Oklahoma Landscape

FOR SALE Oil on Canvas $150.00 without frame

 I got a new job and started in December. I am working in a Contemporary Art Museum as the Gift Shop Manager and it is a new experience for me. I have worked in a Gift Shop before but was not involved with how the Shop actually works. For me, the most enjoyable part of the job is that I can be creative and work on problem solving skills. I am learning new skills as well; budget planning, curative duties and so much more. I have had to give up my studio however.

Because I am working full time now, I can no longer go to the studio unless it is on a weekend. The weekends are when I am able to spend time with my children plus be home relaxing. So I made the choice to give up the studio and move my things back home. I am now bunking in the attic with my teenage daughter. She has the entire attic as a bedroom and agreed to let me take one of the dormer window spaces.

I have only been in the attic for two weeks now and have been able to spend time on my painting. I have set aside about an hour each night after work which enabled me to finish it in no time. So in my heart, there is no sadness anymore, my decision was the right one.

How a 13 year old sees my paintings

Oil On Canvas SOLD by Frankie Stockman

This morning, me and my 13yr old daughter were sitting in the living room talking about art work. She looked around the room at the paintings that I have hanging in the room and said, "Your paintings are so, stuck". She used the word, stuck. I asked her what that meant and she said that she feels that they are stuck in time. They are stuck as if frozen. I asked her if she felt the same way about the Seascape but she felt it wasn't as stuck as far as movement like the landscapes (big relief for me). She said she doesn't dislike the fact that they appear to her like that and then thought a little more about it. She then told me that the best way she can describe my art work is that it seems sad and lonely. My mind instantly went into deep thought.

I wasn't at all unhappy with her description of the work. I was just so curious how a landscape could show sadness and loneliness. Was the fact that she felt they were stuck, make her feel sad and lonely. Then I thought even further, am I feeling stuck, sad and lonely and it can literally come out in a simple landscape?

For the first time since I have been painting, I have never had anyone talk about my paintings in that way. The only feedback I ever get is on how good or bad my composition or perspective is. If I can paint realistic or not. It has gotten to the point where that would be what I tended to focus on instead of what really should matter and that is, how I feel.

The other things I thought about was that we have to stop telling artists how they can and can't do something. What they should and shouldn't do. Tell them how their works makes you feel and what you see. That makes a huge difference.