Listening To Our Elders

By Mike and Martha Larsen , Michelle Cooke

$30.00 ~~$39.95~~

Shipping calculated at checkout.

Format

Hardcover

Product variants

This third publication in Mike Larsen’s Elders of the Chickasaw Nation series gives tribute to Chickasaw elders through twenty-four awe-inspiring paintings. A colorful full-page portrait is dedicated to each elder, accompanied by a biography taken from personal interviews held by the Larsens during the initial sketches, providing insight into the irreplaceable history of our Chickasaw elders.

About the Author

Author

A student of history, Chickasaw artist and sculptor Mike Larsen researches the past events of the subjects he paints and sculpts. He studied traditional art disciplines at Amarillo Junior College, the University of Houston, and later at the prestigious Art Students League of New York in New York City.

In 2000, he was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame, followed by induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Oklahoma Historians Hall of Fame in 2016. Larsen is especially known for his paintings and sculptures of dancing figures.

He was commissioned by the State of Oklahoma to paint a 26-foot-long mural in the Capitol rotunda of five internationally prominent ballet dancers, all born in Oklahoma and all First American. In addition to his very large paintings and sculptures, Larsen is also known for one very tiny one: the US postage stamp commemorating the Oklahoma Centennial in 2007.

Martha Larsen attended Oklahoma State University and had an eye for good design, which led her to establish a small picture framing business. Now responsible for the business side of Larsen Studio & Gallery, Martha assists Mike Larsen in many studio undertakings, including photography of various subjects.

During research for the Chickasaw Living Elders Project, she photographed all of the elders during their interviews. Martha also finds time for different kinds of artistic endeavors, including gardening, quilting, and overseeing the building of the Larsens' home and Mike’s studio.

Michelle Cooke is a senior staff writer for Chickasaw Press and a Chickasaw citizen. She has worked for the Chickasaw Nation since 2007, where her focus has been writing about, teaching, and researching Chickasaw history, language, and culture. She is the author of Protecting Our People: Chickasaw Law Enforcement in Indian Territory, published by Chickasaw Press in 2019. Her work has also appeared in The Journal of Chickasaw History and Culture, Chokma: Chickasaw Magazine, and the Chickasaw Basic Language Workbook series. She studied English at Texas Woman’s University in Denton, Texas, and holds a master’s degree in that subject.