Me and Georgia OKeeffe

Oriental Poppies, circa 1928

Last year my younger sister, who has a traditional art degree, started calling me Georgia OKeeffe with a camera.  I laughed it off thinking she was being her normal whimsical self and intended it as a complement.

Orange Poppies, circa 2013

I mean sure, Georgia OKeeffe was a renowned artist who specialized in, among other things, flowers.  And I was a computer geek with a thing for plants and a very flower-centric photography style.  Worlds apart right?

Evidently Georgia and I have more in common than being from the same general geographic region of the country and being fascinated by flowers in general and poppies in specific.

My personal ongoing quest for live oriental poppies to photograph has been the cause of many marathon trips to garden stores around town,  several purchasing binges of bulbs from online plant suppliers (stupid warm Colorado winters led the bulbs to sprout in January and then die in the next snow storm), and even the planning of clandestine garden raids (a friend willingly gave me one from his garden upon hearing my nefarious plan to raid the Botanical Gardens).

Anyway, my knowledge of Georgia's work started with purple morning glories and ended with cow skulls, my college education having focused on math, engineering, and computers.

So this week while looking for cheerful stickers for my new water bottle (that ugly store branding embossed on the side of the teal blue neoprene HAD to go) I finally figured out why my sister said that.

visit Samantha Byrnes' gallery online...