A Room with a View...

in Chicago of the John Hancock Tower from the Sofitel Water Tower. This was my fifth or was it seventh visit to Chicago?  Hard to remember because Chicago is an annual business trip which means that I don't get to do much other than work....

With the exception of a trip eight years ago with my niece and best friend to visit American Girl and the tremendous museums the city has to offer, it is always been "fly in and fly out" within two days.

Due to the increased airfare for short term business travel this year (e.g $900.00 for two nights vs. $250.00 for a three night stay), I decided to stay and walk about for an afternoon and evening before I made my way back to O'Hare and home.

My first wish was to re-visit the Art Institute of Chicago and say "hello again" to the O"Keefe's there. However, as I got closer, I realized quite a bit had changed. Millenium Park, built over railyards and abandoned land, had been completed while I was flying in and out of Chicago over the last six years. Frank Gehry not only designed the concert pavillion but also a winding bridge that connects the park to another pavillion and the waterfront.

Chicago's motto "Urbs in Horto" (City in a Garden), evident in the numbers of trees and plantings throughout the city, continues with the thoughtful design of green space and public spaces throughout Millenium Park.

I can say I've been to the Bean! .... a curious and enormous stainless steel sculpture named "Cloud Gate" that looks like, yup, a bean.

Great place to people watch as they gaze at their reflections and the city skyline reflected back at them.

Continuing on, I found Lurie Gardens and Gehry's walkway which I could probably spend days gazing at and photographing... 

The Art Institute of Chicago, guarded by this fellow,

has added a new Modern Art wing since my last visit. So not only did I get to see Georgia's Sky above Clouds IV again, gaze at Van Goghs and some Hoppers but I also walked through the new wing and viewed a great selection of photography, paintings and sculpture. This museum is one of the great ones that should be on everyone's 'must see' list. 

Chicago is an amazing and beautiful city. On my last night the streets and public places were abuzz with the upcoming marathon. I haven't even mentioned the architecture, the food, the neighborhoods, the river tour and the people that make it delightful and unique. Next visit.

Theme Thursday-Hats

When it comes to buying a hat, size does matter. Found this contraption in an antique western wear store in Taos, New Mexico.
It was used to measure cowboys' and yes, cowgirls' heads for custom made hats. Turns out that I am a 7 1/4 --a large head for a cowgirl, I was told.

Something tells me that Georgia had a large head too and didn't much care. I am going to get me a hat just like Georgia's when I move to New Mexico with my darlin' Mr. Jackson.

It is that time again--Theme Thursday is here and it is about hats--take a look and try one on here!

Photohunt-Painted

This painted pony sits just outside of the main building at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu New Mexico.

Georgia O'Keefe lived and painted in this area for almost 50 years. The history of this area goes back

to 1766 when a land grant was given by the King of Spain. Spanning 21,000 acres, Ghost Ranch is also known as "Rancho de los Brujos" or "Ranch of Witches" and is comprised of land made famous by O'Keefe for its stark beauty,trademark steer skull and a history fraught with struggle since the original grant. The discussion regarding land grants is ongoing. An excellent book about Ghost Ranch has been written by Lesley Poling-Kempes.

Given to the Presbyterian Church by Arthur and Pheobe Pack in 1955, the Ghost Ranch today is a place of retreat and learning that also offers a number of hiking opportunities that reveal the expanse and beauty of the place.

A Place Different

"When I got to New Mexico, that was mine. As soon as I saw it, that was my country. I'd never seen anything like it before but it fitted to me exactly. It's something that's in the air. It's different. The sky is different. The stars are different. The wind is different. I shouldn't say too much about this, 'cause other people may get interested and I don't want them interested.”

Georgia O’Keefe (c.1977 PBS Documentary)

Georgia O'Keeffe in Abiquiu, New Mexico, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1950.



I don’t remember when I first saw or read this but I know I did, because around this time, I became fascinated with O’Keefe. Different was what I craved and understood. I read anything that was written about her, studied her art and wondered about this place called New Mexico.

I stared at the paintings at the Met and MOMA trying to understand the place and the images that exploded from O’Keefe’s canvases. Images composed using a modern chiaroscuro, light and dark, combining realism with abstraction.

It wasn’t the first time I heard about this amazing place.

D.H. Lawrence visited Mabel Dodge Luhan at Ghost Ranch and ended up owning a ranch some 20 miles north of Taos. While he spent less than a year in New Mexico, he said of that time,” I think New Mexico was the greatest experience I ever had from the outside world. It certainly changed me forever.”

Georgia O’Keefe spent nearly twenty years traveling back and forth from New York to New Mexico, until in the late forties after the death of her husband, Alfred Stieglitz, she came, at 42, to stay until she died at 98.

So twenty years later, after returning home from Italy, I established my first rule for an orderly re-entry back into reality.

Begin planning the next big adventure!

Something about the art, the antiquities, the culture and the landscape of Italy, a place firmly placed in my imagination but yet, so considerably different from the culture of America compelled me to pick up my books on O’Keefe and begin the a study of this place she called home.


The following is a link to the interview above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYwKRVJaNEA


Note : You will need to pause the music to hear Georgia speak.

Just listening to it makes me smile—let me know what you think!