Georgia O'Keeffe's Flower paintings

The first 200 words of this essay...

Georgia O'Keeffe's Flower paintings

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

If I could paint the flower exactly as I see it no one would see what I see because I would paint it small like the flower is small. So I said to myself - I'll paint what I see - what the flower is to me but I'll paint it big and they will be surprised into taking time to look at it - I will make even busy New Yorkers take time to see what I see of flowers.

...Well, I made you take time to look at what I saw and when you took time to really notice my flower you hung all your own associations with flowers on my flower and you write about my flower as if I think and see what you think and see of the flower - and I don't."

- Georgia O'Keeffe

"The circumstances of her life are not the example. It is the abstracting- as with the flowers, bones, the simplicity-that should be the example, the