PATTERNS AND COLOR

The meaning of a word -to me- is not exact as the meaning of a color.  Colors and shapes make a more definite statement than words."  Georgia O'Keefe, 1976.

A dear friend and neighbor gave me a beautiful book of quotes by Georgia O'Keefe for Christmas. WORDS AND WORKS really spoke to me. I often speak about which comes first, the word or picture of a story. They are in partnership more often than we know. Often I have to paint a picture two or three times so that I know it is telling the story in my mind. Sometimes I can't articulate the story until it sits in front of me.  

In CRANE WOMAN, the painting shown above, patterns needed to show me a heavy settling of cold air. The colors needed to be earthy and subdued.  Winter is coming too early on the tundra. In one version the birds I made were flying in a dynamic pattern, but these birds, even though migrating south, are patterned in the weight of the air. They needed to be contained by both color and shape.

Like much of the world, I have been captivated by O'Keefe's work as she leads us into a stillness of enlarged shapes…sun, flowers, skulls and clouds, and into deeper thoughts.