Painting Legends
How One Family's Sheds Became Canvases of Memories
If you drive south on Perkins between Airport and Lakeview, you may have noticed a striking mural of Will Rogers painted on a garden shed. It is one of a handful of mural paintings made by Mr. Jake Wisehart.
"That piece was completed in just a couple hours," says Leah Studie, who lives there with her two kids. Jake is her ex-husband who now lives in Wagoner. "He will lie to you and tell you he can't paint…but he's an incredible artist," Leah says.
The sheds in her backyard are a testament to Jake's remarkable skill.
The Will Rogers mural is, in fact, one of two on the "Shed of Wills." Will Rogers was Cherokee, as is Leah. The other "Will," not visible from Perkins Rd., is Will Sampson, an actor and painter who was Creek, as is Jake. "This took him about 30 minutes. He did it all while I was in the shower," Leah says.
On the larger shed, there are the beginnings of a nature scene Jake started. Leah says he stopped when he decided he didn't like where it was going. "I love this bird," Leah points to the statuesque white heron Jake painted. Before this mural, Jake painted a stylized portrait of Kobe Bryant using a palette of yellows, oranges, deep reds, and grape purple to capture the shadows on the face.
Jake did a mural of his father from a photograph on the shed door. "He did that in a couple hours," Leah recalls. The white streak down the middle is a branch from the original photograph. Leah is not sure why he decided to keep it.
Perhaps the most attention-grabbing mural is the partially completed face of a boy at the end of the shed. Leah told me that this was a painting of Jake's cousin who happens to look like her son. "Everybody who drives by asks, 'Is that your son?'" Leah laughs. Four years ago, another mural of boxer Mike Tyson's imposing figure claimed this spot.
"It is fun and encouraging to take a building and make art out of it. The kids would get to see their dad painting and creating. They would come out and sit with him and watch," Leah said.
Though Jake no longer lives in Stillwater, there is hope for more murals like these in the future. Art runs in the family at the Studie household, with Jake and Leah's six-year-old daughter showing a keen love for painting and coloring. A vacant space of shed wall next to Jake's father is still available. "We'll leave that place for her, and hopefully, she'll fill it up someday," Leah says.
