The Art of Living Beautifully

Lessons in Creative Living from Georgia O’Keeffe to Joanna Gaines

What Does It Mean to Live a Total Work of Art?

Recently, I took an art class on Jeanne Oliver’s creative network called The Art of Seeing. It was taught by artist Diane Reeves and inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe, and there is one concept that has been lodged in my mind ever since: Gesamtkunstwerk.

It’s a German term meaning “a total work of art.” Originally, it described artworks that combined multiple art forms (like music, drama, visual art, dance, and more) into one unified experience. But in the course, Diane offered a more personal interpretation based upon her study of Georgia O’Keeffe: Living Modern by Wanda M. Corn: that Georgia O’Keeffe’s life itself was a work of art. Her art wasn’t just the paintings or photographs, but the way she lived: the home she created, the clothes she wore, and the daily rhythms she honored. Everything she touched reflected her values of simplicity, strength, purpose, and beauty. Her surroundings, rituals, and even the New Mexico desert she called home were part of her creative expression.

When I heard this, I thought: That’s it. That’s the kind of life I want.

This idea perfectly captures what I’ve been craving: a cohesive, artful life where home, family, creativity, work, and the natural world aren’t separate categories, but threads woven into a whole. A life shaped by curiosity and care and love, where even small moments like arranging a shelf, making breakfast, or stepping outside, are touched by intention.

That idea of living with presence gave words to something I’ve long felt but hadn’t named. A total work of art isn’t about perfection; it’s about alignment and being fully present.

Georgia O’Keeffe and the Art of Living Modern

While Corn may not use the term Gesamtkunstwerk, her book illustrates how O’Keeffe embodied the idea. Her creative choices extended far beyond just her canvas: her wardrobe was handmade, minimalist, and structured. Her homes in New Mexico were sparse, filled only with things she loved and needed. Her relationship with nature was not just for show, but personal, spiritual, and deeply integrated into her work.

O’Keeffe was a modernist in art and in the way she lived: editing out the unnecessary, centering beauty, and choosing solitude and space over clutter and chaos. She shows us that a creative life doesn’t begin and end with studio hours. Instead, it includes everything from the way we eat, rest, walk through the world, and care for the spaces we live in.

That’s what Gesamtkunstwerk can be for us, too. It’s an invitation to ask:

• Does the way I live support what I hold most dear?

• Is there something beautiful here I haven’t noticed?

• Am I letting my creative life shape my everyday life, and vice versa?

When we begin to live in alignment with our creative ideals, we often discover that we can do more with what we already have. We become more resourceful, more thoughtful, and more in tune.

Modern Lives That Embody This Practice

While O’Keeffe offers a powerful historical example, this way of living isn’t limited to artists of the past. Today, many public figures - both in and out of the arts - embrace this kind of cohesive, intentional lifestyle. Their lives offer inspiration for how we can do the same:

• Joanna Gaines has built a home-centered world and lifestyle brand that reflects her values of simplicity, family, slow living, and meaningful work. Her shows, books, social media presence, and designs are extensions of a life rooted in beauty and place.

• Marie Kondo, best known for organizing, also transformed the act of tidying up into a philosophy of joyful living where even the smallest daily habits can become artful rituals.

• Reese Witherspoon, through her book club, films, and lifestyle brand Draper James, weaves storytelling, southern heritage, and female empowerment into every area of her public and personal life.

What unites them isn’t aesthetic, it’s alignment. Their work, style, habits, values, and spaces form a complete expression of who they are. That’s Gesamtkunstwerk in action.

How We Can Begin to Live This Way

You don’t need a team of designers, a desert retreat, or a large platform to live an artful life. You only need attention, intention, and the courage to ask: What would it look like if my everyday life reflected the creative ideals I hold most dear?

Here are a few starting points:

• Create a sense of place. Let your home or workspace mirror your creative self. Ask questions like: What colors make you happiest? What objects inspire you? Does the space make you feel more or less like yourself? Does this bring you peace? Even a small corner with purposeful beauty can shift your mood and your life.

• Let your priorities shape your days. If you appreciate creativity, beauty, simplicity, or nature, let those principles guide how you spend your time and what you surround yourself with.

• Don’t compartmentalize your creativity. Let your art influence your meals. Let your clothing reflect your mood. Let your garden inspire your work. Everything interacts with and is inspired by everything else. When your life and art speak to each other, something beautiful happens.

• Elevate the everyday. Use the “good” notebook. Light the candle. Choose the pen you love. Whatever you have been saving for a rainy day - use it! Beauty isn’t reserved for special occasions, it’s a way of honoring your life in small, repeated gestures. Mundane moments become special when we treat them that way.

• Define your own aesthetic. You don’t need to match a trend or style so don’t worry about what’s “popular”. Let the focus be you. Cohesion doesn’t mean uniformity; it means alignment.

Because Beauty Changes Everything

Beauty isn’t frivolous. It wakes us up. It invites gratitude, clarity, and connection. It’s how we honor what matters. And when we live a life that centers on beauty - not performative or superficial beauty, but the deep kind, the thoughtful kind - it doesn’t just change how our homes or art look. It changes how we feel, how we move through the world, and how we treat others.

When we pursue a total work of art, we’re really pursuing wholeness, integration, and a life that feels like it was made…not just lived through.

Because a beautiful life isn’t just something we build.

It’s something we become.