i had come to the middle of my trip and the reason i made the trip; to explore okeeffe country.... Abiqui and Ghost Ranch and the surrounding area is where she did most of her later years painting.

i had made a reservation to see Okeeffe's residence in Abiqui and found it most inspiring.  We wandered in and out of her home, the kitchen, her studio and courtyard, seeing her living room and bedroom from the outside, in her wonderful garden.  Something i did not know is how much she gardened, and how much she loved fresh fruit and vegetables.  She planned and orchestrated her own irrigation system even helping to dig it... she was quite the woman.

I felt deep emotion and connection there and even wondered if she would like us being there, she was a private person.  Stieglitz, her lover and husband, never came to her place in New Mexico... interesting. 

We came away with an apple just harvested from her tree, a sweet gift, and i was aghast at the rest of the group munching it so quickly... i'm a romanticist or goofy i guess, i treasured that apple the whole trip.  I photographed it throughout my trip (you will see later) and painted it and plan on doing a whole series just on my "okeeffe apple"... i did end up eating it on the last day of my trip when i was again at sea level in CA... and that too is documented.  For some reason, that apple was very symbolic to me; about my trip, about my experience and so that was one of the best parts of my trip...

When we met for the bus trip to her place, the person leading the trip told us about the road to the white place and so after being in her space i traveled up to the white place before heading to ghost ranch... i spent 3 hours there, walking, taking photos and doing a bit of sketching... eating my cheese and fruit i brought for my lunch... what a day...





of course more pics in the albums... many many more of the white place... the slideshows don't hold much.