Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Georgia O'Keefe

Georgia O'Keefe Museum

Waterfall - No. III, 'Ioo Valley, 1939; this picture was painted on a trip to Hawaii with Ansel Adams, sponsored by Dole Pineapple.
Black Hollyhock Blue Larkspur, 1930

Black Mesa Landscape, 1930

Georgia O'Keeffe - Hands, 1919, photo by Alfred Stieglitz; Stieglitz photographed Georgia's hands with painting, Green Lines and Pink, 1919

Jimson Weed, 1932

Cottonwoods, 1952

The actual cottonwood trees that Georgia could see from her Abiquiu studio.

Abstraction, found in museum courtyard.

Abiquiu House and Studio
In December 1945, Georgia O'Keeffe purchased a 5,000 square foot, Spanish Colonial compound in Abiquiu, then in ruins, from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. With her friend Maria Chabot, O'Keeffe spent the next 3 years restoring the 18th century structure.  By 1949, the property was habitable and O'Keeffe moved from New York to become a permanent resident of New Mexico.

The large window in this photo is to Georgia's bedroom, her studio is next to the bedroom.

Studio, the studio is just as O'Keeffe left it when she moved to Santa Fe in 1984 at the age of 96.  

After the main road was moved and paved, Georgia wrote about the view from her bedroom, "Two walls of my room in the Abiquiu house are glass and from one window I see the road toward Espanola, Santa Fe, and the world.  The road fascinates me with its ups and downs and finally it's wide sweeps as it speeds toward the wall of my hilltop to go past me.  I had made two or three snaps of it with a camera.  For one of them I turned the camera at a sharp angle to get all the road.  It was accidental that I made the road seem to standup in the air, but it amused me and I began drawing and painting it as a new shape.  The trees and mesa beside it were unimportant for that painting - it was just the road."

This is the view from her bedroom.

Blue Road, the same road viewed from her bedroom.

View from parking area at Abiquiu house.

Adobe wall surrounding compound.

Acequia or Irrigation ditch, water comes from a cistern higher on the mountain and fills this acequia once a week - the flood irrigation is enough to keep Georgia's gardens suffiently watered.

Garden gate 

Roofless room window, smaller Abstraction sculpture.  Georgia O'Keeffe chose to roof this room with screen, creating an enclosed space with interior access that is both inside and outside.

Hollyhocks

View of mountains in the distance, notice crude fence on this part of the property.

Pedernal
I thought this photo must have been the same view O'Keeffe saw when she painted the Pedernal below.  

Pedernal, 1942

I took several photos of the red hills as we drove the 18 miles from Abiquiu to Ghost Ranch.



Grey Hills, 1941

Ghost Ranch





The Cliff Chimneys, 1938

One of the many adobe cottages that can be rented at this spiritual retreat.  Georgia O'Keeffe bought an adobe house and 7 acres at Ghost Ranch, a dude ranch amid spectacular red and yellow cliffs.  Georgia learned to drive and outfitted her car as a mobile studio that she drove out into the desert to paint.  She lived at Ghost Ranch in the summer and Abiquiu in the winter.  Her home at Ghost Ranch is not open to the public but we were able to drive around and look at the amazing landscape.

Ghost House


Cholla

One last look at the Pedernal before heading back to Santa Fe.  What an amazing day!

Santa Fe

High above Santa Fe sits Fort Marcy Park, from here the entire city is visible.  The large round building is the New Mexico State Capitol also known as "the Roundhouse".  It is the only round state capitol in the United States.

New Mexico State Capitol 


Earth Mother, one of many statues on the capitol grounds.

Statue of Don Pedro de Peralta, Santa Fe's founder.

A Glimpse of Santa Fe




The Shed is a story in itself!  We had dinner here our first night in Santa Fe and our waitress was unattentive and basically ignored us.  We got the bill, Scott paid, and we left.  The waitress runs out into the street chasing Scott and tells him she doesn't want the "change" he left her.  She practically throws it at him!  Scott doesn't take it and I think he's left her a 16¢ tip.  I'm aghast!  
Part 2 of story:  
The next day we're double parked so Scott jumps out to take a photo of the oldest house.  Who should he run into but the surly waitress?  She realizes who he is and apologizes profusely because she didn't see the $5 tip he left on the table.  She'd had a really bad night and Scott was the third guy who had stiffed her... Karma or what?  We'd spent all night trying to figure out why waitresses in Santa Fe didn't want any change!






Rabbit outside our trailer door one evening.

San Marcos Cafe

Peacock on cafe front porch.





San Miguel Chapel, original adobe walls and altar were built by Tiaxcalan Indians from Mexico under the direction of Franciscan Padres in 1610.


Oldest house, built in 1646

Another view of oldest adobe house.


We went past this portly pig several times and I finally made Scott stop so I could take a picture - he just makes me smile!

Nedra Matteucci Gallery

One of the many amazing sculptures for sale in the garden.


Canyon Road Galleries


Rock, Paper, Scissors

Sacred Heart Catholic Church


Sacred Heart Cemetery 

Potrero, New Mexico

Famous for its red chiles.

Sanctuary of Chimayo
"The Wandering Pilgrim"

Entrance to courtyard.

Sanctuario de Chimayo, built in 1816 and known for its 6-foot crucifix and its tradition of healing the sick.

Each year some 30,000 people from around the world make the pilgrimage to Santurario de Chimayo during Holy Week.

Santo Niño de Atocha
Chapel built in 1857.

The Children's Chapel is filled with folk-art puppets, dolls, and cultural objects.  There are trees inside enjoyed by folk-art birds of every kind - loved it!

 The contemporary altar still houses the original paper mâché doll of Santo Niño de Atocha brought back from Mexico by Don Severiano Medina.

Folk-art cross


Rancho de Chimayo

We had lunch on the patio at Rancho de Chimayo - delicious!

San Jose de Gracia Catholic Church
Church built in 1760 in Las Trampas, New Mexico.





Embudo River

Trillionaire pie and ice cream at Sugar's in Embudo.

Sugar is a lovable English bulldog.

Several of the highway overpasses were painted to represent the Indians in the area.


Camel Rock