Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist who was hailed for his use of color and the fluidity of his artwork. He is regarded as one of the main artists who helped define the revolutionary developments in modern art. He was both a painter and a sculptor, however he is best known for his paintings which can be characterized as decorative. In his critical essay of Matisse’s style, Andrew Lambirth claims that Matisse is one of the few artists whose work allows the word decorative to be used as an exclamation of praise, rather than “ damning criticism.” Many other art historians consider decorative paintings to lack skill and simply employ extra features that hide the flaws in the art, but Lambirth argues that in Matisse’s case, it is appropriate because that is where the expression in his paintings comes from.

A major point that Lambirth utilizes to support his claim is the importance of fabrics in Matisse’s paintings and how they influenced his work. They played such a crucial role in his life that he would “[buy] textiles even when he had very little money.” He even went as far as to call his collection a “working library.” He would use the fabrics to inspire his paintings. This added a decorative aura to his works, but the colors portrayed were the real expressions that he was trying to convey. Matisse himself claimed that “expression and decoration were one and the same thing.”

Lambirth strengthens his argument by using direct quotes about the topic and show that he is siding with Matisse. Matisse himself said “it's a bad mistake to give a pejorative sense to the word ‘decorative.’ A work of art should be decorative above all.” This shows that Matisse did not use decoration in his works simply to fill the canvas but rather to express the main thoughts and feeling of the theme of the painting. It is easy to see in Reclining Odalisque how a certain textile inspired him by looking at the pattern on the wall. The colors displayed in the pattern are not simply for aesthetically pleasing reasons, but rather for bringing fourth the mood of the scene in the painting.

Lambirth also notes Matisse’s use of pattern in his paintings and how it was also influenced by fabrics. When Matisse first began his artistic endeavors, he was considered part of a group of artists that practiced Fauvism. That is, his style utilized wild color use without any regard for the actual color perception of the objects being painted. However, after he became more experienced and his style matured, he moved away from that and more into decorative patterns. These patterns were influenced by his fabrics and they helped draw attention to the overall themes of his paintings.

Henri Matisse’s decorative style can not be scolded because he is one of very few artists whose works bring justice to the word decorative as used in art criticism. The influence of fabrics and textiles in his work allow him to utilize patterns and colors in order to find the appropriate and most effective way to communicate and express the feeling of painting to the viewer.

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&

Frida Kahlo's Still Life's

Known for her famous self-portraits and marriage to Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo is a symbol of Mexican art. Though many largely attribute her self portraits to be her claim to fame,  art historians feel that her thirty still life paintings offer insight to Frida Kahlo as a person and not just as an artist. Solomon Grimberg’s article, “Frida Kahlo’s Still Lifes” asserts that though less known than her self portraits, Frida Kahlo’s still life paintings are significant to her life story. The author proves this claim by analyzing several still life portraits and relating them to her outlooks on life as well as her relationship with Rivera.

Kahlo channeled her deepest feelings into her still life’s, projecting repressed emotions about her tumultuous marriage with Rivera.  Arguing that Kahlo’s still life’s reflect her longing for Rivera as well as her feelings of inferiority, Grimberg focuses primarily on analyzing the paintings,“Still Life with Piggy Bank and Black Horse” and “How I love when I have You”. For instance, “Still Life with Piggy Bank and Black Horse” according to the article, can be interpreted as an allegory to Kahlo’s courtship with Rivera. Kahlo’s depictions of the animals in the painting reflect the roles in the relationship. The small piggy on its hind legs represents Kahlo while the much larger, striking, and dark horse represents Rivera. In depicting herself as the weaker animal, Kahlo conveyed Rivera’s dominance in the relationship. In addition, Grimberg argues that the still life “How I Love When I Have You” reflects her awareness for separation in life, that is, separation from Rivera. The painting features lightness near the top and darkness across the bottom which contribute to the theme of separation and symbolize Kahlo’s seemingly bright life on the surface and dark internal struggle on the inside. Furthermore, in the painting there is a message that reads “How I love life when I have you” which implies that when she is not with Rive she does not love life, and reinforces the idea of separation from a loved one making life agonizing for her. Moreover, the layout of the painting with a pink ribbon “seductively unfurled” (Frida Kahlo’s Still Life’s Grimberg) around the large melon is symbolic of how Kahlo viewed herself as wrapped around Rivera.

Some of Kahlo’s other still life's offer a window into Kahlo’s perceptions about her life and life in general.  According to Grimberg, the painting, “I belong to My Owner”, though a portrait of flowers, can actually be interpreted as a self portrait of Kahlo. The dying flowers and use of gray and white serve as symbols for Kahlo’s preoccupation with morbidity. In addition, the use of the thorny flowers represents the painful aspects of her life, such as her divorce and struggle with Polio growing up. Grimberg focuses on another still life centered around flowers, “The Flower of Life”, in which Kahlo depicts her belief that women are inadequate. In the still life, she paints a large mandrake plant in which she projects the conflict of the painting. The red leaves of the plant form a woman’s genitalia where lightning strikes as a penis ejaculates into it. This unconventional subject matter is symbolic of Kahlo’s belief that women are available for giving men pleasure but incapable of receiving pleasure themselves. Due to the fact that Kahlo grew up in a highly patriarchal period in Mexico when women had very limited rights, this painting is a projection of that societal influences that Kahlo grew up with and experienced. Furthermore, another one of Kahlo’s still life's entitled, “Viva la Vida y el Dr. Juan Farill” encapsulates Kahlo’s struggle between chaos and order and liberty and constraint. In the background of the painting, the composition is split between day and night, reinforcing her torn feelings, and also suggesting her awareness of her nearing death. “According to Christian symbolism, ‘When the sun and moon appear in the sky at Crucifixions, they refer to the sorrow of all the earth’” (qtd in Frida Kahlo’s Still Life's). Moreover, the dove in the painting is symbolic of tranquility and simplicity, perhaps alluding to the peacefulness of the afterlife.

As Kahlo’s health deteriorated she produced more and more still life's, possibly reflecting her awareness of her nearing end. The year before she embarked on a deadly spinal fusion she finished the still life, “Magnolias”; When her leg was amputated she wrote, “Feet, what do I need them more if I have wings to fly” and drew a still life of an artist with its legs in a cracked clay cast; and, finally, in the last three years of her life she explored a new form Mexican art. Kahlo produced still life's until her end, using them as an outlet for her inner feelings. Although Kahlo is best known for her self-portraits, art historians have found a great deal of significance in analyzing her still life's as they reveal her inner thoughts about the world and her marriage to Rivera. Though, perhaps more difficult to analyze, her still life's may contain a more sincere meaning than her self-portraits.

Works Cited:

Frida Kahlo's Still Lifes: "I Paint Flowers So They Will Not Die"

Salomon Grimberg

Woman's Art Journal , Vol. 25, No. 2 (Autumn, 2004 - Winter, 2005), pp. 25-30

Published by: Woman's Art, Inc.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3566514

Imagining Rhapsody

Can art overlap into multiple sensory realms? Fine art envelops around the classic forms of expression and often artists are likely to be more than one but what about the pieces themselves? Sculpture might fit the bill, but what about music? Some argue it is a single sensory to the average person. In the case of Arthur Dove he created a unique connection between music and art form in his jazz paintings opening them to create dual use of senses. As Donna M Cassidy explains, this effect is created by his interpretations of music did not simply summarize pieces of music into an encompassing canvas. Dove recognized this unique quality of synesthesia and meant to share the his period’s music with others note by note in their own imagination.

Arthur Dove grew up in the Roaring 20’s and was highly influenced by singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Crosby, and Duke Ellington. He enjoyed singing and could play a couple of instruments pretty well (2).  He was clearly a man of the arts and understood the mechanisms of how music should be not only listened to but created.  He painted a total of seventeen works that are not only different to any other artist in communicating song but differ from his own works (7). These pieces signify change from his other works that heavily involve nature and physical object abstraction. In these nature works, he mainly focused on circles and light to reflect simplicity and infinite beauty. However, in these Jazz Age pieces, he moved away into focus on line and color to promote something of raw quality (20). The shift in technique and modes of abstraction between his two types of work indicate a different purpose. Instead of reflections of visual objects he grabs the onlooker’s attention with pieces that have none. Though the paintings may look like that of a child’s play, his titles challenge viewers to look deeper into themselves to figure out what exactly the piece is. When the audience is given a hint of musical purpose in his paintings, they can take off into a realm of imagination and ponder why each aspect of the painting is displayed.

This can be best displayed by looking into paintings such as Rhapsody in Blue, explicitly named after Gershwin’s jazz piece. Looking at the mechanics of this painting, we can start to pick out different characteristics that seem to evoke a seemingly translucent quality; odd considering it is an aluminum canvas. This translucent feature created by the dimming of the edges makes the painting appear to be something of the human mind. Whether it is memory or though is unclear upon first glance, but the window created by the artist is synonymous. With this overall effect and Cassidy’s suggestion of music painting as, “an expression of the overall mood of the music as well as one-to-one parallels between specific musical passages and visual forms,” we can start to digest the different pieces of the painting (16). Every stroke had a purpose and meaning. Even though the lines and patterns displayed are fragmented, somehow the stroke direction seems to encompass them into one fluid motion. This visual first impression and overall observation stays with the viewer as something the artist wishes to share with them as an expression difficult to mimic.

So what was the method to Dove’s mimicry of jazz piano? Cassidy starts off his analysis of the painting by simply stating the title Rhapsody in Blue indicates direct correlation with the Gershwin piece through simply its suggestion of color. “Each tint of blue reflected the blue noes in the composition (16).” Blue and gray tints are present and display themselves as independent from the rest of the piece. Because they stand alone we can feel the painting as blue just as we can feel the music as blue. This particular equation to feeling and color is one of the most clear synesthetic features in the painting initially tipped off by the title. If we apply this idea that Dove mimics synesthesia to the other portions of the painting we can start to make some sense out of his patterns. Lines suddenly appear purposeful and repetitive strokes become meticulous. Cassidy found, “The oscillating black line to the left of the clock spring suggests the flow of the melody (16).” No matter if seen as a literal line of measure or a stroke of noise, the eye is drawn to the artist’s swift and bold metallic paint brushstrokes now known to be associated with specific notes and/or sections of the musical piece. Swirls with piano fills and fragments with pauses, it starts to fill the mind. It not only is mimicry of jazz piano, but leads your brain to associate the sound with the paintings movement.

After looking at this picture, you can’t help but to notice your thoughts when listening to music and how each genre differs within your own mind. When listening to music we don’t just vegetate on blank minds. We each contain our own little canvas on which we constantly paint and rotate in compliment to the feeling induced by music. Arthur Dove tapped into this remarkable function of the brain and made a statement out of it via his dual sensory abilities. The two channels of art, music and painting, are connected and can be interwoven into a display of imagination in his Jazz Age pieces. 


Works Cited

Picture: <http://prints.encore-editions.com/0/500/arthur-garfield-dove-george-gershwin-rhapsody-in-blue-2-1927-approximate-original-size-12x9.jpg>

Cassidy Donna M. "Arthur Dove's Music Paintings of the Jazz Age."American Art Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1. Kennedy Galleries Inc. 1988  

The Girl with a Peal Earring

        Many art historians consider the “Sphinx of Delft”, Johannes Vermeer, one of the great masters of painting, yet his work was only “discovered” very recently.  His work, while not very prolific is considered stunning and realistic.  Some of the paintings attributed to Vermeer have dubious credentials; art historians are not entirely sure if Vermeer is indeed the man responsible for the paintings.  Considerable debate exists over the true origin of the paintings and the number of paintings for which is is credited has fluctuated over the years.  Even one of his most famous paintings, The Girl with a Pearl Earring, is shrouded in mystery. 

           

        Art scholars have not been able to date the painting; dating it would provide a more factual background for the work.  The costume that the girl wears is not consistent with any Dutch style of clothing popular during any time in Vermeer’s life.  The exotic turban is not in keeping with the Dutch fashions that Vermeer is so famous for painting.  This leads to problems with dating the painting for clothing that subjects wear in paintings is often used to gauge the time period in which the works were completed.  Some scholars have contended that the model for the painting was Vermeer’s eldest daughter, Maria.  This would lead the the conclusion that the painting was completed in the 1970s, however this attempt at dating the painting has proven unsuccessful.

           

        Art scholars are also faced with the issue of the style in which the girl’s face is painted when attempting to date the painting.  The soft contour of her cheek was achieved through the application of a skin colored glaze over a “transparent undermodeling”.  Vermeer had not developed this technique until the 1660s.  This same technique of applying a glaze over a background to achieve a transparent look was used to create the turban.  The bold blue glaze was applied freely and scholars contend that this lends a sense of “immediacy” to the painting. 

           

        The free application of the glaze is somewhat surprising considering the care with which Vermeer designed and created his works.  The broad nature of his style of painting allowed him to paint in a way that suggests light and shadows falling on various objects.  The way in which Vermeer used light is central to his work and is one aspect of his paintings foe which he is best known in the contemporary art world.

           

        The composition of this painting also differs from the other paintings for which Vermeer is famous.  Many of his paintings depict a figure among a detailed, interior scene. Many of his paintings are set in the same room, which many scholars speculate is his house in Delft, Netherlands.  However, this painting is of a single person against a dark, plain background.  The position of the figure is much closer to the viewer than are many of the figures in Vermeer’s other works.  This is not in keeping with the majority of Vermeer’s works; this element of design has much in common with the work of Michael Sweerts, a painter who lived in Amsterdam in 1660-1661.  This had lead some scholars to speculate that the two artists may have met at one time or that Vermeer saw an exhibition of Sweert’s work, and this meeting influenced Vermeer’s work in Girl With a Peal Earring.

           

        While the debate will continue to rage over the authenticity of some of the works attributed to Vermeer, there is consensus among the art world that the paintings of Vermeer are some of the best examples of classicism and realistic portrayal of subjects.  The Girl with a Pearl Earring, while differing slightly form the norms that pervade Vermeer’s other works, is considered to be one of his greatest, most captivating works.

Broos, Ben, et al.  Johannes Vermeer.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995.  Print.

History: Effects of Surroundings on Families' Lives

For many years, the country of Albania has experienced great political unrest and cultural turmoil. Having a communist dictator for the majority of the 20th century left the country crippled and set it back socially from the rest of the developed world. Not only has the country suffered, and continues to suffer, from standards of living that are well below what is considered acceptable, but it also has constant economic issues which have landed it in the third-world country category. My ancestors before me have all been born and lived in Albania, but in the end it was factors such as the ones previously mentioned that led to my family emigrating out of the country and moving our lives to America.

At the time of the communist take over, my grandparents on both sides of my family were pretty well off. They owned lots of land and livestock, and had money saved in the state bank. However, this was all taken from them once the change occurred. All of their land was taken to be used for the good of the people as a whole and all of their money was taken to supposedly advance the government economically. They were left with nothing and had to basically start their whole lives over. This was the start of a downward spiral for the nation of Albania in essentially all aspects. Most people lived in poverty and had to struggle daily to survive. Luckily, both of my grandfathers were sargents in the army, so their families did not have as hard of a time as most others. They were able to somewhat recover financially and live “comfortably” in the weakest form of the word.

My parents grew up living relatively privileged lives compared to most others, considering that they had a house, a source for water, heat, and food. They both went on to receive university educations and my father joined the army while my mom became a primary school teacher. This of course was not by choice. At the time when they graduated, the government got to send you to a job that they chose for you, and you had no choice but to do it. On their salaries combined we were able to afford a one bedroom apartment and barely manage to save close to nothing every month.

By the time I was born, the dictator that led as the communist ruler had died and the country was attempting to convert to democracy. This caused a lot of unrest as the power was juggled between the hands of corrupt parties trying to seize it. Once the conflict was resolved, the government still did not do its job of attending to the needs of the people. They would periodically during the day shut off the power of the water in order to save money so that the political leaders could have it for themselves. The parties that were in control at a given time were never able to truly implement any of their policies because every time elections were held, the party that was in office was voted out and a new party with new policies would come in and start the rebuilding process all over again. Seeing that Albania would never advance, my parents decided that they had to do what needed to be done: leave the country. They decided that coming to America would give our family the best chance to succeed. Even though they would have to start their lives over, they knew that this was the best place for me to get educated and have a chance for a better future than they did.

In the end, Albania’s unfortunate past which led to a future without any hope caused my family abandon the place where many generations of our ancestors before us had lived and start its own legacy here in America.

Waal, Clarissa De. "Albania Today: a Portrait of Post ... - Clarissa De Waal, Centre for Albanian Studies (London, England)." Google Books. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. .

Unit 2 Project

The Chamber of Commerce of Bethesda is guided by the principles of “providing opportunities for exposure, connections and growth.” A product of this vision, I feel that my experiences with Bethesda have given me exposure to the world, provided me with connections to others, and helped me grow as an individual. Moving to Bethesda at age seven with my mother, it was a new beginning for us as we left our friends and family behind. Located in close proximity to Washington D.C., Bethesda offered us a world of opportunity, with a stronger education system, better work opportunities, and a chance to become more cultured. From my own experiences, I strongly believe that had I grown up elsewhere I would be a different person. Where one lives plays a major role in their life outcomes; nurture therefore triumphs over nature. Thus, it is extremely vital that no matter where one lives, they take advantage of the opportunities surrounding them in their environment.

Living in Bethesda offered me one of the highest ranking public educational systems in the nation, and was truly the place that I grew as a person, and made connections. According to Forbes.com, “the percentage of advanced degrees in Bethesda is more than five times as high as in the entire U.S.” As a matter of fact, the very first school I attended was a “Blue-Ribbon” elementary school recognized nationally for its academia. In the words of my mom, “I knew that moving to Bethesda was the right choice because its schools were unbeatable.” Throughout the rest of my educational career I continued to go to high-ranking public schools. Studying in such an academically driven environment had a strong impact on my desire to go to get good grades and go to college. In high school, the academic competition got even more intense. From the get go I was told to get involved with extracurricular activities and take challenging courses in order to get into a “good school.” All of these factors shaped my high school career. I joined the debate team, took two college courses, three AP courses, ran the Habitat for Humanity Club, and did a law internship all during my senior year. These opportunities helped me become a better educated person and also offered me the opportunity to learn from the real-world work environment. I took full advantage of my resources in Bethesda, from the classes offered in my school, to the surrounding internship opportunities, and it got me to the place I wanted to be, at UNC.

Located near the capital, Bethesda offers bountiful job opportunities in the public as well as private sector. My mother and I took full advantage of these opportunities, making valuable professional connections. When my mom first came to Bethesda she started as a receptionist for a medical practice but today she is the operations manager for four offices and now does the firing and hiring. Living so close to D.C., she was able to find a large practice right outside of the city whereby she could easily metro into work everyday. As for myself, I got the opportunity to work with a law firm that gave me the opportunity to meet other lawyers, and gain invaluable experience. Despite the competition for jobs and internships in the area, living in Bethesda taught us to have a competitive edge that could set us apart and also taught us the importance of making connections.

Although census records state that Bethesda’s population is 85% White, the high school I attended was extremely culturally diverse and helped me become better exposed to the outer world. I found it very easy to make friends with people from many different backgrounds and ethnicity in my school. In fact, my high school made it a point to display different cultures, featuring a Hispanic heritage assembly, Asian heritage assembly, and Black assembly each year for the students to become more knowledgeable about other cultures. In addition, due to Bethesda’s rather liberal tendencies, I became better cultured in that I became more aware of global issues such as the environment and advocacy for homosexual rights. Also, being so close to the city offered me the opportunity to visit nearby museums, art galleries, shows, concerts, monuments, and historical landmarks. These culturally enriching experienced have contributed to my accepting nature of others today.

Where you grow up greatly determines the person you become. The connections, exposure, and personal growth I have gained from living in Bethesda crafted my personality today and prove that I am a product of the Chamber’s expectations. Every town has its disadvantages and advantages. For Bethesda, the competition and societal expectations sometimes make living there a challenge but in order to succeed in the place one lives in, it is important to look for the advantages of the area and adapt to the disadvantages as my family did.

Works Cited

“About the Chamber.” Bccchamber.org. Bethesda-Chevy-Chase Chamber of Commerce, 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.bccchamber.org/​content.asp?pl=507&contentid=507>.

“Bethesda CDP, Maryland.” Census.gov. U.S. Census Bureau, n.d. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://factfinder.census.gov/​servlet/​ACSSAFFFacts?_event=&ActiveGeoDiv=geoSelect&pctxt=fph&_lang=en&_sse=on&geo_id=16000US2407125&_state=04000US24>.

Detwiler, Jacqueline. “In Depth: America’s Most Educated Small Towns.” Forbes.com. N.p., 5 Jan. 2009. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. <http://www.forbes.com/​2009/​01/​02/​educated-small-towns-forbeslife-cx_jd_0105realestate.html>.

Deep seeded value and tradition from Quilty

Quilty, a little village of County Clare Ireland, though seemingly insignificant, has shaped my family and continues to persist in me. In my previous post, I examined Ireland’s relationship with the potato and its historical relation to the global exploitative system. In this essay I would like to further analyze the relationship of persistent past by poking into the current generations of my family. Our Irish attributes are not so much a function of ethnicity, but rather more based in shared experience. This analysis won’t only serve for my family, but will extend to the generational experience.

Noreen Calinan, my Nana, is no exception to the generalization Connell’s analysis makes. She grew up in the family subsistence farm community he describes. Though she did not grow up in the famine times, she felt the echoes of the aftermath. Se ate potatoes growing up and we still eat potatoes almost every family dinner. She admits that she was ‘dirt poor’ and lived in a paralleled community that could almost be described as a mutualistic extended family. They bonded over struggles, rotated Sunday suppers, gathered firewood and chatted over trips to the market. This close knit community was not bounded by the region’s parameters but was similarly developed in moving to the States. My mother describes growing up in small and predominantly immigrant neighborhood founded on more than similar struggles and driven by purpose. Even though from different ethnicities, they all shared in experience of the insistent hardships of earning a living. The neighborhood had immigrated due to the prospects of opportunity and was hitting the ground running. They did not fearlessly make the move for personal achievement, but rather out of need to support their family. This foundation is also a reflection of how much value family holds. Noreen’s father died of Leukemia so when she was 17 she took a job as a nanny and sent her money over to keep the Calinan farm running. She fearlessly paving the way for improving future prospects for both her family in Ireland and the one she created in her new found family in the States.

The immigrant community not only shared the same work ethic, it also was a driving factor as to why my parents met. My father was also a first generation American who lived in a similar community in a neighboring town. Because neither my mother’s or father’s family could afford any higher education, they both attended a technical high school and worked diligently in their respective trades while holding side jobs until they graduated. When they met, they related easily to one another through their work ethic and belief in opportunity. This is also shared and continues to persist in my life, being a first generation college student. We will always be working to the very best of our ability in hopes of opportunity.

My Nana has brought many tall tales and tradition into my family as well. Whether it be taking a vow of silence on Holy Saturday, spreading out a huge feast for St. Patrick’s Day or attending midnight mass on Christmas Eve, Catholicism is very much a part of my parent’s identity as well as my own. We marry into it and are brought up firmly in the church. However, Catholicism is not just an expression of faith, it tends to carry tradition with it. For instance, we usually end gatherings in the 8 bar measure of the accordion not just a celebration of holiday, but serving mostly to pass on our dancing culture. For as long as I can remember, we have always danced; twirling the night away until we topple over. It was so familiar that when asked to take step dance lessons, it seemed what was most natural to me. Across the three generations, we have danced in feises and can still manage a jig even though we no longer dance competitively. We also have kept out costume dresses together to pass down as a part of our family story and tradition.

We also tend to have a unique story telling component in our family gatherings as well. Usually we end up laughing about past events and funny stories. Some of which involve the crazy tales my Nana tells about Ireland and resemble its folklore. Just one of the many examples is the story of the dirty water on Halloween. It has long been warned on Hallows Eve, we should wash our feet in small tubs and toss the dirty water over each shoulder and out the window to prevent the devil from entering our home. These silly stories also bring with them superstitions such as the belief placing new shoes on a table brings bad fortune upon you. I also will never wash my hands under the same sink, at the same time as another person. These folklore stories are more than just silly but a part of our culture.

Each of these traditions have not only shaped me, but will continue to shape generations to come; they all stem from little Quilty. I traveled with little Noreen on the shoeless route to school, saw the cliff landscape, felt the warmth of the small farming community, prayed with hopeful reverence in the church, even danced round the sands with her. It’s not only her ‘home’; it’s where I came from and who I am today.  By subtly instilling values and traditions in our family, Quilty will forever remain an integral part of our heritage.

A Buffalonian's view of the South

            While the current economic recession is an unfortunate occurrence in the lives of many families, it is a past economic downturn that bears the responsibility for family moving to North Carolina.  When the economy of Buffalo, New York began to falter in the early 1970s, General Electric closed the Buffalo plant where my grandfather worked as a chemist and transferred him to the plant in Wilmington, NC.  This move from Dervy, a Buffalo suburb, brought enormous changes to the family in terms of culture and food.

           Buffalo had been a very successful city throughout the first half of the twentieth century.  In 1901, it hosted the Pan-American exhibit and displayed the marvels the new century heralded.  The city continued to enjoy a strong economic base with fervent industrial development. The city was sustained by mainly manufacturing jobs in connection with a high level of industry prevalent throughout the city.  This helped to create a vibrant, successful community until the economic downturn of the 1970s.  During that recession, Buffalo lost most of its industry; businesses closed and factories shut their doors.  My grandfather was a chemist who worked at the General Electric plant, helping to develop transistors.  The GE plant was one of the factories that were affected by the downturn in the economy.  When the plant was closed, my grandfather was transferred to the plant in Wilmington, NC in 1972.  My mother was in college at the time, but she joined the family a few months after she graduated in 1974.

Moving to the south changed the types of food that were available to the family.  As a result of great cultural diversity, there were many opportunities for eating ethnic food in Buffalo.  The city had a very large Polish population; so Polish foods were very common.  My mom, now a semi-vegetarian, loved the kielbasa and Polish pastries.  A majority of the population was Catholic, and the traditional Catholics did abstained from meat on Fridays. As a result, the local volunteer firefighters would have fish fries on Friday evenings as fundraisers, and this was the only seafood that the family could access.  The low quality of the fish did not encourage my mother to develop a lifelong love of fish.  After moving to North Carolina, the variety of ethnic foods was no longer available, but seafood was.  Neither my mom nor myself eats seafood, so the availability of seafood is no boon.  My mom missed the large variety of food that, until very recently was not available in our area.  Last summer, we went to a deli that served roast beef on kimmelwick, a Buffalo favorite.  My mom was so excited to see this traditional Buffalo dish in North Carolina that she actually ate roast beef, a very rare occurrence.

            My mom does not have a very favorable view of the foods of the south.  Upon arriving in North Carolina, the family went to a fish camp for dinner.  There, they were served hush puppies.  Growing up on the shore of Lake Erie, my mom was familiar with mudpuppies, and she and her sisters though that there were small critters inside the fried breading.  A waitress had to break one open to show them that it was just breading, not animals.  The family was very surprised at the high prevalence of fried foods in the south.  In New York, nothing was fried, in the south everything was.  I seem to have inherited my mom’s food preferences, which are the preferences of Buffalo.  I always tell people that I am a “bad southerner” because I do not enjoy traditional southern foods.  I do not like fried foods, cooked vegetables, grits, or sweet tea; a diet more consistent with New York than North Carolina.

            Moving to the south produced vast societal changes for the family as well.  One of the main changes they experienced was race relations.  My mom attended a “central” high school, meaning it served about eight small towns.  In the late sixties, when she attended, the school was already integrated.  She estimates that the school’s population was about ten percent African American and ten percent Hispanic.  My mom cannot remember a single problem stemming from this mix of races in the school. She said “I had heard that segregation existed, but I thought it was a fairy tale” because everyone accepted the mix of ethnicities.  When my mom arrived in the south in the mid seventies, she discovered just how real that fairy tale actually was.  Upon the integration of the schools in Wilmington, riots erupted in response.  By the time the family moved to the area, the riots had recently ended, but tensions were still running high.  The third oldest sister, Elaine, was so overcome by the violence at one of the public high schools, that she transferred to a private school a few weeks into the year. 

            The culture of the south was also very different from that in the north.  In New York, the kids could catch a bus to downtown Buffalo where they could go to art museums, history museums, music venues, professional sports teams (in the 1970s the Buffalo Bills were a good team), music venues, Niagara Falls, and even Canada.  In Wilmington my mom said there was “literally nothing” to do.  She said “I felt culturally isolated” due to the limited bus service and limited opportunities for social activities.  As a result, she says they attended everything they could because there was so little to attend.

            Even though I have lived my entire life in Wilmington, North Carolina, I can still notice things about myself that are more consistent with New York, such as my food preferences.  I have only been to Buffalo two times in my life, but that city has played a great role in shaping my family, who have in turn shaped me.   

Montgomery County

‘Laws abolishing slavery would be detrimental to Maryland’ declared political leaders in a meeting at the Montgomery County Courthouse on New Years day, 1861. At the meeting, the leaders drafted a resolution containing a variety of pro-slavery and pro-states’ rights measures, some stating, ‘Slave-holding is a right which the U.S. Government should protect’, and ‘Maryland should participate in a convention with border states to protect their rights’ ( qtd. Sween 69). The question remained however; did this meeting of party leaders reflect the general sentiment of Montgomery County (Mo.Co.) residents or Maryland residents as as whole? Bordering states that were loyal to the Union, as well as secessionist states, Maryland and Mo. Co. residents were fiercely divided among the issues of slavery and states’ rights. Heavily involved with political issues since its founding in the late 17Th century, Mo. Co. residents reflect the variety of opinions surrounding these matters, with large factions against slavery such as Quakers, and large factions for slavery and strong states’ rights such as Democrats. In reflecting on Montgomery County’s torn opinions about the issues that crafted our nation, readers can examine the issues from a variety of perspectives, and gain a better understanding of the issues overall.

Though about a third of the County owned slaves in 1860 and had an economy resembling the South, Montgomery County was put on the spotlight of the abolition movement early in its history. The famous novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin, located in Rockville and Bethesda, Maryland, stirred up abolitionist sentiments among residents by depicting the details of slaves’ lives. Even today, people from all across the country come to visit the cabin and meditate on its history. Similarly, Quakers in the County exerted their presence not solely through writing but through a multitude of techniques. The Quakers of Silver Spring were the largest and most vocal anti-slavery group, emancipating their own slaves and working with slaves to help them get better lives. Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the Quakers was by Francis Miller, who successfully harnessed support to vote down the resolution previously mentioned that would have otherwise strengthened the presence of slavery in Maryland.

Montgomery County was also sharply divided when it came to states’ rights and secession from the Union. Before the outbreak of the War, men in Mo. Co. declared their allegiances to either the South or North and fought for their respective side. When Maryland instituted a draft, many men ‘went South’ ( Sween 70) and joined the Maryland Cavalry of the Confederate States (C.S.A.), which was led by Colonel Brown of Mo. Co. Despite the strong Democratic influence in the region, the state of Maryland fought for the Union. Once the War was over, the state passed the Registration Act whereby all citizens who could not guarantee their loyalty to the Union could not vote. In 1866, Democrats and portions of the Union party met at the courthouse in Mo. Co. to repeal the law. With the Democratic Party back in political power, the state passed a new state constitution, repealing the law and restoring voter privileges to everyone. Though the Democrats were not successful in winning the War and avoiding abolition,
they were successful in controlling the functions of the state as well as they could.

Today Montgomery County continues to be a political and intellectual hub. While it used to be connected to the rest of the world through the Georgetown Port, today the county is connected to the world through politics, advancements in education, and literature. The leaders of the county did their best to progress their ideas on the rest of the state, with Quakers taking strides to push for abolition, Harriet Beecher Stowe enlightening the world about slavery through literature, and the Democrats advancing their ideas through politics. No matter how wide the differences in opinion on major issues, Montgomery County residents were fearless in getting what they wanted. This characteristic has yet to falter.

Works Cited

Sween, Jane C., and William Offutt. Montgomery County. Sun Valley: American

    Historical , 1999. Print.

Eating up Exploitatives

In “Ireland and the Potato,” K.H. Connell affirms that staple diet is driven by population fluxes, the economy and land condition in which it is grown. He takes the reader step by step thoroughly retelling Ireland’s past leading up to the famines and extending beyond to the lasting effects and relationship the Irish have with the potato crop. However, the potato is remains an Irish staple today even though seemingly illogical in terms of these three driving factors. Connell raises this issue conundrum as a question, but I would like to affirm that the potato has persisted as a staple in Ireland for habitual constraints rather than need and that the Irish don’t stand alone in our exploitative global system.

The end of the 16^th century brought on industrial and technological change. He points out specific benefits of the potato to the reader to understand what blessing the crop was to Irish people in availability. He gives background to Ireland’s poor farmer’s desperate situation as result of exploitative English rule. Connell backs the claim clearly arguing the English System in the 18th and 19th century “geared the Irish economy to the elastic rent which ensured the diffusion of the potato (66)” This mechanism involving, taxation, English landlords and export quotas determined by the English were so abrasive, that the Irish peasants were seen as an English resource for food not as a nation of families struggling to survive. Thus, the potato quickly replaced the 16^th century traditional food staples due to its ability to be harvested, processed and cooked easily without having to purchase complex machinery (58). Also, these specific conditions gave poor farmers luxury, because they were now able to grow enough so that they too could be fed. The Irish loved their potatoes “for all their wretchedness, they were admirably nourished - better, maybe, than the mass of the people of any other country during any recent century (60).” Their calorie intake averaged 4,000 a day, eating potatoes at every meal, and breeding strong and healthy Irishmen (60). It is no wonder the potato was seen as some type of miracle crop sent from God to save the Irish race; at least for a little while.

These positive implications were too much of a good thing for the Irish population. As Connell describes, potatoes are “a capricious staple, liable to fail and hard to replace.” A little frost could wipe out a whole yield but the gravity of reliance magnitude was not realized until the Famines of 1820’s and 30’s (63). The Irish faced an extreme case of the resource curse, sometimes referred to as ‘dutch disease”; an unfortunate commonality of many developing countries. We can look at a number of cases such Columbia’s dive in banana reliance or Haiti’s timber industry deforestation. All remain helpless in the face of the crisis or threat to resource. Man can only grow on what land can provide. It is common sense to have a backup plan or to create variation for on term benefit. However, all cases persisted in reliance without any apparent logical reason. Connell simply justifies potato dependency after the famines claiming, “it is eaten because it is liked, not because it is necessary (68)." However, I am not so convinced the Irish particularly “liked” eating potatoes. Especially after having seen the detrimental effects of single reliance and for years having consumed potatoes morning, noon, and night, washed down with sour milk. Really, the Irish had no power to change anything in their country because they were a poor and had to do as instructed by England. The only safeguard to extinction available was biological regulation through emigration and death of population. Indeed this is precisely what occurred to total over a million who fled and half of that who died (64). It is such a bleak outcome in contrast to the supposed benefit of variation. Even though the solution to Dutch disease may look simple to solve in these isolated areas, the fact of the matter is that humankind is under the very same curse.

What!?

Exactly, you didn’t see that coming because we live in routine of our lives consuming and relying upon the same resources equally as blindly as these developing nations. Since the age of modernization we have been better able to survive and benefit. However, it is clearly becoming too much of a good thing. We consume simply because we “like” to. The only reason we have not taken a significant dive thus far is that we have extended our regulation time by manipulating circumstance with technology. We live on a finite earth that cannot sustain an increasing population indefinitely.

Works Cited

Connell, K. H. "Ireland and the Potato." Oxford University Press. 1962.