Georgia O'Keeffe

I have been so much better at painting than I have been at living.

I have always been afraid of being a woman.

The unencumbered woman, alone in the landscape, is a very strong image.

I had to create an equivalent for what I felt about what I was looking at — not just copy it.

I often think about the first time I saw the desert. It was like a new world opening up to me.

I started out to be a musician, but I found that I could say more with paint.

I paint because I have to. It's a compulsion.

I wish I could write about it but I can't. I can only paint it.

I believe it is important to be true to oneself, no matter what others may think.

I have always been afraid of things. Afraid of being a woman, afraid of being a man, afraid of being a human being.

I think it's so foolish for people to want to be painters in this day and age. It's such a dead art.

I have been working on the same theme for years. The skull.

I wish people were more interested in what I do than in what I am.

I have always been interested in the space between things. The space between colors, the space between forms.

I have always had a very strong sense of my own direction.

I have always been a loner.

I wanted to paint the unpaintable.

I have always been very particular about my clothes. I like to dress simply.

I have always been interested in the bones. The way they are put together.

I have always been interested in the light. The way it changes things.