From the Plains I 1919

Georgia O'Keeffe painted "From the Plains I" with oils, and I imagine it came into being with many shifting thoughts, errors, and intuitions. I look at the top and think she might have been looking at some far-off horizon line. It looks to me like she felt dwarfed by the hugeness of nature - of air, of light, of land. There's something so soft and enveloping about the cool blues. She might have been thinking of the sky, or the earth, or maybe even the body? O'Keeffe was known for her fluid handling of paint and her close-up views. She creates abstract forms using her own visual language. It reminds me of other painters who looked to nature for their cues, like Agnes Martin and Hilma af Klint. Artists are always building on the visual language of other artists! We are all in conversation with each other, both living and dead. Painting is an ambiguous form that takes time, and allows for many meanings to unfold.