"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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Reviews of "Said to Myself I'll Paint What I See' {Georgia O'Keeffe -1887-1986}"
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.
Georgia O'Keeffe is a legend here in New Mexico. Her home in Abiquiu, NM makes us understand why she fell in love with this place, how the natural beauty could beguile her brush and take her to another plane. There is a museum in Santa Fe of her works, but the real treat is to go to Abuquiu and see what she saw and feel the magic that still lives there. This is a wonderful trubute to an amazing artist.
Take care,
Sherry
Truly she did make a rare kind of gift of her indomitable genius. Thank you for joining it with your own to present us with this breathtaking blossom of a portrait in poetry.
Aberjhani
What a brilliant composition you've presented here, Pea! Intriguing and plendid! Not unlike Georgia O'keeffe's bold and dramatic creations! I applaud and thank you for this strong-spirited poem!
A wonderful, realistic vision of Ms. O'Keeffe, who in fact, her giant flower paintings were first exhibited in 1925. A Calla Lily painting would sell for $25,000 in 1928 and draw media attention to "O'Keeffe" like never before. Georgia's financial success would finally prove to her that an artist could make a living with a paintbrush "Said to Myself I'll Paint What I See."
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.
Golly gee whiz Sis. Pea! So much for the Vagina Monologues. . . .
Let me leave AD for a minute. . . need to go get my magnifying mirror!
blessin's
cynth'ya
Beautiful work Pea! You really do justice to these fine artists. I think she was special in many ways...I remember seeing a pbs special years ago about her last years when a young potter named Juan (something?) became her hired help, taught her pottery, she was in her late seventies then, she was remarkable I think everything she painted was erotic;-)Great stuff! Thanks for sharing!
Very eye opening in your statements and comments that cause the reader to pause with each new line and idea..pause and think about the facts that you portray to make us think in reality terms of the world of male/female bais.
A fascinating and stark treatise on a marvellous and innovative artist Georgia O' Keefe, someone who was light years ahead of her time, and who was not afraid to challenge the staleness and static
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
The city of Savannah, Georgia, long celebrated by tourists and natives alike for its charm, beauty, and cultural diversity, adds another jewel to its fabled crown. ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love is a celebrated gift book by two of the city’
The city of Savannah, Georgia, long celebrated by tourists and natives alike for its charm, beauty, and cultural diversity, adds another jewel to its fabled crown. ELEMENTAL: The Power of Illuminated Love is a celebrated gift book by two of the city’
So Ya' Wanna' Be A Teacher is a humorous revolutionary book that tells exactly what goes on in a typical American public school. E-book version is available at Kindle, at Nook and at Smashwords.
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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