Flower Art. Tracking Some Bulbs, Emotions, Shapes, Feelings. O'Keeffe In My Brain. Shape And Emotion

Me, Fate, And Georgia O’Keeffe.

In 1951, O’Keefe received her first two chow chows, Bo And Chia, as Christmas Presents – not quite blue and against the half snow has a frosty color – very pretty.” O’Keefe described the dogs in formal terms, mostly appreciating the darkness of their fur in contrast to the brightness of the New Mexico environment. But when Bo died a few years later, she recalled with sadness, “He was wonderful, always a dark spot lying outside. Bo was the first Cho to die in a long line of chows, and she often turned her cameras on, also capturing them as dark, curled shapes, made nearly unrecognizable by the intense sunlight.”

These words and photos – I got a massive book of her pictures at the BMA exhibit, which struck a nerve; I kept thinking of a series of images I’m always taking – Fate asleep. She’s not like a chow, but she touches the same instinct in me; she always stands out in any environment where she is, never as relaxed as Bo but always looking to find her place in the world and never quite making it. She finds peace at night only when asleep. She is never at peace in daylight; she is always at peace at night, lost in her world (see below) and, like Bo, a picture I keep taking and taking.

I am always drawn to taking her photos, especially at night against the darkness.