Picture Book Biographies of Georgia O'Keefe

     There are several picture books featuring Georgia O'Keefe, but I found that the best of all as a pure stand-alone was Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keefe Painted What She Pleased by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Yuyi Morales. Novesky's tight focus on one episode in O'Keefe's life is illustrative of all of the artist's life, her determination to do as she pleased, her spirit of generosity and empathy. In this book, O'Keefe is hired by the company that will become Dole to paint a pineapple for commercial use and given a ten-day visit to Hawaii for that purpose.  Unable to make herself comply with the company at first, O'Keefe finds Hawaii filled with natural objects she prefers to paint and gives the company two paintings with other subjects, although she does finally find it in her heart to paint a pineapple for them. I loved the artwork by Morales which made even the human figures she depicts seem part of the natural environment of Hawaii, although my one disappointment was that the final picture of the pineapple is not very clearly shown in the book. Morales painted in acrylic on paper and then assembled the illustrations digitally and the book is lush and gorgeous.
      The other books are broader overviews of O'Keefe's life. Through Georgia's Eyes by Rachel Rodriguez, illustrated by Julie Paschkis, presents a biography of the artist that can be used with young children, and the cut-paper collages are so interesting (she painted paper with gradating color and cut out the shapes and glued them down) that I want to use this method as an art project for my children this summer. The text is clear and lovely, poetic without being sentimental. Georgia's Bones written by Jen Bryant with illustrations by Bethanne Andersen is a more conventionally illustrated picture book using gouache, pastel and colored pencil on paper. In this, the text is somewhat uninspired biography with awkward transitions between phases in the artist's life, and I thought it would have been better had the focus been tighter on what the title proclaims.
     Two other books are My Name is Georgia: A Portrait by Jeanette Winter and Georgia O'Keefe by Linda Lowery, with illustrations by Rochelle Draper. In Winter's book, matte acrylic paints convey a simplicity that is echoed by the text which sometimes quotes directly from O'Keefe. I loved the emphasis on O'Keefe's "the faraway" and the images of the artist sleeping on her roof in New Mexico, looking up at the stars, both of which called to mind the work of Faith Ringgold. This is another picture book biography that can be used with young children. Lowery's book, on the other hand, is a more conventional easy reader biography, the illustrations are unfortunately all sketches and overly serious, but I recommend it for the text as accessible for younger children looking for more biographical information prior to being able to conquer a longer text like Mike Venezia's Georgia O'Keefe, which is not so very long or difficult but, of course, not an easy reader.