O'Keefe and Tecolote

Hey! This time both the O'Keefe Museum and Tecolote restaurant were open.

My breakfast burrito with chorizo and red chili sauce was excellent and it came with their own version of fried potatoes (cut the same as au grautin, but prepared like O'Brien) and a basket of biscuits and muffins. Washed down with a bottomless cup of good coffee, I haven't eaten anything else since breakfast.

The O'Keefe Museum is small. The size of the exhibit is overcome by the number of pieces on display and the ability to get right up close to the paintings. I have seen many prints and books of her work, but the originals are so much more crisp and vibrant. The lines in her oil paintings are very sharp and the colors are not muddled, yet the shading is amazing. The pastel works are understandably less sharp, but no less striking. My impression of her work (like that of many others) has always been that of sensuality. Her work was first described thus by her husband/agent, photographer Alfred Stieglitz. She did not agree and worked hard to change this perception by moving away from impressionistic works. The current exhibit includes photographs by Ansel Adams. The two artists became friends in 1929 when she was 42 and he was 27. In 1937 they travelled around the southwest by car visiting archaeological sites.

I rode back to the park wearing considerably fewer layers of clothes than I had on when I started out this morning. It's a beautiful day and I understand why Georgia O'Keefe felt drawn to this area.