Georgia O’Keeffe

Today is the birthday of the country's most loved female painter, Georgia O'Keeffe, who was born on this day in 1887.

During her incredible career as a painter, O'Keeffe created over 900 works of art. She is remembered for her iconic paintings of skulls and flowers.
In 1938 when O'Keeffe's career was stalling, she was approached by an advertising agency about creating two paintings for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company (now Dole Food Company) to use in their advertising. O'Keeffe was 51 years old when she took the nine weeks, all-expense-paid trip. O'Keeffe never did paint a pineapple.
And gardeners will be amazed by this fact: Of all the floral paintings that O'Keeffe created in Hawaii, exactly NONE were native to the island. Instead, O'Keeffe was drawn to tropicals that hailed from South America: Bougainvillea, Plumeria, Heliconia, Calliandra, and the White Bird of Paradise.
It was Georgia O'Keeffe who said all of these quotes:

"Nobody sees a flower—really—it is so small it takes time—we haven't time—and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time.
I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale, you could not ignore its beauty.
I hate flowers — I paint them because they're cheaper than models and they don't move!
The days you work are the best days."