A Song of Sun and Sky

March 1, 2023
A fictional conversation about color between a child and artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Lula looks moody as her father pulls their car over in the middle of the desert. The girl describes her world in terms of color; at first all she sees is orange. Then she notes the gray smoke pouring from the engine and her father's red face. The duo approach an adobe house for some water. The animal skulls on the wall, the paintbrushes in the jars, and the desert setting will evoke the famous 20th-century painter to those in the know, but to the child, the aged woman (unidentified until the backmatter) merely seems a good host. But after O'Keeffe sets up a canvas in the garden, a dialogue ensues. The bored child wonders why the woman uses so many colors ("The desert is just orange"), but the painter asks, "What color is a brown dog at sunset?" This gives Lula pause. While at times the protagonist's thoughts sound more complex than a youngster's capabilities, the narrative is nonetheless provocative, as when the artist mentions imprinting your color on a place and taking its hues with you. Watercolor washes, pencil sketches, and digital manipulation build the scenes, inviting readers to look closely at these wondrous landscapes. Cockcroft's palette becomes more nuanced as the two converse, allowing readers to easily absorb Lula's changing perceptions. Lula and her father are Black. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A fresh entree to an artist and her impact. (biographical note, bibliography) (Picture book. 4-7)

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July 17, 2023
In this color-oriented picture book, Cockcroft imagines a fictional conversation between the painter Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986) and Lula, a child whose father’s station wagon breaks down in front of O’Keeffe’s home. When the artist carries an unfinished painting outside to work, Lula asks, “But why do you use so many colors? The desert is just orange.” The painter responds in queries that make Lula consider variations (“What color is a brown dog at sunset?”), then begin to perceive them. “There are the colors of every bird that flew through here.... Of every family,” the woman says. Warm, digitized pencil and watercolor spreads that consider the landscape show ghostly forms of animals and humans in the sky above. Exploring the ways artists perceive and use color, Cockcroft also captures a moment when a child connects with an adult who takes them seriously. When Lula and her dad, both portrayed with brown skin, return to the car, everything the child sees is new: “Even her father looked different.” A detailed biography of O’Keeffe concludes. Ages 4–8.