Beginning in 1929, Georgia O'Keeffe spent part of almost every year in New Mexico. She found great beauty in the intensity of the natural world in the Southwest. The stunning environment provided her inspiration for many landscape paintings including Small Purple Hills. She often played with scale in her work, exploring both grand expanses and intimate details with equal attention. In Feather and Brown Leaf, she focused closely on the forms of organic objects whose particular qualities she thought reflected the place.