Local artist featured in Sallisaw art show

Stanley Tubbs Memorial Library is hosting an art show by local artist Patricia Wood, beginning today through Sept. 13. The library is hosting a reception at 1 p.m. Wednesday to honor the lifetime work of Wood.

Wood, 87, the daughter of Charlie and Fannie Tootle, grew up in Brent with her three sisters and five brothers. She graduated from Sallisaw High School in 1955.

It wasn’t until she married Joe Wood in 1955 and moved to Tulsa that she discovered her love of painting. She started painting with acrylics when she was about 30 years old.

“I met some girls who painted and my love for art just evolved around friendship and paint,” Wood said. “ There were some years that passed that I didn’t paint at all. It was after my husband, Joe, died in 2017 that I signed up for (art) classes. I fell in love with oil painting and took lessons for a couple of years.”

Wood felt that acrylics dried too quickly and oil allowed her to make changes to her paintings. She always starts her painting by drawing it out in charcoal. Her favorite types to paint are landscapes and portraits.

“I can’t quite capture that smile or the twinkle in their eye that is unique to them,” she said, on the difficulty in painting someone she knew.” In the last year or so, Wood has focused on Native American themed landscapes and portraits. A Cherokee citizen, she was selected to show two portraits in the Cherokee Nation Art Show in September 2022. The Cherokee Nation will also be on hand for a proclamation presentation in Wood’s honor.

“I didn’t win anything, but received a lot of good comments,” she said.

She said she planned to enter a painting this year, but became sick and could not complete it.

For more information on the show, contact the library at 918-7754481.

Stanley Tubbs Memorial Library is part of the Eastern Oklahoma District Library System, and is located at 101 E. Cherokee in Sallisaw.