O’Keeffe and New Mexico: Through the Expressive Lens

Step into the dramatic landscapes that shaped the vision of painter Georgia O’Keeffe and bring to light the enduring spirit of the high desert in northern New Mexico. From the adobe-lined streets of Santa Fe to the red cliffs of Abiquiu and the wide-open skies of Ghost Ranch, this workshop with Renee Lynn traces the creative footsteps of the “Mother of American Modernism.”

These iconic places—painted again and again by O’Keeffe for their stark beauty, bold color palettes, and abstracted forms—continue to stir the imagination. The region, deeply rooted in Native American, Spanish, and European histories, offers a rich tapestry of culture, myth, and land that speaks to artists from around the world.

This workshop is an invitation to slow down, connect deeply with place, and create with intention. Using a digital camera, you are inspired by O’Keeffe’s use of shape, color, and composition to make expressive photographs of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. In addition, Renee introduces you to a few of the basic techniques for abstracting your images using intentional camera movement and in-camera multiple exposure. Guided field sessions, creative exercises, and immersive exploration will help you strengthen your visual awareness and respond to the landscape through imaginative, personal imagery.

During our time together, we visit the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe and take a docent-led tour of O’Keeffe’s private Home and Studio in Abiquiu. Then we photograph the dramatic landscapes of Ghost Ranch by private tour, including short walks through the arroyos to view Cerro Pedernal and the signature mesas O’Keeffe once painted. Creative instruction, group discussions, and photo critiques to deepen your technical and artistic practice fill out our time together. 

Stirred by Georgia O’Keeffe’s bold vision of northern New Mexico, Renee sees the landscapes around her home in Santa Fe as both subject and muse. She transforms the sculpted desert into expressive photographs through abstraction, color, and form. Together, the group ventures into the same mesas, canyons, and high desert vistas that fueled O’Keeffe’s creativity, translating the beauty of the land into photographs that resonate with a painterly spirit. 

Whether you’re seeking to expand your creative process, experiment with new techniques, or reconnect with the natural world, this workshop offers a unique journey through the landscapes that have long inspired artists of all kinds.

“I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.” ~ Georgia O’Keeffe