Ghost Ranch - Abiquiú - Georgia O'Keeffe - Artist Penny Winn learning from the best!

Artist Penny Winn and her friend Peg at Ghost Ranch on the Georgia O Keeffe tour

Ghost Ranch is a 21,000-acre retreat and education center located close to the village of Abiquiú in Rio Arriba County in north central New Mexico, United States.  It was a dude ranch and the home and studio of Georgia O'Keeffe, as well as the subject of many of her paintings. As an artist I was compelled to go and visit her home away from home.

Every summer she made the trek to her beloved home tucked in the hills in Abiquiu, New Mexico. She would go in her car and find places to paint in the New Mexico light. She was fascinated with  different mountain ranges and the way the light went down different rock formations. 

I am loving looking at her art and learning from her. I look at what she has produced and not necessarily emulate her as I am not a abstract artist but love it and grow from her work. I have painted many landscapes with very little success... However, I do paint abstract type backgrounds behind all of my portraits whether they be people or animals. I am trying to get better with my backgrounds as I believe that this will help to get my paintings much better. 

Even though Ms. O'Keeffe was not the same type of artist that I am. I believe that you can learn from every artist and that you should learn from them. Every style can teach you! Learning from them will only make you better. As she learned from the environment, the death of the cow, the mountain, the flower. I am doing the same with the animals. As a wildlife artist I am attracted to the animal, I do mostly portraits of the animals, then add the backgrounds. 

As O'Keeffe showed her amazing backgrounds - hers might have been stark. Mine are usually full of grasses, and colors. I have been putting fun colors of gold, copper, and silvers... I never paint without white and purple. This is unusual for  a watercolor artist.  Most reverse paint and leave the paper white, which I will do as well, but I will add Chinese White, and at times Gauche because I want to add it on top of what I have already painted. I do this mainly because I started painting as an oil painter... I paint dry painting. I do a little wet painting but not much. I love the look. It works for me. 

My friend Peg and I went to go see Ghost Ranch when my leg wasn't broken! I was thinking about it while I was sitting here today and wanted to share my thoughts on how I paint, the need to look at other artist while you are looking for inspiration, and just learning for others.  I do hope that it helps you as you are growing in your art! I am always learning and growing in my art. It keeps growing and hopefully getting better. I thank you for checking in on me.   

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