LIVING WITH ART BLOG

Last week, on my birthday, I stood in my living room and saluted the works of art and assortment of treasured books that have enriched my life over the years. Each of them triggers powerful memories. As I casually picked up a book about the artist, Georgia O’Keefe, a scrap of yellow paper with a handwritten message fell to the floor. In the note, written by my late husband John Belt, was the phrase “How wonderful life is when you’re in the world,” which he had borrowed from Elton John’s “Your Song.” Apparently, I hadn’t fully opened that particular book since John’s death in 2013. What a wonderful Birthday gift!...

Ever since I was a little girl and learned how to read, I have been fascinated with the idea of writing a novel. Over the years the content of my imaginary novels have stayed fluid, changing as my life has changed. It seems that anytime I have a bit of down time, I start writing a novel in my head.  But a few months ago I had “My Big Idea,” which consists of my writing a series of related historical fiction novels...

Karl Brenner, "Above Lemon Lake," Oil on Canvas, 14 x 18 in.

It was in the early 1970’s that I decided to gamble. Seriously gamble. At the suggestion and encouragement of a fellow Instructor at Tulsa Junior College, I applied for a summer job dealing Blackjack at Harrah’s Casino in Lake Tahoe. Growing up I didn't play cards, not even Old Maids, because, in my family of origin, gambling was considered a sin. So my decision to spend the summer being a card dealer meant that not only must I learn the house’s way of counting to 21 and acquire card handling skills, It meant I would also need a “good story” so as not to get any grief from my parents about my decision...

Gran Tourismo - Mango (TerraTrike)

This past weekend I visited my old stomping grounds in Arkansas. It would be an injustice to say that the area bordered by Fayetteville and Bentonville has changed since I was a lowly graduate student at the University of Arkansas and a fledgling teacher in both Bentonville and Rogers, Arkansas...

Throughout my life I found role models to help me understand what was possible, as well as what was appropriate in given situations. Of course my parents were my first role models. I admired and inherited qualities from both of them. Dad was intelligent, curious, opinionated, a bit driven and hard working. Mother was a loving, soft spoken, energetic, attractive woman who loved beautiful things. As a child I tried to act like my Dad and look like my mother. In fact, if I were to indulge in a little self analysis, that’s probably how I continue to behave...

Dorothy Moses

I was introduced to Dorothy Moses in 2000. I had just opened my first Art Gallery at 3003 Paseo Drive. It was a rather small space sandwiched between Claude Anderson’s Studio Blu and a much larger studio space where Mike Larson was creating his well known “Ballerina Mural” for the rotunda of the State Capitol. Dorothy was not the first or only person John brought to the Gallery, but the memory of our initial meeting was impactful and has stayed with me all these years. I knew she was an artist before John made the introduction...

Orange Crush by Aidan Danels

Among the gifts of the summer are art festivals. One of these highly anticipated events started this week in downtown Oklahoma City. Having canceled last year’s festival due to Covid, the Oklahoma City Arts Council is expecting a great turnout this year. Art Festivals and Art Fairs are  popular, non threatening venues for purchasing art...

It feels like I have been waiting for Spring a long time this year. As I drove to the Gallery this morning, I was acutely aware of acres of beautiful green grass and the re-emergence of flowering plants and flowers. My first thought was that I was driving through a John Constable painting, minus the cows. This sight also reminded me of the poem, which has long been attributed to Ogden Nash, that I learned as a child:

In graduate school I was introduced to the Myers~ Briggs Type Indicator, commonly known as the MBTI, and became fascinated with personality theory, particularly as it related to the workplace. Developed by a mother and daughter team at the University of Florida, Katherine Briggs and Isabel Myers, the MBTI was based on the work in archetypes by Swiss psychiatrist, C.G. Jung. Individuals taking the Myers Briggs can determine their personality type by selecting preferences when answering specific questions....

Vincent van Gogh, "The Starry Night," 1889, Oil, 28.7 x 36.3 in

Ever met anyone who didn’t want or long for something? Perhaps it was/is an intangible object or feeling, like “happiness,” or a very specific act, like wanting to live in a luxury high rise in the upper East side of New York City. From birth, we all seem to want things. When we obtain that particular item, we often quickly focus on acquiring something else. As we mature our wants, needs and expectations often merge and become the goals and objectives that provide focus and structure to our lives...

David Phelps, "Daydreamer" Bronze, 8 x 20 x 20 in., $4,200