Margaret Aycock Representational Oil Painting in Oklahoma

Petition to keep radioactive waste from being stored underneath our earthquake ridden Oklahoma

2026-08-17T07:18:54.797-07:00

This is an ill thought out proposal. So we’re going to accept a bunch of nuclear waste to be stored under our land and “stable rock formations.“ There’s nothing stable in Oklahoma. For those who forgotten the earthquakes. I’ll linked to oil and gas, fracking and disposal of Fracking waste.

Fool me once…

Some other paintings that were also in the show, some sold and some unsold. In contemplation of earth, sky, and water.

2026-08-10T07:03:55.976-07:00

Many of these paintings are featured in the little book that accompanied the show by the same name.The first one is called welcome to Oklahoma. It’s a relatively large and was a painting that was chosen to represent Oklahoma in the national Oklahoma paints the Parks exhibit years ago. There’s a painting of a pretty brooke in Southern Oklahoma An abandoned mansion in Hulbert Oklahoma. Glad I took the time to take some photographs as this year. It is no more. The others are paintings done from sketches on site at Golden Glen, featuring double Spring creek in Cherokee County.

A few more paintings that sold at my recent show

2026-08-10T06:58:52.630-07:00

A painting from the Osage Prairie with billowing clouds, A painting of the entrance to Golden Glen, and Cherokee County, And a painting of three girls at Swannanoa, at a wedding of some friends and Cherokee County. Little Wood Nymphs. I love how their moms let them wear their dresses and take off their shoes so that they could play in the woods.

I have finished my first novel!

2026-08-09T18:03:01.771-07:00

I am excited to tell you that the novel that I finished last year has been edited, and I am now looking for an agent or a publisher. I may decide to publish it under my own publishing company if I don't get any bites soon. ( Golden Pheasant Publishing ) It is a book written for middle grades, though I imagine adults would love it as well. I certainly enjoyed writing and reading it :-)

here's the cover... thanks to AI, Canva, and photoshop.... that is, unless someone in the industry picks it up... Let me know if you want a copy... send me a note at gmail... my name@

If you are on my list I will try to figure out a way for you to place an order and I can mail to you directly with a small mark up from my cost plus shipping charges, which are smaller for media mail.

I am trying to figure out this industry and how to get my book into the hands of people who want to read it but may not be used to purchasing books ( like me.... I am a library girl )

So here's the pitch:

I'm excited to pitch The Girls of Adirondack Woodcraft (Boys’) Camp, a lively, atmospheric middle-grade historical/contemporary crossover set in the late 1960’s, complete at 97,051 words. The story blends the nostalgic summer setting of The Summer I Turned Pretty – reimagined at a summer camp for boys in the Adirondack Mountains – with the complex female friendships found in The Girls in the Stilt House. Unlike the girls living on their own in the stilt house, my protagonist and her friend navigate their summer challenges within the support of their loving families. Readers who love a story centered in nature with a resourceful, creative heroine like the protagonist in Louise Erdrich’s Birch Bark House series will love this book.

Growing up in upstate New York, I spent my childhood with my family at Adirondack Woodcraft Camp, a boys’ camp, where my father worked as kitchen manager. Reminiscing about those idyllic days got me wondering what it might have been like to be a teenage girl living at that boys’ camp during that time. When writing the book, I had the joy of revisiting that magical place, this time as a teenager.

The idyllic 50s have ended, and the world outside the boys’ camp is smack in the middle of the turbulent 60s, and so is Molly. Molly is a small-town girl living with her family at an Adirondack camp for boys, where her father works as the summer kitchen manager.

Molly is a bit of a tomboy and dresses in whatever works in an art room or for a walk in the woods. She is most comfortable in old clothes and “creek sneaks,” her hair in a ponytail.

Her big plans for the summer involve hiking, swimming, and creating art. She has a deep love of the Adirondack woods and a desire to create.

With guidance from Doug, the camp naturalist, and Beverly, the art teacher, she will combine her passions and gain skills that she will carry with her into the future.

Enter Pam, Chief's granddaughter, and Molly’s best summer friend. Pam is fifteen going on twenty. She is from the big city, and this year, when she lands at camp, she is sporting a new, “groovy” hairstyle right out of the teen magazines. Her goals for the summer are twofold: finding a boyfriend and working on her tan.

Although Molly is on a different track, she idolizes Pam, an expert in all things teen.

This will be a pivotal summer for Molly. She will learn that sometimes standing alone is more important than fitting in. She will have to decide when to follow her friend’s lead and when to trust her own inner voice.

Navigating the tricky waters of this mismatched friendship becomes all too evident on a fateful canoe outing during a lightning storm, and later when Pam’s best friend from home makes an appearance in the chapter entitled “Three Is a Crowd.”

If teenage years didn't already have enough drama, throw in a panther stalking the camp, a thrilling cave rescue, a few bears, a visit to a gifted mountain woman, a runaway girl camped out in the woods and best of all, a first boyfriend.

Molly’s summer at camp is an unforgettable journey of growth, adventure, and self-discovery.

One of my beta readers wrote back with this note: “It’s a book every preteen girl should read. It touches on so many important themes: friendship, crushes, love, betrayal, divorce, domestic abuse, and how to navigate problems. (The abuse only garnishes a mention after the fact, nothing graphic ) All that on top of a ton of natural beauty and useful information! And exciting things happen! Any mom would feel comfortable giving this book to her daughter to read, and the daughter would find it exciting and engrossing! I wish every young girl had such a tender first experience with a boy. The readers of your book will have a better chance than they might otherwise have.

Another great show… We the people

2026-06-13T17:14:35.142-07:00

Man, the place was packed on Friday night. This was a great show with lots of important pieces in it. I’m glad I have an outlet for my unsettled feelings about politics these days. My peace, flying monkeys was sold tonight. I’m happy to say.

A few photos from opening night

2026-06-12T13:09:07.226-07:00

The show, In Contemplation of the Sacred Water, Earth, and Sky. Most of the paintings were completed this year and featured the land in and around the Osage Prairie and our land in Cherokee County.

Since childhood, I have been drawn to the quiet places. Whether climbing the mountain before my home or wandering along the bank of the creek behind it. It is in those secluded spaces where I first experienced wonder, creativity, and gratitude. Today, they remain the places where I find my spark.

I am a lifelong student of the land. Under the guidance of the late Cherokee wildcrafter Jackie Dill, I began to see the "bounty beneath my feet." She validated what I already sensed, that we are part of an intricate connection to water, earth, and air, reinforcing my belief that we are not merely residents of this garden, but its tenders. Now, as a forager myself, I can no longer walk through the woods without actively observing. I see the abundance of trout lily, poke salet, and lamb‘s quarters; I recognize the medicinal herbs and the hidden clusters of wood ear and oyster mushrooms.

But this intimacy brings an ache. Joni Mitchell’s warning— you don’t know what you got till it’s gone —-they paved paradise and put up a parking lot—is a constant hum in my mind. In Oklahoma, I see the encroachment: massive poultry farms, the mechanical drone of data centers, and the chemical footprint of corporate agriculture. These forces threaten the very purity of the water and soil that sustain us.

When the weight of this feels overwhelming, I act. I write, I advocate, and educate. But perhaps my most vital act of resistance is to simply sit in nature with a brush and canvas. To be quiet, to be observant, and to be grateful. These paintings are the physical manifestations of those sacred moments.

Some of the painting sold during my recent show in Tulsa

2026-06-10T09:43:45.888-07:00

Midnight Rendezvous, A Bright Spot, A Walk in the Woods,

Once upon a time I stopped at a roadside rodeo. It drew me in. I took multiple photos, this one of 2 horses and their riders taking a rest. I took out the riders and turned daytime into night. the others came from sketches in Cherokee County

Copies of my books available at my show

2026-04-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Copies of my books, Claire Goes Foraging and In Contemplation of Water, Earth and Sky are always available through this website but will make a special appearance in person at my show in May at Liggett Studios in Tulsa

the Sa

My Painting... The Calm After the Storm won 3rd place as the People's Choice At the Oklahoma Juried Show at Terra Rosa Gallery in Guthrie

2026-04-16T08:26:00.000-07:00

In Contemplation of Earth, Sky, Water

2026-04-02T07:07:00.000-07:00

If you are in or near Tulsa, save the date and come to the opening! Also open Thursdays from 5-8

and Saturdays from 1-5

Several shows coming up:

2026-03-26T08:04:00.000-07:00

I have a joint show with Courtney Lockhart, a ceramic artist opening on the second Friday of May. The show is entitled In Contemplation of the Sacred: Land, Air, Water. My pieces are landscapes in and around Cherokee County and Osage County in Oklahoma. I created a little booklet to go with the show featuring the written word by both my husband, Scott, ( an award winning poet ) and myself.

Another show is in Terra Rosa Gallery called Wait 5 Minutes. it will feature a couple of paintings... billowing clouds on the Osage Prairie and one of Travertine Creek in Chickasaw National Park, OK.

And last but not least I had a piece accepted in the new magazine, Okie Modern for their April issue.

Step-by-step Rainy night Tulsa

2025-09-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

This didn't load the way I expected. Start at the bottom for step by step visuals on painting a rainy night scene in Tulsa.

Since it is a night scene, begin to add darks. You may have to build these up as you go.

Keep it loose. block in the basics.

Vertical lines are always straight up and down. Horizontals will have a vanishing point on the top line and the bottom.

Step-by-step for this year is 12 x 12 Prairie Sky with Pretty Clouds

2025-09-07T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is a scene from a favorite spot on the edge of the Osage Prairie that we love to go.

Step by step cherry blossoms

2025-08-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

A view of our city from the northwest.

2025-06-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

My husband and I were just coming home from swimming up at Post Oak Lodge in the Osage county of Oklahoma and we’re at the top of the hill coming down into our neighborhood and decided to take a few photographs of the sun lighting up the clouds and a few of the buildings in Tulsa

Sold! This year‘s rendition… Cherry blossoms, and lilacs

2025-04-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

Curiosity, art, and writing show at Tcc

2025-04-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

Revised additions of these three books will be out this week. I will have PayPal buttons shortly if you would prefer to buy directly from me at a lower price or buy from Amazon. A couple of them are already on Amazon.

2025-03-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

SOLD! The Prairie wakes

2025-03-19T15:24:00.000-07:00

First Friday at Royce Meyers‘s gallery in Tulsa

2025-02-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

I have a couple pieces in the show. Both of them are our favorites

My painting is the lower one

Gathering herbs. SOLD!

2025-02-14T18:33:00.000-08:00

Time to let someone else enjoy this painting. It’s been above our fireplace for many years now. I think it’s going to a very good home :-)

Winter in my Neighborhood Sold!Sold!

2025-02-14T18:30:00.000-08:00

Signature Symphony project SOLD!

2025-01-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

https://www.signaturesymphony.org/event/pictures-reimagined/

This is going to be an interesting show. This show actually was created to support the music that the signature symphony will be playing. There are more artists than just me in the show. I’m posting this here just in case any local folks you’d like to attend with a 20% off ticket. Just add the code Flint Creek when you go to the signature symphony.org site for discounted ticket the site also goes into a little bit more depth about the theme of the show and the composer, And his original inspiration. The show is on the 25th. And begins at 7:30 if I remember correctly. Again more information at signature symphony.

Hardback landscape painting instructional book... hot off the presses!

2024-12-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

I just finished revising a book that I wrote several years ago. I updated some of the instructions and added more photos and assignments. This is a hardback book. I also have my paperback, unrevised on Amazon as well. At some point, I will reformat the hardback to paperback so they will both be available. Keep an eye out on Jan 1 for the release of my revised hardback of the Still Life instructional book. To purchase from Amazon

Opening season Tulsa ballet

2024-12-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Years ago I was invited to observe during rehearsals for Tulsa ballet in order to take photographs, sketch or paint. I took multiple photographs and did several paintings all of which sold. I kept the last one and then got a phone call the other day.

It was a young woman who wanted to buy the painting as it showed up in her Facebook feed from about 12 years ago or longer. She told me that she was one of the ballet dancers in the painting and had just bought a new home.

When she came over to the house, she told me that the other two girls in the painting were her very best friends and that she was only the one who was still dancing.

I volunteer for a group in Tulsa and took a bunch of young women to see the ballet Dracula around a month ago. I asked her if she was in that Ballet and yes, she was! Needless to say this painting found the very best home.