After visiting Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu and the museum in Santa Fe, I learned so much about her and in doing so I learned about myself too. She was truly a pioneer as a woman in the abstract and modern art world.

She talked about how learning to paint by copying other works was disappointing because she knew she could never paint as well as the original artist. She was never satisfied with her work until she learned to paint what she saw.

The guide told me that people come to the area to see her art, but more often they come to learn about how she was able to design a life on her own terms as a woman in the early 1900s. Once she said this, I got it — this was the exact reason I am fascinated by Georgia O’Keeffe.