Friday, May 5, 2017

Georgia's Place: Abiquiu, New Mexico, April 2017

A vacation in New Mexico: Georgia O'Keeffe's studio and home in Abiquiu

It all started with a desire to go West again. We hadn't been since 2000. As we zeroed in, we decided to explore O'Keeffe Country. Using VRBO, we found a wonderful adobe to rent for a week. It was 25 miles from Abiquiu, New Mexico, the focal point of our exploration as Georgia O'Keeffe had her studio and home in the little village.

This is the courtyard of her home and studio in Abiquiu.


There is a door in this courtyard that Georgia painted again and again. Tim is standing in front of it.

Image result for georgia o'keeffe doorThis is my favorite version.

This one is nice as well. 

She saw it many different ways:
Image result for georgia o'keeffe door

Her property is located on almost 4 acres. The drawing above is a layout of her home and studio in the upper right with the garden and trees filling up the rest of the plan. She wanted to grow enough fruits and vegetables to sustain herself through the winter. Today, the staff uses the produce and some of it is donated to food banks. Today the garden is supervised by the grandson of her original gardener. Another grandson was our tour bus driver.

This is the well. When all the village was connected to a water supply, thanks to Georgia, she covered her well so her Chows wouldn't fall in and then she topped the well cover with two pieces of sculpture.

This is the inside of the "formal entry" into the courtyard. This is where visitors would enter. 
Georgia would use the garage entry.


 Wendy at the entrance to the area leading to the garage.


This is the entry one would walk into from that door, Barbara, our knowledgeable guide was showing a famous photo of Georgia sitting in this very place.
Image result for georgia okeeffe in the entry wayThe is the photo Barbara was showing us.


"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way - things I had no words for."The tour restricted us from taking photos inside the house, but this is a famous photo of Georgia at the window that overlooks the highway. We got to stand in this very place. She watched the highway and ended up painting the view.

Barbara, our tour guide, showed us how one of those "abstractions" turned out.

From her home high in the village, she could see all the incoming cars. If you look closely at the top of the photo below, you can see the adobe perched there.


This is part of the garden area. You can watch the garden being watered starting every Monday morning at 9 a.m. via a webcam monitored by the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. The link is https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/about-georgia-okeeffe/abiquiu-camera/

Another view of the garden. It is flooded once a week on Monday and that is all that is needed for the plants to grow. 

A view of the studio from the outside.


Another view of the outside. Georgia also had a bomb shelter installed on the property during the "Cold War." In the summer, a special tour is given of the property that shows the interior of the shelter. Four beds and lots of food. She was prepared.

Georgia loved cottonwood trees and has many on her property. 

She enjoyed painting these trees again and again.
Image result for georgia okeeffe cottonwoodThis is just one version: Georgia O'Keeffe, Winter Cottonwoods East V, 1954, Oil on canvas,

Another item in her courtyard that she enjoyed painting was the adobe with the ladder. 
She painted the ladder in many ways.

Image result for georgia okeeffe ladderLadder against studio wall in snow, undated.

Image result for georgia okeeffe ladder Ladder to the moon, 1958.

Image result for georgia okeeffe ladder

Similar to the way writers write what they know, Georgia O'Keeffe painted what she saw.

The Georgia O'Keeffe Home and Studio Tours starts from the Abiquiu Inn in Abiquiu, New Mexico. For more information, go to https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/store/products/abiquiu/abiquiu-home-studio-tour/

We enjoyed the 90-minue tour very much. Maybe you will also.





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