Georgia O'Keefe Workshop

Today my writer's group, Sowing the Seeds, met at one of our comadre's homes for a presentation on Georgia O'Keefe. Connie entitled the presentation, "Writing in the Shadow of Georgia O'Keefe." After the first part of the presentation which included a video Connie had made of O'Keefe's paintings and a brief biography of her life, Connie prompted us to write using a fresh cut flower or a dried flower. Connie's presentation of O'Keefe was so inspirational, we all wanted to keep writing. Poems, essays, and memoirs poured out of us. After our pot luck lunch on Connie's patio, we continued our discussion of O'Keefe's life as an artist.

It was a relaxing, rewarding day. I wrote two poems and enjoyed the company of my comadres. We meet once a month and all of us feel the same way. After a morning of sharing our writing and our lives and our food, we go away energized! O'Keefe once said that "having a friend takes time." Connie explained that what O'Keefe really meant by that was that friends took her time away from her work. I find the opposite to be true - my friends energize me for my work. I think it may have something to do with when I was growing up in Morenci. My tías (six of them) and my mother sat in my grandmother's kitchen to visit and platicar. I was allowed to sit in the corner, quietly drawing or writing. I didn't join in the conversation and I had the feeling that I wouldn't have been permitted anyway, but I took it all in. Years later, memories of Morenci came from having listened to their platicas. Stories for my books have come from those platicas. The other thing that came from those early years with my tías, my mother, and my grandmother, was the enjoyment of working with other women. My writer's group is all women and our discussions are always full and rich. My clay class has all women in it and we also discuss as we play in the clay. My friends and my comadres enrich my creativity!

Elena