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.
There is a door in this courtyard that Georgia painted again and again. Tim is standing in front of it.
This is my favorite version.
This one is nice as well.
She saw it many different ways:
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 entry one would walk into from that door, Barbara, our knowledgeable guide was showing a famous photo of Georgia sitting in this very place.
The is the photo Barbara was showing us.
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.
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.
Georgia loved cottonwood trees and has many on her property.
This 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.
Ladder against studio wall in snow, undated.
Ladder to the moon, 1958.
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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