"Ponytails" (study)

12 x 3-3/8"

oil on panel
sold

The tall, thin, vertical format lends itself to certain compositions but the wide, thin, horizontal format is perfect for moments like this one.

Three young women viewing two of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings - on the left, Cow's Skull with Calico Roses, center is one of my personal favorites, Black Cross, New Mexico and on the right, Arthur Dove's Silver Sun, 1929.  From the Art Institute of Chicago.

A little closer detail....

"Time For Church"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I was lucky to have seen an exhibit last year - at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art - featuring many of Georgia O'Keeffe's works.  Yes, several close-up flowers that are so familiar were there to please the masses but I'm more enamored with her buildings in New Mexico and New York City, including Cebolla Church.

O'Keeffe lived in the same county in New Mexico and often passed through the small village of Cebolla.  Her painting is of the Church of Santo Nino, a stark, simplistic adobe building - but with a pitched roof unlike the typical flat-roofed adobe structures mainly because Cebolla gets more snow in the winter than the lower areas of the state.

"Tell Me More"

8 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

This was taken from my time at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, during a special exhibition of Georgia O'Keeffe's works as well as others.  The show was so well thought out and presented for the visitors, paying close attention to what works married well with each other and the colors of the walls surrounding the pieces.  I relished that.

One of the paintings included was O'Keeffe's Petunias, done in 1925.  When you think of Georgia O'Keeffe, you equate her with Southwestern subject matters, some Manhattan scenes, and mostly close-ups of flowers.  She was widely known to have lived in New York City when her career was taking off and promoted by her husband Alfred Stieglitz - then later in New Mexico.  You might not know, during the early years, her and Steiglitz spent their summers at the resort of Lake George, about 35 miles from the Vermont border.

During those years, from 1918 to 1934, at Lake George, O'Keeffe painted over 225 pieces.  The time and surroundings at Lake George played a significant role in her development as an artist.  There she painted many of the flowers you may be familiar with - poppies, petunias and canna lilies - poplar and oak trees - the brilliant autumn colors of nature - all those she became so sensitive to from long walks through meadows and gardens.

Stieglitz and O'Keeffe owned 37 acres, lived in a hilltop farmhouse that included a 'shanty' as her studio and a darkroom where Steiglitz printed his photos.  In the late 50's a developer bought the property, has the structures burned in a practice fire drill and built a hodgepodge of ranch houses that remain to this day.  

People still go on their pilgrimages to find where O'Keeffe lived, only to be disappointed to find a suburban subdivision.

"There's The Door"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

I just returned from my second visit to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  I love the museum.  It's located in Bentonville, Arkansas - in the northwest corner of the state.  It's a small town, home of the Walton family who started Walmart years ago.  Alice Walton has been an art collector for decades and built this museum and is currently building a second one in town.  It's free admission and free parking.  It's so worth the trip.

I landed there on the final weekend of their exhibition The Beyond: O'Keeffe and Others.  Spectacular variety of many O'Keeffe's landscapes, flowers, etc mixed with other contemporary artists.  The painting above is one of my personal favorites - Black Patio Door.  It was hanging on this saturated turquoise wall that was so unexpected but so freakin' perfect.

O'Keeffe, in 1945, purchased and restored a 5,000 square foot ruined Spanish Colonial home in a small town, Abiquiu, New Mexico, which she owned until her death in 1986. She was in love with the simple beauty of the adobe house and its spaces and vistas inspired many paintings done through the years - especially the large enclosed patio.  She was quoted "When I first saw the Abiquiu house it was a ruin with an adobe wall around the garden broken in a couple of places by falling trees.  As I climbed and walked about the ruin I found a patio with a very pretty well house and bucket to draw up water. It was a good-sized patio with a long wall with a door on one side. The wall with a door in it was something I had to have."

"Belfry"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

Now I know it's not nice to stare but I have this thing about fabrics.  Especially patterned, colorful fabrics.  I followed this woman around the galleries - enamored by her sari and layers of different jewel-toned wraps.  She reminded me of how elegant Georgia O'Keeffe was in her later years.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman stands besides O'Keeffe's Church Steeple, 1930.  The painting belongs to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

"The Light Of Day"

6 x 8"

oil on panel
sold

And a happy summer to you.

I've been busy going places but now I'm home and back to painting.  Yay.

Back in my frame shop days, I made it a point to have a framed Georgia O'Keeffe print on the wall - especially her New York skyscrapers.  I had a guy come in one day, swore I was mistaken that the painting you see above, The Shelton with Sunspots, N.Y. was NOT an O'Keeffe.  He insisted she only painted flowers and desert scenes.  Yep, that's what he said.

O'Keeffe created a series of New York skyscrapers between 1925 and 1929 after she and Alfred Stieglitz moved into the Shelton Hotel, on the 30th floor where she had a perfect view of the northern, eastern and southern cityscapes.  Her painting above depicts an optical illusion where there appeared to be "a bite out of one side of the tower made by the sun, with sunspots against the building and against the sky".

After 1929, O'Keeffe was unhappy with city life and marriage and moved to New Mexico, where she found new inspiration in the southwest landscapes, never to revisit the subject of skyscrapers again.

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman stands next to Georgia O'Keeffe's The Shelton with Sunspots, N.Y.

"Come Across"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

I'm really late for dinner but I wanted to post this new painting that includes one of my personal favorites of Georgia O'Keeffe, Black Cross, New Mexico in the Art Institute of Chicago.  To her left is The Black Place.

"Light Waves"

8 x 10"

oil on panel
sold

Today is Giving Tuesday and I am participating in my own way - donating 75% of the final sale of this painting to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home here in Atlanta.  This hospice operates solely on private donations and cared for my dad.

"Flower Power"

5 x 7"

oil on panel
sold

Geezaloo.

I'm back from the dead.  Mostly.

I brought back a nasty cold from my trip to Chicago, despite all that diligent hand-washing. It knocked me out for the week.  All I could muster was laying around watching post-season baseball.  My brain is working a little better today.

Back to the paints with this new piece - a young woman admiring Georgia O'Keeffe's  'Yellow Hickory Leaves with Daisy' in the Art Institute of Chicago.

"Get With The Program"

6 x 6"

oil on panel
sold

From the Art Institute of Chicago, a woman reading the museum's program with a couple of Georgia O'Keeffes beside her.

"Georgia"

16 x 16"
sold

This new painting is the largest piece in the show - done on a cradled masonite panel - and like the painting 'Below the Belt', I added a paprika-like ground color on top of the black and let that vibrant, warm tone show through in many of the edges as well as the floor, which is what I love most about the end result.



The two figures were wonderful to paint, especially the woman who has that great S-shaped posture. Included front and center is Georgia O'Keeffe's 'Black Cross, New Mexico', one of my all-time personal favorites in the Art Institute of Chicago.

Please click here for a larger view.

"A Presence"

9 x 12"

oil on masonite

sold

I see people like this woman and I think do they know how beautiful they are? How much presence they have in a room full of strangers? I really enjoyed painting this piece - mostly the woman's fantastic face and colorful clothing. She reminded me of Georgia O'Keeffe so much so, I accompanied the painting "Black Cross, New Mexico" beside her. Here's a closer view of the woman's face.

This new painting will be included in my July show at 16 Patton, in Asheville.

Please click here for a larger view.

"A New York Minute"

11 x 14"

oil on masonite

sold

I can tell you, as I stood in the same spot as this woman, looking at Georgia O'Keeffe's "Manhattan", I was in awe.I can't say I'm particularly crazy about modern art or O'Keeffe's flower paintings - but this is the exception. All of her cityscapes blow me away. One of the features I love about the Smithsonian American Art Museum is their placement of quotes on the walls. On the upper right of my painting, I wanted to hint at that, but not nit-pick at the accuracy of the lettering. Tough call to include it or not. But I did like the quote enough to accompany the painting. It is a quote from Georgia O'Keeffe reading "One can't paint New York as it is, but rather as it is felt".

Click here if you'd like a larger view.