Georgia O'keefe, considered one of the great female painters of her age (early 1900's) was an artist inspired by the world around her. In particular, she studied flowers and in her later years, New Mexico. Although O'keefe's subjects were true things found on Earth, she drew inspiration from them in order to create paintings in a category entirely of their own. Using vibrant colors, O'keefe heightens the natural ones found in nature to create intense emotions in the viewer. Intense blues evoke feelings of sadness, while bright reds and vivid pinks remind me of obnoxious, abounding love. The hues alone create a distinct and intense mood. Also, by painting her subjects at a tight crop, the viewer is forced to ruminate on what he or she is looking at. A close analysis of the picture could land the viewer with a varied amount of ideas of the subject. She takes a simple form of a flower and simply by painting it from a macro standpoint, an entirely new image takes shape. O'keefe takes that standard flower form and conveys it to a point of abstraction. Many compare her paintings to the genital regions of the female but she rejects the similarity. In my opinion, it is hard to deny their likeness.
As O'keefe reached her golden years and moved to New Mexico, her art moved and transformed along with her. A strong sense of New Mexican culture, landscape and color became the focus of her work. O'keefe compiled what she experienced in her new environment and placed them all in an almost surreal composition. For example, in her painting "Ram's Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills" a massive ram skull floats above a billowing cloud filled sky. And of course, a hollyhock flower (reminiscent of her early floral work) is juxtaposed aside the skull giving the painting its asymmetrical design.
(I did not know this specific assignment was assigned for the due date of 10/12/10, and instead wrote a stone soup post with two "free" posts for the week, I made this assignment up for an opportunity for credit)
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