Friday Inspiration: Georgia O'Keeffe

Several years ago, like close to seven, I read Full Bloom,a wonderful biography about Georgia O'Keeffe. For several months after finishing the book I was mesmerized by how prolific, how dedicated, and how determined she was to become an accomplished artist.

Then in 2010 the Phillips Collection had a wonderful exhibition that focused on her abstractions. Again I came away from the experience of seeing the exhibit with awe and wonder.



As an artist myself, I tried to view the exhibition as an admirer and also as a technician, disecting how she applied paint and worked. Though I do not paint many abstract compositions, I admire her skill in compositions and I own two books that focus on the compositional concept notan that was so important in Georgia O'Keeffe's work, they are:

. Notan
. Composition by Arthur W. Dow

Sometimes I will flip through the pages of these books to get ideas and to learn a bit more about compositional design. And when I am really stumped about coming up with some painting ideas I will flip through the catalogue raisonne of Georgia O'Keeffe's works.

Here are a few spreads I photographed to share with you today.

And I thought I would leave you with a few of my favorite quotes by Georgia O'Keeffe

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for. ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Objective painting is not good painting unless it is good in the abstract sense. A hill or tree cannot make a good painting just because it is a hill or tree. It is lines and colors put together so that they may say something. ~Georgia O'Keeffe

“Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant, there is no such thing. Making your unknown known is the important thing.”   ~ Georgia O'Keeffe

The last quote is my favorite, and really sums up the drive of why I paint, the journey of art making is the most important.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend,
Liz