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"Said to Myself I'll Paint What I See"
{Georgia O'Keeffe – 1887-1986}
A woman I know was told to spread her legs
and aim a mirror at her vagina. The object,
to get to know herself. Once she came out
of hiding, those who would have her be ashamed
would crawl home. This is all well and good,
but you can learn just as much from a flower
by Georgia O'Keeffe, and you won't get bent
out of shape. Full screen Technicolor, add your own
Surround Sound. Out-there sex in hues her still sharp
vision allowed her to gorge on: magnolia and moon,
sunflower, ruby, blue, ebony, onyx. Her velvet
vulvae cum flora may do as much for Woman Power
as the 19th Amendment. Somehow O'Keeffe found
a way to blend in our essence: the mother, the vixen,
the humanist, the wit, the queen, the worker, and Oh
so many more women routinely live in one. Organ's
an organ. Sensuality holds a mirror not just to birth
apparati, but wombs for us the heart and the soul
and the mind. In Rome, towers representing penises
stone up every street and command every corner.
Go to any European plaza. Asia, Australia. Look
at the Washington Monument. Penises pierce
skylines from Tokyo and Sydney to Manhattan and L.A.
Check all the Americas; see Africa, totem.
Where are O'Keefe's flowers? The femme-bolic triangles
quilted by Judy Chicago? Why doesn't someone find
a way to paint the Vagina Monologues? Open
for inspection offends a few die-hards, speak
to them about the glitter in their riveted eyes.
On one side a child born on a farm. One of seven
mouths to feed. HERE is the GIFT she gave. Her sight
was doomed to fade, her eye, never. After she
she and New Mexico mated – "the faraway," she
dubbed it -- a new pioneer Georgia stunned
with the sere and dust-caked dyes of the desert:
sand, clay, ochre, sage, night purple, night blue.
Her houses and landscapes echo, never cram,
the wide open space she partnered with. In part
because it made it easier for her to see.
Keeping to herself, she potted a bit and gulped
great galloping gulps of air. Great sun
against great sand. Only this she regretted
having to leave. O'Keeffe, Georgia, painter.
Light lighting her palette, light lighting her brush.
Light from her flowers and her adopted home.
I see you see. I thank you for the Light.
(c) Phyllis Jean Green, 2006
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FROM FLOWERS DEPICTING LIFE ~ AND THE ENTERING OF "THE TUNNEL OF VENUS" ~ TO "OBELISKS" SYMBOLIZING MAN-MACHO-HOOD; AND A GLOWING PAGE OF THE HISTORY OF ART, "SAID TO MYSELF I'LL PAINT WHAT I SEE' {GEORGIA O'KEEFFE -1887-1986}" GAVE A PICTURE OF AN ARTIST AND HER WORK.
I salute You, Poet!
Gratefully,
Andre Emmanuel Bendavi ben-YEHU
Take care,
Sherry
Regis
Aberjhani
Paul;-)
her work. So enlightening.
Way to go Girl!!
Love Tinka
Pretty good for a woman who lived in sin with a married man and finally married him. Her painting started an era of feminism to be followed by Judy Chicago and now Eve Ensler, founder of the Vagina Monologues. Vaginal imagery painted on china plates or camouflaged in the delicate parts of flowers and butterflies makes a feminist statement that says to me, we buy this kind of art, and display it proudly on our walls and in our china cabinets, passing it on to our daughters to show the cleanliness of womanhood in all of her phases, maiden, mother, and crone. Female labia can be easily camouflaged into many mediums of art. I can even see it in a wad of chewed bubble gum and of course the phallic totems in art are big high hard ones coming in the form of Native American totem poles and rock outcroppings. A good example of the phallic obelisks are the twin pillars of Zibb Attuf in Petra, Jordan, symbols of fertility. This is why so many past and living artists paint genitalia into their subjects because if you take the time to look around in nature, many of nature-made creations indeed do imitate genitalia as a thing of beauty, where all things are born, even the artist. Art is what we make out of it. Because I am a sensual woman, I always look for sensuality in art that can also be interpreted in other ways. Georgia Okeeffe's paintings make me a richer woman for having studied her. This is just a wonderful artistic pronouncement you have made here, Pea. I am saving this to my library. I don't often save pieces, but this has stirred something in me worth more delving into. My writing depends on artistic research. I see much of my poetry through art. Blessed Be.
Sage
Let me leave AD for a minute. . . need to go get my magnifying mirror!
blessin's
cynth'ya
Eileen
Felix
Georgia O'Keefe was a woman far ahead of her time; you capture her boldness in broad, beautiful strokes of verse; well done!
(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.
(((Hugs And Love, JoAnne ))
of conformity and covention..
This is an awe inspiring series you have devised for our ediifcation, Pea !
Keep eking out those legendary exponents of art !
Love and Blessings
Peter