An interview with Linda Brewster, author of Rose O'Neill: The Girl Who Loved to Draw and Giveaway!

March 19 - Today's post provided by Paula Morrow, Editor and Publisher, Boxing Day Books, and Linda Brewster, author of ROSE O'NEILL: THE GIRL WHO LOVED TO DRAW
The publisher has kindly donated a copy of this book to be sent to a lucky reader
(see below for how to enter)  

What sparks artistic genius?

The childhood of Rose O’Neill (1874-1944) was impoverished in terms of wealth, yet it was rich to the point of overflowing in art, literature, music, and imagination. Armed with very little formal education, no formal art training, and her portfolio, O’Neill made her way to New York City at the age of 18. In a short time, she became the first female illustrator at PUCK magazine, the first woman cartoonist in America, and eventually the highest paid illustrator of her time. In 2008, Rose was honored by the National Women’s History Project.

Linda Brewster

Author Linda Brewster, herself an artist, was born the year Rose O’Neill died. Brewster grew up in the Missouri Ozarks near the O’Neill homestead, knew the O’Neill family, and has devoted her life to the study of Rose’s life and art. Here are Linda’s thoughtful responses to a conversation about Rose O’Neill:

PM: You have indicated that O’Neill’s vagabond childhood inspired you to write Rose O’Neill, The Girl Who Loved to Draw.

Brewster: If you look at the childhood of any great person, it will reveal their earliest thought and choices. The path they chose may not be a straight line and may take many twists and turns, but their greatness will point backward to where they began. Some people get a later start than others, but for the most part, their talents, interests and motivations show in their childhood. This was certainly true of Rose O’Neill.

PM: What elements of Rose’s early life played the greatest part in creating the focused and successful woman that she became?

Brewster: Rose O’Neill’s mother was a remarkable person. Alice O’Neill was raised as a “lady” in a house with servants. She was well-educated and studied piano and voice. During the Edwardian period, ladies didn’t have jobs or even think of careers. They sat at home doing needlework and hosting their husband’s parties. William Patrick O’Neill, Rose’s father, had a love of the literary arts. He spent his inheritance on a bookstore and art gallery. But he lacked knowledge of business management and within a few years he lost everything. When the family had to move from Pennsylvania to Nebraska to start over, Alice was the backbone. She learned to cook and care for a house without help. She home schooled her children while teaching piano to earn money for the family. Alice never told Rose she couldn’t be an artist or that she had to be a lady. Instead, Alice encouraged Rose to follow her dreams. This gave Rose the independence she needed to follow her heart.

Rose's first published cartoon 

PM: How can youngsters of today relate to and learn from Rose O’Neill?

Brewster: Young readers today can relate to Rose O’Neill as a mentor. All children, at one time or another, feel they don’t have the power to change or improve their situations. Rose O’Neill came from a family with few resources. She wore hand-me-down clothes, hand-me-down shoes, and was bullied for her poor appearance by children who had much more. But in spite of that, she discovered in herself what really interested her most—drawing. She loved drawing people and spent most of her free time studying how to draw. There were no art teachers, but because she was self-motivated, she found resources in her father’s book collection and in the public library. Rose O’Neill shows children that they do have the power to change and improve themselves if they focus, study, and seek people who can help.

PM: Ultimately, it seems O’Neill’s accomplishments as artist, illustrator, poet, novelist and sculptor were overshadowed by her greatest financial success. Today, she is celebrated as the creator of Kewpie, the whimsical character that first appeared as a comic strip on the pages of Ladies Home Journal in 1909, and in 1914 became a doll. To this day, members of the International Rose O’Neill Club gather every year in Branson, Missouri, to celebrate “Kewpiesta.” O’Neill’s art is still displayed in several museums, but she is known primarily as “the Kewpie lady.”

Brewster: While Kewpie brought her a fortune, it also brought her tremendous pain and distraction from her work. Rose was generous to a fault. She didn’t know how to say no. People lived like parasites in her homes and at her expense for years. Her fame, as a result of the doll, brought her a great deal of concern about unpaid bills that weren’t all her own. Fortunately, the Kewpies didn’t come along until she had been working for two decades, so she left thousands of drawings and paintings that demonstrate her great talent.

Self-portrait with Kewpies

PM: As an artist, O’Neill had many clients, but as a woman, her constituency was other women, and she fought fiercely for their rights.

Brewster: Rose O’Neill was born and lived as a liberated woman. She didn’t have to work at it because it came instinctively, due to the confidence she had in her own abilities. She used her fame to draw crowds to rallies and parades in which she marched. She created posters, fliers, programs, and ads depicting babies saying, “Votes For Our Mothers!” Even after the 19th Amendment passed in 1920, she continued to work against unfair treatment of women and minorities. O’Neill, who fancied flowing, loose-fitting garments, even became symbolic of the effort to free women from that most restrictive affront—the corset!

One of Rose's many magazine covers

PM: O’Neill was successful in many fields, as illustrator, artist, poet, author, sculptor, and women’s suffrage activist long before “feminist” became a word. What would you consider O’Neill’s greatest contribution?

Brewster: Rose O’Neill’s greatest single contribution was to go fearlessly into her profession, approaching editors and art directors with her work. She had no introductions or help; she boldly stepped through those doors alone. By being one of the first women to open the doors of the all-male establishments, and by showing that she could do the work, she made it possible for other women to follow.

Rose O’Neill died of a stroke at age 69. She is buried next to a crystal-clear mountain stream at the homestead she named Bonniebrook, in the hills of Taney County, Missouri. A museum there pays tribute to a lifetime of imagination, generosity, and creativity . . . lots and lot of creativity!

To win a copy of this book for your home, school, or public library:

Illustrator, poet, fine artist, children's author, sculptor, novelist, suffragist, and more...Rose made admirable contributions in many fields.  What other woman do you admire for her accomplishments in several different fields?  Leave a comment below with your answer and your e-mail; a winner will be chosen by a random number generator on March 31.