Daily Art Quote #5 (by Georgia O'Keeffe)

pyrowngs (63)in #dailyartquote • 7 years ago

Daily Art Quote:

"Whether the flower or the color is the focus I do not know.

I do know the flower is painted large to convey my experience with the

flower - and what is my experience if it is not the color?"

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

Well, I couldn't help it. I had to jump to my most favorite artist, Georgia O'Keeffe. I love her paintings, and I hope to be able to paint as well as her someday. (not likely, but fun to strive for) Not only do I love her style, I love the subject matters that she chose to paint. And, although many people have assumed (incorrectly) that when she painted flowers, she was trying to portray female anatomy, I believe rather, that she captured the essence of the flowers she painted. When you look for quotes by her, there are many quotes of her talking about her desire to make people see "her flower", and so she painted them large. And, when you see her paintings (especially in real life), she has definitely succeeded in making you see the flower! And they are breath-taking!

Georgia O'Keeffe ~ Mariposa Lilies and Indian Paintbrush, 1941

Georgia O'Keeffe ~ Petunia No. 2, 1924

Georgia O'Keeffe ~ Light Iris, 1924

Sometime in the 1990's during one of my visits to my parent's house in Santa Barbara, I visited the Santa Barbara Art Museum. I had been there many times before, having grown up there. But, this time was different. This time there were two Georgia O'Keeffe paintings that were on loan from someone's private collection. They were hanging in one of the two front gallery rooms that were for the temporary exhibits. In total there were probably 5 or 6 paintings hanging in that little room. And, although the two Georgia O'Keeffe paintings were not ones I had seen before (they weren't any of her more well-known paintings), they were completely amazing! One of them I remember being of a yellow flower. I remember the yellow color in that painting was so vivid and it grabbed my attention and made me continue looking at it, like I was swimming in that color. I don't know how else to describe it. I remember looking at her two paintings, and then glancing at the other paintings in the room, and thinking to myself "her paintings put all the other paintings in this room to shame!" It was true, too!

Someday, I plan to visit the places where she used to live and paint. One of those places is The Ghost Ranch in New Mexico. I have a life dream of spending time there, painting and maybe even teaching my own art classes there someday, since on their website there is a place where you can propose art classes and teach them. But, first I just want to visit and take some classes myself, or maybe just take an easel and some paints out into the hills and start painting.

(Here is a link the the upcoming "O'Keeffe" themed workshops at The Ghost Ranch, in case you are interested.)

Until then, I can paint flowers right here, at home (or anywhere!) Here are a few of my flower paintings: