Educational Media Reviews Online

Emily Carr (1871-1945) of Canada, Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986) of the United States, and Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) of Mexico each left an indelible mark on the 20th century as influential and uncompromising artists and painters.

Drawing from their journals and letters, and inspired by Sharyn Udall’s book Carr, O'Keeffe, Kahlo: Places of Their Own (2000) Jill Sharpe explores their lives and works, blending their art with voiceover narration, stunning location photography and actors portraying the artists.

The opening segment explores Georgia O’Keeffe’s inspiration, namely the wide blue sky and the wild and empty spaces of the high desert of Abiqui, New Mexico. Emily Carr’s view follows, plunging into the greenish-black, impossibly dense and lush rainforests of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Lastly Frida Kahlo in Coyoacán Mexico paints amid a riot of color in foliage and decor.

As the artists move through and create within these disparate yet dream-like environs, we hear their voices, see their faces, and experience many of their iconic paintings in intimate and revealing tableaux. The film’s attention to detail in both production and costume design is stunning, on a level and of a quality more akin to a big-budget Hollywood motion picture.

Jill Sharpe is a true artist herself, and has given us a work as original and visionary as any one of those of Mmes. Carr, O’Keeffe or Kahlo.

Recommended for all libraries.