A Private Audience with Geogia O'Keeffe

Every Saturday from January to May, I took a yoga class at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.  The class occurred from 10-11 am, one hour before the museum opened.

I arrived early each week, wanting to spend as much time as possible in silence with artists I've long admired. One Saturday, I walked through a gallery and discovered Georgia O'Keeffe's "Jimson Weed," a magnificent painting which nearly covered the wall.

I paused before her work, and had a conversation with the artist. 

Georgia O'Keeffe, meet my yoga mat.

I don't know if you practiced yoga when you were alive. Are you surprised to learn one of your paintings is background for a practice based on stretching and breathing?

I wonder how you centered before you painted? How did you clear your mind to make room for ideas to travel from your brain, through your hands, and finally to canvas? Surely you had a ritual or maybe images came without effort because of the way your brain was wired. You saw the world in images. Your mission was to paint so others can see beauty.

Your creative energy is held by the paint and canvas, which I feel when I walk by.

Thank you, Georgia O'Keeffe, for mingling with my soul on Saturday morning at the art museum.