Like Monet’s waterlillies, images of Georgia O’Keeffe’s work were ubiquitous throughout my high school and college career, covering the walls of dorm rooms and beat-down apartments, so much so that I dismissed her as a “poster art” artist and moved on. Oh, you silly, naive fool! This summer after a particularly trying visit to a conceptual contemporary art show, I began thinking about Ms. O’Keeffe and her lush, emotional paintings of the western flora and fauna she held so dear. It was time to revisit her work. Man, am I glad I did. I was truly moved and deeply excited by what I saw. Both the palettes of her painting and the homes she lived in are deeply inspirational to me and I am happy to say that I am not the only one feeling this way. There is a gorgeous piece on her home in Abiqui, New Mexico currently being re-run on the Architectural Digest site and a new book out on both that home and her beloved Ghost Ranch called Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Houses: Ghost Ranch and Abiqui by Barbara Buhler Lynes. Naturally, I snatched a copy up pronto and have been covetously flipping from one austere, elemental image to the next for days on end. In case you doubt the power and freshness of this thoroughly modern woman and painter, feast your eyes on some of her elegant, enduring work and enjoy!

Oh yeah, and she was incredibly cool. I kind of want to be her. Ok, not kind of.