Artist of the Day: Still Life of Cow Skull with Pink and Ivory Roses - Lucy Snowe

Flower Photography Still Life of a Cow Skull with Pink and Ivory Roses
lucy snowephotography

Lucy Snowe is one of my favorite contemporary photographers.

This photograph is an ode to Georgia O'Keeffe stark, and hauntingly beautiful paintings of bones and blooms floating above desert horizons.The word that comes to mind to describe the feelings they evoke is lush.  

Other than her gorgeous paintings, what I admire most about O'Keeffe is her fierce dedication to her vision. And to her own bent. She followed her heart, her muse, her own voice. No matter what. She quit her suffocating teaching position to paint. She took long walks. Alone. She never let the fact that she was a woman in the male dominated art world intimidate or stop her.

She painted what pleased her. She did exactly what she wanted.

It has to be said that she had a powerful ally and financial backer in her husband Alfred Stieglitz, which, really helps one be true to oneself.

Her singular dedication to her work, has been thinly described by some scholars as verging on bloodless. The reality is that Georgia put her work first, just like her male peers. Her stoicism during her husband's affair, and then her calculated retribution on the other woman after his death is one part chilling, and one part yougogirl worthy.

She remained in New Mexico when husband Stieglitz was ill, and even when it was clear he was going to die. She loved him. He loved her. After he died, she eviscerated his lover, and returned to the desert.
---
artist bio: My husband is a cowboy, riding horses, raising cattle and peacocks, tooling leather, and can't understand for one minute why in the world anyone would buy a photograph of a little dog wrapped up in a scarf.

No comments:

Post a Comment