My Name is Georgia

"I painted my sky BIG, so people would see the sky the way I did."

This is an excerpt from a kids book I just discovered about Georgia O'Keefe (it's the tail-end of Thanksgiving weekend and we visited the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in New Mexico after meeting up with some of our in-laws there).

Both the museum and the book, titled, "My Name is Georgia" (by Jeanette Winter) were a revelation - not just for myself and my husband, but also for our almost-four-year-old daughter, who considers herself an "artist-counter" (meaning she enjoys both drawing and counting).

Annabelle was deeply intrigued by O'Keefe's life cycle, which began in Wisconsin, transitioned through Chicago and New York and ended in New Mexico - at the age of 98. She was also fascinated by the bones and skulls which O'Keefe drew much inspiration from in the desert, and of course, the close-up flowers which so many critics drew Freudian interpretations from (apparently O'Keefe was deeply disheartened by these interpretations and for a while turned to painting things simply "as they were").

We sat in the museum and read this exquisite little book about this O'Keefe's life - twice (Annabelle's preference would have been for three times). Of course it was all the more powerful for having just watched a short film about her life, and to read it sitting in front of her paintings - but the book is nevertheless as powerful as O'Keefe's art.

Another artist book for children I can recommend is "Camille and the Sunflowers" by Laurence Anholt - a very touching (and beautifully illustrated) story about a kid who befriends Van Gogh. Although we haven't read any others yet, Anholt has written a whole series of children's books based on the lives of famous artists, including stories about Degas, Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci and Monet.

If you've read any other art-oriented books for kids, please feel free to share them with everyone here!

Submit Your Kids' Art Now!

Yesterday we found out Poloppo was accepted into the highly exclusive and uber-hip kidswear trade show "Bubble" New York (and London!) for the Fall/Winter 2008 season.

Our current line is still fresh and somewhat season-neutral; everyone wears Ts year-round and you can choose long or short sleeves. This is probably a subconscious product of living in San Francisco, where some of the coldest days you'll ever experience are smack bang in the middle of summer, and some of the hottest days can land in October or November.

We plan to continue our SF-friendly line of cross-season and cross-equator Ts and onesies indefinitely (of course we'll mix up the artwork). However we also plan to conform (just a tad!) to the Northern Hemisphere's seasonal fashion regime, and provide some new items to keep yourselves and your kiddliwinks toasty warm in the winter and cotton-cool in the summer.

Right now we're working on some fresh designs for Fall/Winter 2008 to add to the collection. What we need is some fresh artwork. We're especially interested in nature and environmental art - animals of any kind (especially endangered ones), trees, mountains, birds, fish, butterflies, insects ... all those beautiful things that remind us and our wee ones of why we need to be so conscious about what's happening to our planet.

So if you have a little Picasso in your midst - send us their masterpieces (in jpeg format by email - please don't post anything snailmail!). Email us here: submissions@poloppo.com ... We can't guarantee it'll be used in the designer line, but we can guarantee that it'll be put onto the Poloppo Online Gallery for the whole world to see within a few weeks!

One other piece of news: if you live in San Francisco or the Bay Area and would like to come and celebrate with some festive cheer, please feel free to join us for the Poloppo Holiday party on Dec 1st @ 66 Balmy Alley - 4-8pm for kiddie fun, 8 til late for grown-up fun. See you then!

Cherie