Georgia on my mind

Driving home from a visit to Texas, the landscape through New Mexico and Utah made me think of Georgia O'Keeffe's landscapes.  I snapped a few pictures through the car windows and made a note to explore her art with the kids when we got home.  I love Georgia's work; I had posters of her flowers on my dorm walls in college.  Naturally, my kids aren't incredibly impressed, which is fine.  It's ok to dislike an artist and still study them or learn about them.

I went over a few of her most famous paintings - flowers, music, clouds.  It's interesting to me how innocuous those topics sound, and how controversial her images of these innocent images were in their time.  I know I felt naughty posting them, and having read more about Georgia's thoughts on people's interpretation of her work, she wouldn't have been pleased.  When I tried to explain this to the kids, I went for straight up honesty - people in the Western world are uncomfortable with sex and sexuality.  They find it interesting in ways they don't feel good about, and so they find evidence of it in almost everything.  Human bodies are made of curves, just like everything else in nature, and if one looks at Georgia's images of flowers, it is easy to see how someone might think they are illustrations of vulvas, or vaginas, or just generally body parts.  Georgia herself said many times that this was not the intention of her art or the point of it, and absolutely rejected the idea that she was actually painting giant vulvas.  That doesn't mean that people are necessarily wrong in seeing what they see in her art; the artist's intention is not necessarily the same thing as how it is perceived.  And then I did a little zoom with my fingers on her paintings of apples, and how easy it is to make those look vaguely intimate, and then to see again that they are just curved apples.  No right or wrong here - just something to notice and observe.  

I showed them pictures of young Georgia when she had just met Stieglitz and of my favorite photo of her and talked about how confident she seemed in later life, how much she seemed to have come into herself, and how it is ok to not know who you are or what you have to offer the world when you are just starting out.

One thing I didn't know about O'Keeffe was her focus on zooming, and reading about this transformed my view of her work.  If one looks at her jimson weed pictures and watches as she zooms in closer and closer on the image, suddenly those mysterious potentially sexualized blobs are very clearly the pistil of a flower.  It's a fascinating idea, that just by looking at something very very closely, it can lose it's mooring in reality and become something abstract and unanchored.  I read the kids a few books about Georgia's life, and asked my oldest to read her writings about her art, and then I gave them three assignments.  

1. Create at least three images of the same thing, zooming in closer each time.  The last image should not be comprehensible to the casual observer without context but should still be focused and clear.  Photos, paint, oil pastels, clay, etc. are all possible mediums.  You can use the microscope for the final images if you want.  You can use anything you can think of for your subject - Legos, Terraria, nature, the cat, your skin, food - whatever captures your imagination.

2. Create a landscape that uses elements found in Georgia's paintings.  She was literally painting her backyard, or the scenery around her house, so that's one way to think about things.  Other options might include photos of landscapes in New Mexico or Utah.  Keep in mind how she used the sky, the sunset, found natural objects like bones, the general lack of lush greenery, the importance of the layered foreground, midground, and background.  You can make this landscape however you like - watercolor, acrylic, or oil paint, oil pastels, charcoals, clay, sculpture, collage, etc., but no photographs for this assignment.  My middle kid wants to use Legos, but hasn't decided if he wants to do it mosaic-style or if he wants to try for something more topographic or a combo of both.  I talked about how Georgia's work focuses on the astonishing and unbelievable qualities of the natural world, about how bizarre it is that this otherworldly place is real and exists and can be visited, and I would like to see some element of that reflected in their projects.

3. Create a painting or drawing of a hugely up close flower, Georgia-style.  Creating a Lego flower and zooming in is fine.  Tomato flowers, dandelions, squash blossoms, etc. are all fine.  Don't feel like you have to limit yourself to roses and lilies.

4. I wanted to ask them to use Georgia's paintings and photos of buildings and skylines and their use of shapes (squares, rectangles, strong angles, etc.) to create a collage, or perhaps a pop-up or peekaboo creation, but I think they will be tired of the subject by the time we're done, so I might have to let this one rest.  My middle guy is fascinated by her paintings of her porch door, so he's exploring those.  My favorite work of hers is her cloud paintings, and I would enjoy doing something focused on those too, but that might also have to wait.

I'll post their work, with their permission, once we get it done.  I tend to do too deep of a dive on all possible subjects, and trying to balance my desire to know All The Everything with their desire to get on with it and learn about something new is a constant challenge for both of us.  Hopefully I am approaching the right balance this time.    

We are blessed with borrowing privileges at several fantastic libraries, and so we were able to use an astonishing array of truly beautiful books.  I have tried to order them by age and use (biography versus art book), and then by how much we (I) liked them.  I realize this list is intimidating and maybe kind of crazy.  Or maybe just a great illustration of my hyper focus.  It is completely unnecessary to get all of these books and was probably very intimidating for my poor kids.  Pick two or so of the big art books, and grab the biography books that seem appropriate for your kiddo, and call it good.

Books we used: 

• Zoom by Istvan Banyai - excellent for an overall idea of what we mean by zooming in.
• Re-Zoom by Istvan Banyai - more zooming.
• An Eye for Art: Focusing on Great Artists and Their Work by the National Gallery of Art - this has a spread on page 16 that clearly demonstrates how Georgia zoomed, using her jack-in-the-pulpit paintings.  Absolutely necessary.  Has other interesting ideas of things to do that are inspired by her art.
• Artists and their Cats by Alison Nastasi - Georgia had Siamese cats, and we have a Siamese mix that my kids are infatuated with, so this was an obvious hit.  There is really only one photo and one page of info, so unless you think your kid will swoon, this won't be the book for everyone, but for cat lovers, it was great.  Btw, Dali had an ocelot, because of course he did.  I can't seem to find names for Georgia's cats, but she owned several chow chows in her later years and clearly adored them.
• Little Naturalists: Georgia O'Keeffe Loved the Desert by Kate Coombs - friendly, engaging, interesting book for the younger crowd.  
• Georgia O'Keeffe Little People, Big Dreams by Maria Isabel Sanchez Vegara - My first grader was a big fan, and this book introduced the idea of Georgia wanting to zoom in so closely on something ordinary that people couldn't ignore it, which he really connected to.  I liked the focus on Georgia as an independent adult.
• Through Georgia's Eyes by Rachel Rodriguez - short, friendly text, lovely pictures.  Very accessible.  Great for early elementary.
• My Name is Georgia by Jeannette Winter - short, beautifully illustrated, first person bio of Georgia.  Great for early elementary.
• Georgia O'Keeffe by Mike Venezia - early elementary biography about Georgia.  Short, and it includes cartoons and big font.
• Georgia in Hawaii: When Georgia O'Keeffe Painted What She Pleased by Amy Novesky - interesting account of how and why Georgia was hired to go paint in Hawaii.  Great for elementary.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Visions of Hawaii by Theresa Papanikolas - Aimed at adults, with gorgeous images of the Hawaiian paintings in the back section of the book, interesting contextual info and pictures about Hawaii at the time and how Georgia was enticed to go there, Georgia's photos of the island, and more.
• Artists and their Pets by Susie Hodge - engaging drawings, lots of details, and a short bio of Georgia, plus info on her chow chows.  Upper elementary because of wordiness, but definitely recommended.
• How the West was Drawn Women's Art by Linda Osmundson - puts Georgia in context with other American women who painted in the southwest.  Different artists, interesting text.  Elementary school (early elementary with help).
• Georgia O'Keeffe Desert Painter by Emily Rose Kucharczyk - unimpressive cover, but a great short biography of Georgia, covering her whole life.  Great for upper elementary.
• Wideness and Wonder by Susan Goldman Rubin - Beautiful pictures, and a thorough but not too complicated biography of Georgia.  Good for middle schoolers.  It includes an interesting discussion of how much Georgia wanted a child, and while not salacious, it is upfront about the fact that Georgia's lover was married when she met him.
• We Are Artists by Kari Herbert - great, interesting biography.  Beautifully illustrated.  Upper elementary or middle school.  Lots of great quotes from Georgia.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Some Memories of Drawings by Georgia O'Keeffe - Short, beautiful, and mesmerizing.  I especially love the drawing of a headache.
• Georgia O'Keeffe by Ruth Thomson - detailed but short biography with sections on each part of Georgia's life and legacy.  Upper elementary or middle school.
• the American Eye by Han Greenberg and Sandra Jordan - short chapter on Georgia with photos and some paintings.  It contextualizes her and showcases other American artists from similar time periods.  Late elementary or early middle school, depending on attention span.
• 50 Modern Artists You Should Know by Christiane Weidemann and Christine Nippe - small font, a lot of detail, and not a lot of pictures.  The best thing about this one for me was the timeline at the top of each artist's bio showcasing world events and contemporaries, to help place each artist in time.  Middle or high school.
• Georgia O'Keeffe by Randal Griffin - detailed biography, but not too long.  Sections on Georgia's life and work, and of course lovely pictures.  High school.  Nude photos include pubes, if that matters to you.

And for the pictures:

• Georgia O'Keeffe by Barbara Buhler Lynes - this is an immense two-volume work.  It includes works from probably Georgia's first scribble on paper to the end of her life.  It is seriously so heavy that after my hysterectomy, I was not allowed to lift the books to show the pictures to my kids.  Still, it is so gorgeous and thorough and inspiring and fascinating.  You can clearly see the influence of various periods on Georgia's work - Arts and Crafts, Art Deco, others of course - and it is fascinating and reassuring to see her growth through her years.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Collections by Barbara Buhler Lynes - huge pictures with many sketches paired with the eventual finished works.
• Tate Introductions O'Keeffe by Hannah Johnston - small but lovely, clear prints of many of Georgia's best known pictures, with a wide variety of subjects.
• Georgia O'Keeffe an Eternal Spirit by Susan Wright -  Beautifully printed images, a huge variety of Georgia's subjects - definitely recommended.
• Georgia O'Keeffe and New Mexico by Barbara Buhler Lynes - Absolutely gorgeous images of the paintings, and many photos of the actual places that were painted.
• Georgia O'Keeffe An American Perspective by Lauris Morgan-Griffiths - seriously enormous, with a paragraph about why each painting was important, or how it happened. 
• Georgia O'Keeffe the Poetry of Things by Elizabeth Hutton Turner - focused on Georgia's images of minutia in life, including many of her leaf paintings (just as fascinating as her flowers, honestly).  Great photos etc.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Nature and Abstraction by Richard Marshall - lovely images, many including quotes from Georgia about her work.
• the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum - gorgeous details, full page foldouts of several paintings.
• Georgia O'Keeffe: American and Modern by Charles Eldridge - gorgeous, huge images, tons of photos, worth exploring.
• Georgia O'Keeffe by Nancy Frazier - big and beautiful, with many photos of Georgia with her work, which is interesting. 
• Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams Natural Affinities - big gorgeous images and photos of both artists' work.
• O'Keeffe and Texas by Sharyn Rohlfsen Udall - focusing on Georgia's early work, other artists who painted Texas, and landscapes.  Lovely and interesting, as my 10yo kept saying, "Why does that look like something I could have painted?  Why is it so simple?"
• Georgia O'Keeffe Circling Around Abstraction by Jonathan Stuhlman - this has some interesting early deco images by Georgia as well as my favorite quote from her - "I was the sort of child that ate around the hole in the doughnut, saving...the hole for the last and best.  So probably - not having changed much - when I started painting the pelvis bones I was most interested in the holes in the bones - what I saw through them - particularly the blue from holding them up in the sun against the sky... I have tried to paint the bone and the blue."  This book is focused on her shapes, so no flowers or leaves or clouds or barns - shapes and feelings and sculpture.  It's different and enjoyable.  Also, I am pretty sure I have never met anyone, child or adult, who eats the hole in the donut last, and I am trying to picture what "that sort of child" would be like otherwise.
• Georgia O'Keeffe One Hundred Flowers by Nicholas Calloway - exactly as it sounds.  Very large pictures of many, many flowers.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Works on Paper by Barbara Haskell - large, gorgeous images on beautiful paper. 
• O'Keeffe by Britta Benke - beautiful images, no nude photos if that is important to you.  (There are two painted nudes, but they are nebulous as to specific body parts.  They shouldn't upset anyone who has ever seen a woman.)
• Georgia O'Keeffe by Georgia O'Keeffe - Big images with an entire book's worth of Georgia's writing about her life and her work.  Fascinating.
• Georgia O'Keeffe Living Modern by Wanda Corn - This book has an astonishing quantity of photos of the clothes Georgia made and wore, and of the things she used, plus great photos and snapshots of Georgia.  Really interesting images of her everyday life and of the paintings that resulted.
• Georgia O'Keeffe and the Camera: the Art of Identity by Susan Danly - many, many, many photos.  The image of the painted nude includes nipples.
• Ghost Ranch by Lesley Poling-Kempes - My oldest and I enjoyed this one, but we admittedly skimmed it.  Interesting pictures of celebrities and farm life, great anecdotes about Georgia and many other people.  
• A Painter's Kitchen by Margaret Wood - Like many famous people, or artists, Georgia was apparently hard to get along with in life, at least in her later years.  She was exacting.  In "Ghost Ranch," there are several anecdotes about how she would send a note to the garden requesting two carrots, and what an enormous pain in the rear that was for the farm staff.  This book has simple recipes and details - without bashing - exactly what Georgia liked to see on her table.  I enjoy seeing a difficult woman described in such adoring terms; why shouldn't she be exacting?  She's Georgia O'Keeffe!  And she wants two carrots, now!  I don't know that my kids got anything out of this one, but I liked it.
• Techniques of the Artists of the American West by Peggy Samuels - fascinating detail on exactly how Georgia did it.  Probably of most interest to your very artistic or very curious or older child.

And we listened to the Ray Charles version of Georgia on my Mind, even though it isn't really truly connected... because, why not.