Inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe: Desert Landscape

I'm going to start off this post in a seemingly off topic way here by saying that yesterday I went to an art reception in which I have one painting.  I got a chance to look around at a lot of art that had made it into the show; and there was a lot of it. There were some pieces of exceptionally well made art as well as some mediocre art.
Awards were given at the show; and when awards are given it leads me to think about why the art that won awards won them.

Then, today I was reading a booklet written originally in 1948 entitled " Secrets of Famous Artists: How you can make the most of your creative talent".  Despite a somewhat tacky sounding name it's actually quite insightful.  The wording sounds like it was written for high school aged students.  The booklet goes over a few basic ideas about composition within a work of art.  When I read it I thought , "Ah ha, that's what I've been ignoring when creating my paintings." I've been concerned with brush strokes and colors all the while leaving my composition to a matter of chance.  I realized that I need to think about and plan out my compositions more.

Recently I was creating a painting of the ocean and some part of the sandy cliffs reminded me of the desert.  Paintings of the desert in turn remind me of Georgia O'Keeffe.  Georgia O'Keeffe was one of the artists I really admired when I was in high school.  For myself, when I think of her paintings I think of her desert paintings in New Mexico where she lived when she was older.  I also think of the way the color values transition smoothly in her paintings.

This is my most recent painting of a desert inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe.  I like the idea but I think the composition needs work. 

So now I have a desire to compose mental deserts and create paintings of them.  Maybe I wish I was in New Mexico because of the way I think New Mexico feels.  Maybe I feel that there are mentally dry places in life.  Maybe I want to paint the way I think Georgia O'Keeffe paints (which is not the way she actually appears to paint when I look at her work).  Whatever the case may be imagined desert places is my next jumping off point.