I’ve gotten so many messages saying the flower photos remind people of Georgia O’Keeffe that I’m genuinely grateful and humbled and have decided to honor her out in the open.
I admire her as much or more than any artist in the world. Maria and I paid a pilgrimage to her New Mexico home a few years ago, I bought a print, and it’s hanging in our living room below.
(This is one of my favorite O’Keeffe works, representations of the beautiful Cottonwood trees that grow in the Southwestern United States. She captured their very spirit. It’s in our living room.)
So, I’ll take and post all relevant flower photos in her honor.
She has always been an inspiration for me, not only for her art but for her insistence on defining her own identity and never succumbing to the life of the many people who always seem out there to tell others what to do.
She found her sense of self and kept it to the end, and it infused and empowered her art. I am not Georgia O’Keeffe, but she is a model and guide in my mind. I admire her life in many ways.
Thank all of you who prodded me to make that connection; I wasn’t thinking of it.
My newest Red Zinnia
My newest yellow Zinnia
Poppy seeds opening in the morning.
Maria says there is a strong sexual and sensual element to a photograph like this; she says women recognize it immediately.
Fate is the guardian of the gate, a flower in her own right, always ready, eager, and willing to do her work, she remains herself, doing things in her own way and in her own time. Often, she slips out of the house and goes to sit by the gate, waiting and waiting for someone to come out and get her some work.
You have just told them; I see you. It made me teary eyed. Thanks for being authentic.
Thanks KJ
Maybe honor her by learning how to spell her last name correctly. Just a thought!
Adam, unnecessarily snide but true. Thanks for pointing it out. Not a thought at all, but a fact.
Now I’m REALLY confused about the correct spelling. Google shows it as O’keeffe. Isn’t that what you wrote?
I think I’m losing my mind.
Maybe it’s out in your barn, or better yet Maria’s studio. If you find it please send c.o.d. Or is it C.O.D.? Oh well, on second thought just put it out to pasture.
It’s what I wrote after correcting it, LoisJean, not what I first wrote
That white bloom with Maria’s comment beneath it. Ooomph! That one’s a gut-punch.
Anyone who has read any literature since Chaucer will see what Maria mentioned. Those old dogs were always making sexual metaphors .
Re becoming independent and finding one true self simultaneously, that is the nature of things. Certainly Christianity encourages it. I’ve never heard of anyone who wants to return to submissive or enslaved behavior. It’s one of the benefits of freedom.
(Tho a few Sup Ct justices seem to think others do want to go back.)
I don’t agree that modern Christianity encourages finding the true self; just look at the politics in our country? You are contradicting yourself. I think Jesus Christ encouraged the finding of the true self, but many people in his faith have abandoned his ideas.
For Jesus Christ’s followers It’s not really about finding your true self but rather doing things from a place of love. If love is your True North Jesus will change your heart to be more like Him. The “true self” concept isn’t the point. Rather, it’s to love and be loved .
Fulfilling Ones Self /God’s command to develop our creativity is a separate class in seminary. Definitely Christ’s messaging, and Judaism’s too.
Many who call themselves Christian are not. Do a bit of research on conservation of nature and Christians and the destruction that followed.
No thanks, Rev, I’m well aware of this and have written about it many times.
Jon,
You could teach me a lot about photography.