"I am not one who was born in the custody of wisdom. I am one who is fond of olden times and intense in quest of the sacred knowing of the ancients." Gustave Courbet

29 June 2010

Express.

For more than 50 years, Georgia O'Keeffe painted at her home at Ghost Ranch, in New Mexico.

As Hemingway wrote of what he truly knew, O'Keeffe expressed what she felt in her surroundings through color.

From the Black Door series ...



I don't see why we ever think of what others think of what we do – no matter who they are. Isn't it enough just to express yourself? I want to paint in terms of my own thinking and feeling.

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? I found I could say things with colors that I couldn't say in any other way – things that I had no words for.

The simple fact of yourself... there it is... just you... no excitement about it... a very simple fact... the only thing you have... keep it as clear as you can.

- Georgia O'Keeffe

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