on ebay.  I did a series of these studies last fall.  Out in back of a local casino is an old oil road.  Just for fun I decided to take a drive way back there on the prairie and found tons of great painting subjects.  I have all of the series in my ebay gallery and one or two on auction this week.  To bid, Click Here


Monday, February 20, 2012

My husband is still in the hospital and so I am working from there. I am having a big auction all this week to help pay the bill. Thank God we just got new insurance and they will carry the weight of most of it but it is 6 days and counting so I know it is going to be huge. I just posted this on ebay:

 I promised my class an plein aire class session and found a pretty place on campus on Thursday to take them the following week.  Weather can change pretty quickly 'round these parts and the weekend turned wicked cold but by Tuesday we were all in T shirts again so I figured we would treck over to the pretty spot.  Unfortunately the cold wind knocked every last leaf off of all the trees except this one which was smaller and more protected maybe.  That worked out fine for us as that gave a nice violetish background for the bright yellow tree.  You know how we artists love to work w opposites on the color wheel.... at least I do.  I have this on auction this week along w about 45 other paintings.  you can check this one out here and then click the link to visit My Store in that link and you can see the other paintings both on auction and in my ebay gallery.  Click here to go to my painting

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Hospital Bill Sale on Ebay

My husband had a heart attack on Valentines day and we are both in the hospital.  I hear there is another heart attack when you get the bill so while we are here I decided to put everything I have on auction this week.  I am adding stuff a little at a time for the next few days.  If your favorite painting isn't in the mix, feel free to make me a good offer.  My husband is on the mend but a few complications are keeping us here for another few days... a very expensive bed and breakfast w/o any beautiful scenery :-(
my ebay gallery can be reached through http://midwest-fine-art.com

This particular painting was commissioned by the folks at Carpentree who supply religious art for Mardels.  They made a print from it and framed it so beautifully with a little cut out in the matt under each cup reading " Faith  Hope  Love
This is the original oil that was used to create the print

Saturday, February 11, 2012

SOLD Sunset on the Reserve 8x10 oil

I am beginning to work on a project of painting different scenes within my state of Oklahoma for a show that I will have at the State Capital Gallery in the summer.  It is pretty colorless and bare out there right now but fortunately the sun began to set as I sketched and I was able to capture ( I hope ) the pretty trees as they turned from their pale gray to bright yellow.  to bid on this painting in my ebay auction, or just to visit my ebay gallery... click here  If you are interested in purchasing one of my painting how to videos or my new full color book on oil painting you may do so here, on my blog.
here are a couple of photos from that day, one before and the other during the sunset



Co Exist art show up through March


Friday, February 10, 2012

SOLD Prairie Girl 16x20 oil

This is the painting I have been working on in my adult class.  We all started with a portrait originally painted by Bouguereau and then added our own take on it.  I love to paint the Oklahoma sky so I put my little girl in a prairie dress and sweater and put her in an Osage landscape w a beautiful sky.  I just posted this to ebay, both in my ebay gallery and on auction through my ebay gallery.  To visit the gallery, click here
To learn the process of painting a portrait like this, check this blog for my new instructional DVD.

Monday, February 06, 2012

French Convent

I don't travel outside the country but I have friends who do :-)  Thanks so friends, Bill and Linda, who visit their daughter every couple of years or so at the convent where she lives in France, I get to see their beautiful photos.  I used one of them to paint this impressionistic little landscape.  I have it on auction today for a few hours left ... on ebay.  To bid, click here  I also just finished a new video of how to paint a portrait in the tradition of the masters.  It hasn't gone into mass production yet ( that will take several months ) but is available here on my blog.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Lemons and Magnolia Flowers

This is a painting that I did as a class demo.  Magnolia flowers have such a lemony smell.  I thought about including the lemons and perhaps tea with lemon in the still life.  It is for sale this week on my ebay auction.  I have about 24 paintings left on auction this week which is coming to close in the next day.  to bid click here

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Yellow Flowers in Reflective Vase

I was going to set up a still life for my students and another instructor had left this great reflective vase w yellow flowers in the room.  We created a still life around it.  What fun!  I have a painting video that details the process of painting reflective objects on my blog as well as a couple of other DVDs and my new full color instructional oil painting book.  .  This painting is on ebay right now and you can bid on it by clicking here

Monday, January 30, 2012

SOLD Petunias 16x20

This painting was actually done in the studio rather than outside.  I did want to create the feeling that it was outside though and added the typical ( for this part of the country ) prairie background.  This painting is all about the flowers.   I have it and about 40 other paintings on auction this week.  To bid on this one or visit my ebay gallery, click here.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

pg 17


page 16


Reworked version of Louise in the Meadow


Picnic

My adult class had been working on an outside scene w a table set for a ladies picnic.  I had a new student who wanted to do the same but didn't know how to approach it so finding a canvas in the studio that needed to be painted over I demonstrated the process to her.  Using a canvas that already has paint on it can produce some interesting results.  This painting is a little darker than the 1st one as the underpainting affects the top layer of paint.  I still liked the results and my new student produced a successful first painting.  I have this and the first painting on ebay this week on auction w no reserve.  It is 16x20 oil on stretched canvas.  To bid or enter my ebay site to see my 40 other auction paintings click here


Friday, January 27, 2012

page 15


page 14 from my book




Several weeks ago we had friends over for dinner.  My friend, Louise went outside w my husband to tour the garden.  It was chilly and I lent her a wrap.  Her husband ( with the eye of an artist ) looked out the window and suggested that I take a picture of them as the red wrap on Louise looked so pretty against the background of green in the garden.  I agreed and took several photos.  this one ended up in a painting that I demonstrated to my class.  I changed her location and put her in a hilltop prairie.  This painting is for sale today in my ebay auction along with about 50 other paintings that I am adding to the auction today.  To bid on this one and view my other auction items, click here  

Friday, December 09, 2011

Beautiful Girl 20x24 oil

This is the latest painting I did with my class.  I was attempting to teach some glazing techniques and also some more impressionist brush stokes, dry brush etc.  This painting has a little bit of everything.  I have it on auction this week through my ebay site and also have a lot of daily paintings there as well. Click here to bid

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Page 12


Louise in the Meadow, 16x20 oil


I rushed outside to take a couple of pictures of my friend Louise as she and my husband toured our backyard garden.  I liked the way my red wrap looked on her against the green of my garden.  I had to demonstrate a landscape to my class and thought it needed a little bit of red in it and so my friend made it into my next painting.  She is also an artist and makes the best Chocolate Cake.  To bid on this painting click here to go to my ebay gallery/auction
I am also posting a page every day or so of my book on oil painting to my blog.  I think I am up to around page 12 or so. Check back often and you can read the whole book or better yet,  purchase the book here so you can hold it in your own little hands!  It would make a great gift for your favorite artist.  .  

Sunday, November 20, 2011

page 11 from my book


Open Studio Arty Party Sunday, Dec 4 1-5

I am gearing up for a big event at my home/studio.  I have invited several other artists to join me in my endeavor.  There will be a potter, hand crafted jewelry, a mosaic artist, several painters in several different mediums, knitters, and those who create one of a kind cards, painted purses and more.  All of my artists are bringing snacks to share with our patrons and I will have something hot to drink.  Any of you who live or are visiting Tulsa on that day are welcome to come.  The address is 1135 N Denver in Tulsa.  See you then.  Bring a friend.

Friday, November 18, 2011

TCC class outing

Goodness, is Oklahoma weather unpredictable.  My students have been wanting to try their hand at onsite painting.  Yesterday, driving to school I thought, " well, today is the day."  We packed up our easels and hiked across campus to catch the last few leaves of autumn.  This pretty little tree was lucky enough to still have it's leaves and so it got painted.  I have it on auction this week on my ebay site.  If you would like to bid on it or my other auctions click here    While you are there see if you can find the painting that is listed for a start price of only $12 with no reserve.  happy bidding!  

Friday, November 11, 2011

page 10 of my book


National Endowment for the Arts and us

Our class trip to the Oklahoma Arts Conference netted us some National press! This is from the National Endowment for the Arts.  http://www.arts.gov/artworks/?p=10554

Day one of Louise's Chocolate Cake 8x8

This painting is on the last 8 hours of auction on ebay and I tried to post a better picture ( as I took the one on the listing at night 3 days ago ) but alas, Ebay won't let me change the pic.  Anyways here it is pictured in much better light today.  It features day one of my friend Louise's cake.  I also have day 2 listed today as well.  There was no day 3 as by that time we had to jump in and eat it!  Click here to bid and visit my ebay gallery