Yes, this is
a little delayed getting posted because…I attended a workshop in New Mexico August
through September 1st. Looking forward to that upcoming workshop is great, isn't it? You have great hopes and anticipations based on all the information you've collected about the workshop. That's where I was a couple of weeks ago.
We packed up
the fifth wheel and then it was off to the workshop with my traveling
companions, my husband, and Molly--our black lab mix. As we traveled to our destination near Ghost Ranch,
the landscape views gradually sharpened my awareness. The landscape dramatically changed and my
interest and camera were on overload!
After a week of living in that landscape and viewing it from morning to
sunset, I realize how refreshing and renewing an influence it had on my
artistic-side. These hills and rivers
and sage and colors west of Abiquiu were spectacular and so inspiring. I found myself reflecting on how fortunate it
is to be able to travel just a few hours from home and be in such a different
landscape in which to renew my inspiration as a painter? Workshop or no workshop, that was wonderful!
Now, saying
that, plein air painting in a new location, as all new learning can be at times,
was frustrating. I came home with not as
many “good paintings” as I thought I should!
(Plein air painting in Abiquiu is up for another whole writing segment…much
later! Ha!)
It was definitely
obvious that we were in “O’Keeffe Country.”
Out the front door of the RV was the magnificent black mountain “Pedernal”…O’Keeffe’s
favorite mountain and reportedly where her ashes were spread. I’m not really a big O’Keeffe fan, but the
choices she made in her life intrigue me.
She chose to paint where she lived and what she knew. It wasn’t an easy life; she didn’t have all
of the conveniences of those living in metro areas at that time. She couldn’t get fresh food; by the time food
was brought to her house at Ghost Ranch, it was already starting to spoil. Eventually, she bought property in Abiquiu
with water rights and grew her own gardens; all so she could paint her beloved “melting
mountains” and her collections of bones found in the area. To me this just reemphasized my fondness for
where I live--the farming landscape, my connection as the fourth generation to
those who have gone before and my love of the sky and light in NE
Colorado. I can really relate to the
choices O’Keeffe made.
These
choices I call…tradeoffs—you give up some things to gain others! So just look where you live with fresh eyes…one
day a clerk in Denver mistook where I was from thinking it was in the mountains
and said “Oh that’s such a beautiful drive!”
I replied, I completely agree with you; but my guess is we are not talking about the same location! You just
have to look with “new eyes” to be able to see!
I hope this
Fall you get a chance to get away to an different view in order to appreciate
what you have right in front of you the rest of the year!
It’s
all about “Brush Mileage”….Nancy
Thanks for the post Nancy. I've never tried plein aire painting. It's something I would definitely like to try.
ReplyDeleteFound it very interesting that there was a feature article in our 5th grade reading program about “O’Keeffe. My question is - What makes an artist or author so great as to be part of our school curriculum? Who is in charge of the list of great artists of the time? Who really decides what is a good/great piece of art that will be on the collector's list??? let alone on the lips of thousands of children reading about them........................
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