tumblr_md6smz25Tk1qd9m9xo1_500.

Georgia O'Keefe's Horse's Skull with Pink Rose

I was interested in how large an impact such a small amount of color can make. I chose this after watching a PBS program about New Mexico that had a section featuring Georgia O'Keefe.  I was intrigued by her motives, which were explained to be completely different than what most critics theorized, that her paintings were comments on her sexuallity.  I intended to find one of her flower paintings and so my blog over it, but when I came across this I felt compelled to share it.  I like this for several reasons, the subject matter is equine, and I used to have a complete horse skull I kept for many years.  His name was Jowles and it resided in several of my homes over the years.  When I was in the military I lost track of him.  I did many sketches of him but I never thought of adding something like a flower.  I was surprised to see she had done several paintings of various skulls and they were fresh and interesting because of the objects she paired the skulls with.  The pink rose grabs your eye and is complemented by the green leaves against the shades of white and black of the background. I can't put my finger on what, exactly, it is about the image I find so appealing, but I just love it.  I would hang this in my home in a heartbeat, however my husband has a very different take on it and says he doesn't like it because of the skull and representation of death.  I don't see it as a representation of death, rather as finding an object of beauty in an unexpected place.  In the summer I have found the most lovely flowers growing among the bones of my neighbor's cow boneyard.  I plan to learn more about O'Keefe's work and motivation.