Georgia On My Mind (and Easel)

"Abiquiu Poppies" 20x24 acrylic on gallery wrap canvas--SOLD

Well! Well! Well!... This is wonderful. No one told me it was like this!Georgia O’Keeffe upon arriving in New Mexico

 Last weekend I too had a wonderful trip to the Land of Enchantment--New Mexico. Thankfully Santa Fe is only about 6 hours from my studio in Denver. It’s easy to see why artists so many artists and painters call this beautiful state their home. (Love New Mexico too? You'll enjoy my Pinterest New Mexico art board.)

There are endless artistic and cultural influences in New Mexico but one artist who clearly left her mark and legacy on the region is of course Georgia O’Keeffe.  Whether you’re a fan  or not, I see her as an artistic pioneer. 

Not only did she find success as a woman over 100 years ago but she also elevated “simple floral”  paintings to fine art. And she clearly loved the New Mexico high desert landscape and nature. Today’s colorful poppies painting was inspired by my trip to O’Keeffe country. (Available at the Summer Art Market in a few weeks.)

As part of my trip, I planned an entire O’Keeffe “immersion” day starting early at the Georgia O’Keeffe museum in Santa Fe. One of the featured exhibits were her atypical tropical Hawaii paintings. Did you know she went to Hawaii?

O'Keeffe in Maui in 1939

 There’s an interesting New York Times article about her excursion —20 years before Hawaii’s statehood. Here’s one of her beautiful ginger floral paintings she painted for--of all things--a Dole pineapple ad which you can see here. 

O'Keeffe painted this ginger flower for this Dole pineapple ad circa 1940

The other highlight at the museum was a display of O'Keeffe's studio supplies, props, etc. as well as her easel.  On the large canvas was an unfinished light tree painting sketch (charcoal?) as if frozen in time waiting for the artist to return.

O'Keeffe studio table, supplies, easel and unfinished painting in progress

After the museum I drove directly to her studio and home in Abiquiu (space is limited so be sure to RSVP online before you visit). Unfortunately, photos are not allowed at the site (which is also a national landmark) but in my next post I"ll share some pics of the area including Ghost Ranch and a fantastic pie I had. (Yes...Chocolate was involved.)

Love to shop for art? Reminder that Denver’s Summer Art Market is June 7 and 8. Hope to see everyone there if you’re in town. Remember the Market is open longer hours on Sat. until 7P.