Linda Kukuk
Linda Kukuk, a life-time resident of the Oklahoma City area, is a self-taught artist. Since the early 1960’s she has participated in numerous art shows, specializing in scratch board art. She and her husband have traveled extensively throughout Africa, Europe, Russia, and the South Pacific, which has given her a myriad of interesting subjects to paint and draw. Her retirement as Chief of the Commander’s Protocol Office at Tinker AFB in March 2002, has given her more time to pursue her artistic endeavors. Since then, she has been painting mainly in watercolor and has discovered this just may be her favorite medium. She still continues with scratchwork, but is using clayboard, which allows her to add watercolor to this traditionally “black and white” medium. Linda enjoys painting a very wide variety of subjects and considers anything to be fair game for her paper and clayboard.
Being a native Oklahoman of rich Choctaw ancestry, and having grown up in rural Oklahoma, she especially enjoys painting Native American themes. Her Great Grandfather, Henry Pleasant Ward, was a member of the Choctaw Nation Legislature and also became Judge of Atoka County. The Ward family consisted of a number of prosperous, well respected, leaders just previous and following Oklahoma Statehood. They are well represented in the historical book by H.F. O’Beirne, “Leaders & Leading Men of the Indian Territory, published in 1891. She is a Signature member of ISSA (International Society of Scratchboard Artists) Two of her scratchworks were selected for the ISSA International Show in Vancouver BC, Canada in 2013. One of her scratchworks was selected for the ISSA International Show in Tucson in 2016 and two were selected for the Show in Adelaide, Australia in 2017 She has won numerous awards and purchase awards for her paintings and scratchworks throughout her career.
Linda’s work has been in the Festival of Arts in Oklahoma City, as well as the OCCC Arts Festival Oklahoma, Downtown Edmond Art Festivals, Red Earth Art Shows, Cherokee Art Market in Tulsa and Oklahoma Art Guild National Shows – all juried shows. She participates, annually, in the OWA-Chito Festival of the Forest Art Show, which is a regional show including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Missouri. Linda is sought after, by various art associations and clubs throughout the country, to demonstrate her scratchboard techniques and watercolor on clayboard. She loves the opportunity to show other artists what she has learned through the years. She is represented by The Howell Gallery in Nichols Hills, Red Earth Gallery in Oklahoma City, and Tatiana Art Studio in Moscow, Russia. Many of her scratchworks and paintings are on display in public facilities, such as the Metropolitan Library, Red Earth Gallery permanent collection, Dean A. McGee Eye Institute and Choctaw Nation Clinic, Clinic Administrative Offices, Headquarters Buildings in Durant, Oklahoma and Behavioral Health Clinic in Talihina, Oklahoma.
Linda is presently doing work for Disney Publishing, illustrating a children’s book on Chief Wilma Mankiller’s life, which is scheduled to be released in February 2019. “International Artist” magazine selected one of Linda’s paintings to be featured in one of their books. The title of the book is “How Did You Paint That? 100 Ways to Paint Still Life’s and Florals Vol. II.” “International Artist Magazine” featured Linda and one of her scratchworks in their October/November 2014 issue. She was also featured in “International Artist Magazine” Master Painters of the World, USA in the June-July 2017 issue. In addition to art, Linda enjoys photography, travel, gardening, cooking, and holds an Extra Class Amateur Radio Operator’s license. Believing God has given her a wonderful gift, she also enjoys sharing her artistic talent to support numerous charitable events each year.
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