Georgia O'Keeffe, American Painter

CEBU, Philippines - Georgia O'Keeffe, was born in 1887. After working briefly as a commercial artist in Chicago, she abandoned painting for a while until she began her study of abstract design. Her work was first exhibited in 1916 at the 291 Gallery of photographer Alfred Stieglitz, whom she married in 1924. Immaculate, sculptural, organic forms painted in strong, clear colors predominate in her works.

O'Keeffe employed numerous Southwestern motifs such as bleached bones, barren, rolling hills, clouds, and desert blooms. Her pristine abstract designs carry strong elements of sexual symbolism - especially her flower paintings, her most personal works. Using a photographic close-up technique, she revealed the exquisite recesses of calla lilies, orchids, and hollyhocks.

Her later works were more purely abstract. O'Keeffe died in 1986.

Susan Benford, in the website www.answers.com, shares the following quotes from Georgia O'Keefe:

. "I found I could say things with color and shapes."

. "Nobody sees a flower, really, it is so small it takes time - we haven't time, and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time."

."I love flowers - I paint them because they're cheaper than models, and they don't move." (FREEMAN)