All About Georgia (3 of 5)

 May 5 - 7, 2025

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Photo overload warning!

My mom was a big fan, but her art was never something that spoke strongly to me. Still, Georgia O'Keeffe is a huge part of the Santa Fe experience. I had decided to check out the museum during our last visit, but it was 2020 and COVID meant so many places were closed - including Georgia's museum, house and ranch.

Sherry, on the other hand, is a fan and very knowledgeable about this iconic woman. Her enthusiasm is contagious and I'm excited to add some Georgia to the agenda. Monday is the beginning of a couple days of wet weather so we head downtown to see if we can find a place to park near the museum. It should be a good indoor day. I enjoy good parking "carma" in many places, but this morning is the best one yet. The absolutely closest possible parking spot is available and easy to access! 1/2 block from the museum entrance we're good for two hours. 

We're not the only ones thinking it's a good day for the museum, but although there are quite a few people, we manage to time our viewing to miss being on top of them. An audible self-tour is available, but I opt to just walk and read. Next time I'll add the audible as Sherry loved it. 

As is often the case with famous creators, the beginning pieces look very different from those they become known for. One of many pencil drawings Georgia created in boarding school. Untitled, 1904

Still looking for her own style, this also untitled piece is painted in 1914 while attending Columbia University.

There she is! Pink Tulips, 1925, is easily recognizable as an O'Keeffe. "Nobody sees a flower -- really -- it is so small. I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it." 

From her early pencil drawings, Georgia continued to be drawn to the refined shapes of rural barns. This more dark piece reflects her more somber moods often felt during her time in Lake George, NY.

Two White Shells, One Black Shell, Three Shells 1937. While O'Keeffe insisted her pieces did not represent the female form or sexuality, many paintings like this one can easily be seen that way. A beautiful way.

I'm drawn to layers in my photography and Misti - A Memory, 1957 resonated with me. I'll never see El Misti in Peru, but I'm glad she captured it during her visit there. 

Talk about impact!! - you can't help but being awed by both the woman and the world she chose in her later years. In this photo is the looping curve in the Chama River near Ghost Ranch. Coming back to this room 25 minutes later it's full of people.

I find it interesting that she seemed to befriend more photographers than artists. Her first camera was given to her by photographer friend, Todd Webb, who took many photos of O'Keeffe over several years.

Pedernal, 1941-1942, is her more well-known landscape, a painting of her beloved Ghost Ranch.

But Mesa and Road East, 1952, painted from her bedroom at her Abiiquiu home, is my favorite. Especially after seeing this view from that bedroom two days later!

Sharing my appreciation of these gorgeous trees, Cottonwood, 1952, is one of many selections shown at the museum. I love the airiness of this one.

From across the gallery I recognize Glen Canyon in her 1965 On the River. 

She was 77 rafting the Colorado River, seeing Glen Canyon just months before the dam flooded the area.

A small exhibit focuses on her home and wardrobe. Both uniquely O'Keeffe. I always enjoy seeing artifacts with the person's own handwriting - here her recipe cards.

Also adding authenticity to the collection are jars of her personal pigments and paint brushes from her studio. 

When macular degeneration took Georgia's central vision and ended her ability to paint, her assistant Juan Hamilton encouraged her to turn her creativity to ceramics. The pot and rolling pin are examples of the pieces she made with peripheral vision after 1973.

A plethora of material has been written about Georgia O'Keeffe, exploring every aspect of her professional and personal life. I have a lot of catching up to do! Today it's just a t-shirt and some post cards.

This is an incredible collection in a lovely space, but in the future there will be even more. A new and larger campus is being built in the area!

While Georgia was 32 years older than Mom, and looks nothing like her, every photo of her reminds me of my mother. Mom only dabbled in painting, and she was very friendly (unlike the more stoic and critical Georgia), yet they have similar energy and presence.

Our pre-museum breakfast at the wonderful Weck's diner was so big and so good, that we just return home. 

Tuesday is all rain and hail, all day. Poor Tessa barely has a minute to get outside to do her business before the next down pour. One hail episode is so loud and intense I actually cover my ears to get through it. No damage, but it sounds like it's coming through the roof and the windows.

At the risk of making a very, very long post, I'll continue to more Georgia.

Thankfully Sherry is able to reschedule her tour of O'Keeffe's Abiquiu home and studio to Wednesday and there are more openings. After the museum visit I'm all in for this opportunity to immerse myself in Georgia's world. Let's go!

Four attendees are no-shows (flooding has impacted surrounding roads) so we're fortunate to have a tour group of only four. Guide Frank is a delight, and the weather is perfect. We peruse the Welcome Center and board a shuttle for the short drive to the property.

Before even seeing the front of the house, the incredible view takes my breath away. While a lot is made about the deteriorated condition of the house that takes three years to restore enough to live in, there is no doubt in my mind that I would be drawn to this property by the view alone.

The grandson (seen here in blue shirt) of O'Keeffe's original gardener, Estiben Suazo, continues his family legacy maintaining the grounds. In 2018 his granddaughter was the Director of Historic Properties for the O'Keeffe Museum. 

Georgia and the works and world she created are a national treasure.

Frank explains several aspects of the exterior, including the water-rights established in the 1700s that limits irrigation water to Mondays for three hours. Original acequias continue to move the weekly water through the gardens.

The patio includes the property's well - of course dressed as an art piece. Although there are only five of us, this woman manages to challenge our photos throughout the tour. She's very nice, just has "that" timing :-)

What looks like an inconsequential structure, this patio door was what sold her on the patio and the house. She did nearly 50 different paintings of it. I think it's special too.

My Last Door at the museum is one of many inspired by her Abiquiu patio door. The path tiles are depicted as well as the shadow that stops in this location at a certain time of day. "Filling a space in a beautiful way - that is what art means to me." Defines her desire to present the simple in a special way.

So much of the architectural detail is it's own art.

The small utility room is all white walls and appliances, but this beautiful door to the preparation pantry stands out to me.

No need for a dishwasher when your kitchen has this view!

 

Both the kitchen and dining room include these built-into-the-wall cabinets that I find fascinating. Very thick walls!

An original room with thick walls and a small window was likely once used like a root cellar. Georgia used it as a small kitchen workroom. Sherry points out the beautiful shape of the window.

She referred to this as her room-without-a-roof, here showing one of her sculptures based on the curl of a Big Horn Sheep. The lighting adds another layer of artistry.

This lounge/living room focuses on the incredible old growth tree with it's calming colors drawn from the wood. It has a completely different feel from the wide-view rooms at the other side of the home and studio.

I didn't realize the bench with the enclosed snake skeleton at the museum was a replica of this one in her home. 

Moving across the driveway to the studio we all gasp at the view. THAT view! It is no longer furnished as a studio due to her vision loss. The space was repurposed for a caregiver.

Sherry capturing that amazing viewscape.

O'Keeffe's first sculpture is small with a lovely sweeping, beauty.

The home is casually decorated, incorporating many pieces from her walks in the natural beauty of the New Mexico she loved. 

Her bedroom, the only one in the house, has two glass walls overlooking this majesty. It's the view from Mesa and Road East, even more Wow! in it's full panorama.

We return to the shuttle - having just dropped off a group of 12 (we were so lucky to have just four) - and back to the Welcome Center. Next door is the Abiquiu Inn where we enjoy another yummy New Mexican meal among local art pieces. 

Tamales with green chili - I'm going to miss this!

Taking a break after viewing all the furniture legs. She did get to bark at a cat so a big day!

Sherry has to point him out to me, so well camouflaged in the garden. Very large, and very fabulous!

I look at flowers differently after Georgia's influence.

I need this in my yard :-)

Built along the Rio Grande in 1734, the ruins of Santa Rosa de Luna Church catch our eye along the highway on the way home. 

More of those wonderful layers.

Georgia's fluffy Cottonwoods.

Those magical skies!