Sunday, April 14, 2013

landscapes, large and small





Cliffs Beyond Abiquiu, Dry Waterfall, Georgia O'Keeffe

 I keep thinking about New Mexico--the colors, the landscapes, the fantasy of an abobe cottage with views of pink and black hills. Next weekend I hope to start returning to the Catskills after a long construction-related hiatus. I look forward to all the greens, the waterfall and rolling hills, to immersing myself in nature. But I know I will have to return to New Mexico one day. "The world is wide here," Georgia O'Keeffe said about New Mexico, "and it's very hard to feel that it's wide in the East."






I had planned to go to the studio today and paint, but I have a crushing headache, and so am spending a quiet Sunday reading, thinking and enjoying flowers* inside, and finally outside, where the first ones of the year have appeared. Spring starts slow in New England--the trees and flowerbeds are still bare, so I treasure this glimpse of blue near the base of the birdbath. I can see it from the kitchen window--the cats and I are constantly entertained by the birds that come and go--I open the window and listen to their songs changing with the seasons.

*flowers from Bow Street.

23 comments:

  1. Hello Jen,
    all your flowers are lovely as is your header. I am sorry to hear of your headache and hope your quiet day made it go away.
    Sorry I haven't been in a long time. I hope all is well with you? With love, Linda x

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  2. I loved that biography of Georgia O'Keefe. I wanted to be a painter after reading it: alas, I am not a painter. Nice flower photo.

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  3. I read it years ago and had to go back to it now that I am in painting/New Mexico mode. What an amazing woman/person she was.

    Amazing flowers--I know a very talented floral designer...

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  4. Hello Jen, Interesting comment of O'Keeffe's about the world in New Mexico being wide. I don't think she meant that the East is therefore limited. In contrast, perhaps, the Eastern woods are deep. Remember Frost: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep". That is their lure.
    --Road to Parnassus

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    1. I have thought about this a lot. There are many beautiful mountains, lakes, etc. in the northeast, plenty of wilderness, but my image of it is that the northeast feels condensed or compact. I think you are onto something--the southwestern vistas are more open, whereas in the NE we have deep woods and choppy mountains. I'm not expressing this well, but it's interesting to contemplate.

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  5. Jen... Hope your headache has disappeared and you enjoyed your Sunday. We anxiously await you unveiling the Catskills re-do. Hoping that Spring is easing its way to y'all!

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    1. Headache has disappeared! Is spring over for you yet?

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    2. A bit of both Spring and Summer... The weather has been so very fickle this year! The temperature has jumped into the 80s and then back and forth with wind and rain so that we pull out the jackets again! The azaleas and dogwood trees have bloomed, the grass is green, and flowers are popping up everywhere! My gardenia and magnolia are both filled with blooms... I am anticipating lovely white flowers to come!

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  6. I really don't know much about her. I'll have to get that book.

    Hope your head is feeling better.

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  7. Tiny sign of spring is agreeable... I just know a little about O'Keefe's painting of flowers. They fascinate me a lot. And I'm glad to see her another one on landscape.

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  8. Oh God, what is it with us and the headaches. I hope it was tapered off today and you can feel hopeful and grateful.

    Once I did a FITH with a migraine. How crazy am I.

    I love that you get to have flowers from Shelley in your house.

    Blogging can be such a lovely world. I'm so glad we all live in it.

    xo Jane

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  9. i'd be interested in that biography.
    reading with a headache! chuckle - as bad as me...

    i adore the sound of a wide world.

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    1. It's excellent--smooth reading and so interesting.
      Wide--yes. My problem is a fear of heights and a lot of the places I need to see have canyons...

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  10. Hope you feel better today, Jen. But, um....not too much green up here yet. Spring is dragging Her heels....

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  11. I hope you feel better soon. happy monday xxxo

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  12. Apart from the headache sounds as if you have had a perfect weekend.

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  13. Hello Jen,
    You write so lovingly of New Mexico..and New England. Both at different ends of the US. Each with their own attractions.
    I love Georgia 'o keefe's work..a fascinating woman. I am sure the book tells all.
    I drew an o keefe style design on a smallish canvas about a year ago , and haven't started it yet.. i must try and get down to it.. but no one can paint like she did.
    Nice that your flowers are starting to bloom. Its the same here too.
    Happy days.
    val

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  14. Hope your head cleared and you were able to enjoy the day. Finally it seems that Spring has arrived. Love Georgia O'Keefe and New Mexico, they seem to have belonged together.

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  15. Most of the west is prairie, desert and mountains, as you know. Wyoming is open prairie when it's not mountains - really beautiful lonely and a lot of artists have painted there, too. Maybe I'll do a blog on the Wyoming art we have from living there 20 years. The kitten and flowers photo is lovely. Have you considered using it as a study to paint from in whatever style you're feeling? Even Cubist with the cat's eyes crossed and one above the other would be great if you kept the same colors as in the cat and flowers.

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    1. I've never been to Wyoming and would love to go one day. Also Montana. Cool idea about painting kitten and flowers!

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  16. Good. You answered my comment and you're still alive and not hurt. When I didn't see a blog tonight, I worried about where you were on Sunday. I'm really sorry this awful act happened in your beautiful city.

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    1. Thanks, K. Also, I'd love to see a post or posts about Wyoming art. Do it!

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