O'Keeffe, 1932, White Trumpet Flower

O'Keeffe, 1935, Ram's Head White Hollyhock and Little Hills

O'Keeffe, 1923, Grey Line with Black, Blue and Yellow

Richter, Pavilion, 1982, 100 cm X 70 cm, Oil on canvas

Richter, Candle, 1982, 100 cm X 100 cm, Oil on canvas

Richter, S. with Child, 1995, 41 cm X 36 cm, Oil on canvas

Richter, Abstract Painting, 1984, 70 cm X 100 cm, Oil on canvas

The three previous articles in this series featured the artists' Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh, J. M. W. Turner, Edvard Munch, Clifford Still and Jackson Pollock. Today I will discuss Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) and Gerhard Richter (1932-present).

My discovery of Georgia O'Keeffe was a response from my own art. I had been painting oversized flowers and was searching for others who had done similar compositions. O'Keeffe's flower paintings are even more blown up than my own and create a serene, meditative mood, which I automatically related to when I was photographing my flowers to paint. Her work uses line and color in a unique way that plays up the broad shapes she saw in nature.

She spent a large portion of her life in New Mexico and portrays the scenery in much the same way as her flowers. While her paintings are abstractions, you can still feel the sun and sand as if you were there.

"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life - and I've never let it keep me from doing a single thing I wanted to do."

--Georgia O'Keeffe, http://www.artst.org/okeefe/quotes/

Her work is strongly feminine and she holds a heroic position for many female artists.

Next we look at Gerhard Richter, whose wide range of styles and mediums is very impressive. His work includes drawings, sculptures, watercolors, photographs, photographs he also paints on, photo-realistic paintings, representational paintings and abstract paintings. My own work portrays a range of styles and finding Richter gives me strength and motivation that I am on the right track.

"His surprisingly diverse range of work has received prolonged discussion from critics, especially due to Richter's disregard for 'traditional' stylistic progression and his use of photographs."

--http://www.gerhard-richter.com/biography/work

His range of materials, techniques and compositions shows how much he challenges himself with each painting, throughout his life.

"He believed that paintings should focus on the image rather than the reference, the visual rather than the statement."

--http://www.gerhard-richter.com/biography/work

Although he may not be a household name yet, he is the artist I relate to most closely in my own artistic journey.

"Richter emerged … to become one of the most sought after contemporary artists in the world."

--http://www.gerhard-richter.com/biography/work

Both of these artists I relate to through my own art and they continue to inspire me today.

More information about these artists:
Georgia O'Keeffe http://www.artst.org/okeefe
Gerhard Richter http://www.gerhard-richter.com