Happy Birthday to Georgia O'Keeffe!

“I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.”  ― Georgia O'Keeffe

Photo from the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum website.

Today, November 15^th, is the birthday of artist Georgia O’Keeffe.  


Years ago, I fell in love with the art of Frida Kahlo, then a few years later, Georgia O’Keeffe. More recently, I discovered the art of Emily Carr. Shortly afterwards I found out about the book, “Carr, O`Keeffe, Kahlo, Places of Their Own” by Sharyn Rohlfsen Udall, which discusses the work and lives of Canadian artist Emily Carr (1871–1945), U.S. artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), and Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907–1954). I’d already written a few poems inspired by the art of these women, but shortly after buying Udall’s book, I came to think of these female artists as a holy trinity who impelled me to begin my third collection of poetry.



So far, I’ve written drafts of close to eighty poems inspired by the art and writings of these three women. Next week, I’m delighted to be going to an individual writer’s retreat for some concentrated time devoted to working on these poems. The retreat was made possible by the Kentucky Foundation for Women, who promote feminist art and social justice through grants, retreats, and residencies they award. I’m grateful to have received a grant, a residency, and a retreat from them in the past. If you want to find out more about the Kentucky Foundation for Women, visit http://www.kfw.org/.



Here are three of my poems inspired by the art of Georgia O'Keeffe:



Pattern of Leaves or Leaf Motif #3, 1923-4, published January 2019 in “The Ekphrastic Review.” http://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic/georgia-okeeffes-pattern-of-leaves-or-leaf-motif-3-1923-4-by-karen-george



Georgia O'Keeffe's Nude Series VIII, watercolor, 1917, published January 2019 in “The Ekphrastic Review.” http://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic/georgia-okeeffes-nude-series-viii-watercolour-1917-by-karen-george



If you want to read more writing inspired by art, check out “The Ekphrastic Review,” edited by the fabulous artist/writer Lorette C. Luzajic, at: http://www.ekphrastic.net/.

 

The following poem originally appeared in the journal “Thirteen Myna Birds.” After the poem is a link to the O’Keeffe painting that inspired it.

Georgia O'Keeffe's Light Coming on the Plains III, 1917, a watercolour

         

I

The sun rises, vibrates

light into inky night

II

A teal dome hovers above a disk. A horizon

separates the two—their negative space

III

An earthenware vessel balanced

in a niche that holds it in place 

IV

A murky seashell opens to reveal

an opalescent, radiant orb

V

You enter a dim cave

tiptoe toward pale blue

  

Link to the painting: Georgia O'Keeffe's Light Coming on the Plains III