What is Art?

Art has been the central part of human civilization. When it comes to Egypt, pyramids are always brought up. So far, I have been to the University’s Museum, Rowan Oak, Graceland Too, and Ajax, and I wonder what exactly art is. Although the things that I mentioned above are different, they are all considered as art, because they have one thing in common: creation.

Art is the combination of creation and personal feelings of artists that would strike a chord with their audience. For example, Theora Hamblette is a famous folk artist in Mississippi. Most of her paintings are about her farm life. In one of her series, “Untitled”, is a shocking reminder to me, the good old days with my childhood friends. Little did I know about her life when I visited the museum, but somehow it came to me that the artist has something to say about her childhood. Hamblette told her audience through her paintings, and her paintings might give her audience different feelings. There was quilt art on display. I was astonished by how it looked, because quilt is something that we use to cover our bodies when we go to bed, but according to the director “when it is put on the wall it becomes art!”

In order to experience art, I made my very own painting and two mosaics. I think they are a kind of art, though I am not famous. I made them in the way that I perceived my pictures and in combination of my personal feelings, just like any artists. Another thing about this is that when I made my mosaics I was trying so hard to get the images that I perceived from the movies. When I put my images down, I knew I had to think about whether or not people could relate to my mosaics. If they can’t, then the mosaics should at least make them know what I wanted to say, just like Hamblette’s paintings.

Art is the refined form of creation, especially when it comes to literature. Literature refines words and thoughts of a writer. It gives us space to think about the things that the writer writes about. For example, in “A Rose for Emily”, Faulkner depicts a town life of his days. The way he wrote it makes us interested in the town life, and we begin to think carefully as we read. It also makes us ponder at the reasons why Emily would murder her husband. Literature also appeals to the emotions of a writer. “A Rose for Emily” is based on what Faulkner had seen in Mississippi. Accordingly, reading it is just like opening a door which leads me back to his days. I once believed it to be a true story!

Art could be found in the form of music. Whether it is rock and roll, country music, jazz, or blue, they could strike a chord with us. Music not only has stress-relieving sounds but also expresses the feelings of singers, and the feelings transmit to their fans. It is something that we listen first and share our feelings with one another about. I went to Graceland Too to see Elvis Presley’s collection, but when I got there the owner didn’t answer the door. As a result, I watched his videos on YouTube. I listened to one of his songs, “Words”, and it sounded so great. I have heard it sung by another band, but I didn’t know Presley came first. A quote from “Yesterday Once More”, “When I was young, I listened to the radio, waiting for my favorite song…,” best describes how I relate to music. It is the song that I would listen to again and again. I may not know how the singer feels. All I know is that the song is sad, and the singer craftily passed this feeling on me.

Art has many faces. It can’t be defined in one way. In short, if we find something to appreciate, it could be called “art”.

Introduction

Culture is something that a group of people share within a place, a region, or a country. To be specific, it could be food, customs, social values, or spoken and written language, commonly shared by a certain people. It also gives the people in this culture an identity that is widely recognized by other people. Without the coat of culture, a people may lose their identity as well as recognition. To introduce Southern Culture, I would like to discuss literature, painting, and food that I have learned in Oxford, Mississippi, as the miniature of Southern Culture.

William Faulkner


When it comes to literature in the south, William Faulkner, the winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 1950, is probably the first thing that people would talk about.

As a young man, Faulkner’s romance was not as smooth as people thought. He first fell in love with Estelle. But she was dating some other boys while in romance with him. It turned out that her parents wanted her to marry one of the boys she was dating. Sadly, she got divorced ten years after her marriage. After that, Faulkner married her.

Mr. Faulkner’s life as a writer is not as easy as people expected. Just like many writers, “the thrill of a penny more of less” put him under intensive pressure. In order to buy Rowan Oak, which is said to be $250,000 at his days, he had to write a lot. In addition, in search for inspiration for his writing, he drank a lot alcohol, and that is widely known as binge drinking.

The center of Faulkner’s works, as he described “postal stamps of native soil”, is about where he lived: Yoknapatawpha, where is actually Lafayeff Country. It was his ambition to write everything he had experienced in Mississippi. In one of his famous works, “A Rose for Emily”, he wrote about a family back in his days which used to be a big family. He detailed what was going in this town, what people at that time would do, and Emily’s family.

Reading William Faulkner helps us uncover the veil of Southern Life. He gives us some pictures of what the social values in this town were like. For example, back in his days women from high-class family might have to follow some kinds of social rules to maintain their prestige. Another example is that most of the people in the town were involved and concerned about Emily family. They were curious about what happened to Emily and eager to know what became of her. Finally, but not limited to, the story might be a fabrication, meaning that it might not be based on a true story. But the whole idea is based on where Faulkner lived.

Folk Art

Folk art, known as naïve art, outsider art, or primitive art, plays a significant role in Southern Art. Those artists don’t go to schools to be trained. They use whatever they have to create their styles of painting. I went to The University Museum. There is a huge collection of folk art, like painting on plywood or quilts. Among the collection, Theora Hamblett is my focus.

Theora Hamblett was born in Lafayeff County in 1895. She went to school in a small town of Paris. When she was young, she loved drawing. Graduating from Lafayeff High School, she became a teacher and taught for over fifteen years, in a small one to two teacher school. In 1939, Theora moved to Oxford, and much of her income was made renting rooms in her house to college students.

Theora Hamblett is best remembered as a memory painter. She produces a lot of paintings from the memories of her childhood. Without learning all the techniques for her paintings, there is no perspective in her paintings. There is a painting that some cows are running in circle in a field. Because of no perspective, it looks like the cows are running without Earth’s gravity. One of the series of her paintings in the museum, “Untitled”, is about some children are playing in circle. Another series is about her religious vision. There I saw some people ascending to heaven and Heavenly Father welcoming them.

Farm life is very important to Miss Hamblett. From her autobiography, she gave a miniature of what her life was like. Farm life is the center of her childhood, and it gives her the sources to paint, and churches her religious vision. In addition to farm life, churches also play an important role in Miss Hamblett’s life. Among her paintings, there are three religious ones the most important.

My Hamblett’s Style Painting

I did a painting, just like Miss Hamblett did. It is very interesting to do a painting like this. I have never learned any skills for drawing or painting. After I finished my painting, I realized how hard it was for Miss Hamblett to paint three hundred paintings, especially when she put two coats of paint on her trees. I did the same thing when I painted my trees. I first painted the sky, and then all the way down to the grassland. In order to show different colors of leaves, I put three to four coats on my trees.

Southern Food

Under the influence of many countries, Southern food is a various blend of food. Today, I went to Ajax with some other IEP students and teachers. We ordered some Southern food at. I ordered Plate Lunches, with pork chops, hash brown casserole, and turnip green. Another student also ordered Plate Lunches, but with chicken &dumplings, broccoli, and red beans.

Southern food is really good. My first impression on Southern food is just like any typical American food. But, after eating in Ajax, I could tell people that American food is not bad at all. I am really glad that there are some good food luring out there and waiting for me in America.

SOUTHERN CULTURE

The Southern Culture

The culture of a society can be defined as the way that people live and think as a group. Culture also includes musical styles, cuisine and customs. In America, There is a different between The South and other parts of the country. The combination of its unique history and “ fact that many Southerners maintain—and even nurture—an identity separate from the rest of the country has led to its being the most studied and written about region of the United States.”(Wikipedia)

CUISINE:

The influence that this part of The USA undergoes from Europeans contributes to the emergence of this unique culture. Their cuisine is often described as one of its most distinctive traits: “ Everything is fried”. Southern culinary culture has adopted an early Native American cuisine. Some notable "home cooking" meals include: fried chicken, corn on the pot liquor, vegetable stew, chicken and dumplings, and chicken fried steak. Even if the South shares so many characteristics, there are some differences between some States and their cuisine. The variety of cuisines range from: Tex-Mex cuisine, Cajun, and Creole, traditional antebellum fare, all types of seafood, and Texas, Carolina and Memphis styles of Barbecue. (Southern Culture, p456)

ART:

The Southern Region has been home of many artists.They present different kind of works from folk art, to expressionism. Artists in the South sometimes mixed spirituality and traditional religious motifs with surrealism and dream-like post-modernism. One of the most famous artists in the South is Howard Finster. Techniques used by these artists were very different but the results were still perfect. For instance Mari Hull is one of the famous artist in Oxford, Mississippi. Her technique is usually the utilization of pastel on paper to create a presentation original. Her influence is such that Marry Bawel said: “Any reference to art in Mississippi and the South since the early part of the 20th century would not be complete without Marie Hull. Her art and life as a painter and teacher have influenced hundreds of young artists to make their way in art.” The contribution of Southern artists in the developpement of the art in the US is widely acknowledged by people interested in the field. The paintings of artists from the South are sometimes a representation of the Civil war and the participation of their states in the building of the Modern America. Theora Hamblett is also one of the famous artists that people are proud of in the South. My painting is an example of her techniques.

LITERATURE:

As for art, Southern writers are well kwon and they present the reality of their region in their writing. Among famous writers in the South, we can cite William Faulkner, one of the most famous writers of USA. Faulkner won a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949. His writing is sometimes the description of the area where he lived. Faulkner brought new techniques such as stream of consciousness and complex techniques to American writings (As I lay dying). Other famous writers in the South deserve acknowledgement such as Mark Twain for his extensive knowledge of the Mississippi River and The South .He included in his works the injustice of slavery and the culture of Protestant public morality. Southern writers are known for their novel and their great capacity for transmitting to the reader their point of view.

The Southern of USA is very different because of its culture, its history, its people and their economic situation even if it is not homogeneous.

ERIC ROLEX JOSEPH

Explore Southern Culture by Genshu Ota

Introduction

　　　　　I have read an essay written by Theora Hamblett, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and an essay about Southern foods; visited museum and Rowan Oak; watched short documentary clips ; ate typical Southern Food, and discussed these in class. From these activities, I learned Southern Culture such as literature, art and food, and I think that Southern Culture have been formed, connected deeply to the land and history in Southern United States.

Southern Food

　　　　　This is a picture which is one of the most famous Southern food – fried okra. Okra is very popular in Japan, but I never thought okra is popular even in Southern United States because okra is a little sticky, and it may feel weird for American people. Though I ate a fried okra in the Ajax in square, we, Japanese usually eat okra in a raw or boiled, so it was the first time to eat okra with fried. As Edna Lewis said in the essay, “What is Southern?”, I thought cooking in Southern was creative work, too. Sweet potato was also stranger to me, and it was very sweet as if it were a dessert, not a dish. Local natural vegetables are used in Southern food, though certainly, genetically modified crazy green monster was used in someone's dish, I felt that “living in a rural setting is inspiring” as Edna Lewis stated.

Landscape Picture

　　　　　I took this picture in the Grove at noon in a sunny day. As it is written in an essay of Theora Hamblett, she loved trees and they appeared in many her works because she was growing up surrounded and inspired by many trees. That is why I took it in this place which is lined everywhere with many trees. And I needed light and shade because she used her unique technique in her works where “On my trees, I always put two coats of paint: red over yellow.”

Painting with Theora Hamblett

　　　　　This is my own painting of the landscape photo. Our mission is to paint following the way of drawing of Theora Hamblett. Firstly, I used her technique – red over yellow. However, I did not follow her everything, and I focused on two trees as an object for red over yellow because I would like to emphasize shade and light. Firstly I drew trees in green, and next put dot in red after yellow. And I used a gradation for the light of the sun. However, I have a point that I should have changed a little. I should have used white color in the side of trunk which the sun is shining on. Probably, Theora Hamblett used white color in trees in order to express the shining of the sun.

Conclusion

After finishing the painting, I learned something from the process of painting in the style of Theora Hamblett, and from her essay. That is her creativity. She created her own technique, red over yellow, and it is well evaluated even now. As Edna Lewis said in “What is Southern?”, I also thought that “There is something about the South that stimulates creativity in people, be they black or white writes, artists, cooks, builders, or primitives that pass away without knowing they were talented .” The way of drawing of Theora Hamblett seems to be primitive because she did not follow the basis of writing, but in fact, her works are very descriptive and very creative. I think it is also applied to entire Southern Culture including food. Southern has been separated from being industrialized, and cultivation has been mainly done by black people. We can see this in food. According to Edna Lewis, “Cooking is hard and demanding. It was then, and it still is now.” “the South developed the only cuisine in this country.” Southern Food has been inspired by the land, history and people, and been formed. It is one of creative work in Southern as well as art. I try to be creative here in the University of Mississippi, surrounded by many creative works.

Southern Culture

The Southern Culture is the product of many (previous or foreign) cultural influences, which permit it to developed its own customs (art, literature, cuisine). Because of (or thanks to) conservatives which maintain this history (those literatures, foods, and so on), the southern culture is nowadays, probably America’s most distinct culture .

Art

--Theora Hamblett--

Theora Hamblett , one of the most famous artists from Oxford, Mississippi, is well known for her paintings of nature and social activities in a “child style”. Hamblett started painting without any consistent art background .She began after few art classes at Ole miss university in 1950. The first remarkable aspect in her art were that there wasn‘t neither proportionality nor perspective and that causes her art to be qualified as a naive artist. Nevertheless, thanks to her hard work, in 1954, Betty Parsons a New York art dealer began promoting her work successfully.

Theora Hamblett's style painting.

The assignment for this work was ,from a real picture of a landscape, make a painting using Hamblett's technique. As said previously,it was hard for two things: the fact of avoiding the perspective while we are inspiring on a picture and the leaves which was more complicated that it seems.

Literature

--William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily--

After the first reading it is hard to depict any deepness in William Faulkner’s rose for Emily except some suppositions on gossip in small villages which are not that unfounded and can make us doubt about the veracity of Emily’s dark secret. But When the text is studied further, we can perceive that W. Faulkner was effectively describing southern values in two supplementary ways; how were the old southern values and how does it try to involve.

First of all,thinking of Emily’s secret, we can see that there is a parallelism, an allegory between her situation and the southern values of this era. Her aristocrat background which represented idyllic and almost perfect persons hide the atrocity behind as well as the atrocity of racism that existed and was in the antebellum south.

Secondly,also by allegories, he shows a conflict between the old southern culture and the new one. For Instance in the old one, Emily didn’t have to pay taxes but in the new one she have to but she couldn’t accustomed her self. As Thomas Dilworth said, “Emily rebelled against Southern values and , by ending her relation with Homer Barron […] she conformed again Southern ones”

Food

Southern Food has a huge responsibility in the hegemony of the southern culture. Two main influences make the southern culinary culture so rich and diverse but also maintain a certain cohesion.

First, the American Indian influence from which came Corn,the main staple of Southern nourishment. One of the popular sayings "If it ain't fried it ain't cooked" shows the second impact f the American Indian culture on the southern dishes. The big majority of the dishes are fried and greasy

The second is the African American influence which is also called the soul food. African American had also played a primordial place in the southern cuisine.Most of the dishes consist in various vegetables and rice which is one of the staple.

Finally,conservatism,which is more a principle than an influence, permit to maintain a certain cohesion and not be influenced by neither contemporary northern people nor nowadays influences.

Mentioned in songs and so on, hot tamale is a part of this culinary tradition. It Appeared at least in the early part of the twentieth century in what is called “the most southern place on earth” (the Mississippi and The some of the US other southern states).There isn't one story about how tamale have been introduced in southern culture but as many as there is tamale recipes but as Tamale recipes vary from place to place and from person to person, it makes a lot of hypothesizes about their apparition. Ones of the most recurrent are that migrant laborers who were brought in the US from Mexico to work the cotton harvest brought it with them or that it is a from African Americans. Hot tamale stayed in southern culinary tradition (while a lot of things have changed) because of family tradition and public demand. Today, African Americans in the Delta are the primary keepers of the tamale-making tradition even if it is possible to procures almost everywhere.

For Marcie Cohen Ferris,Food reflects both [the] national and regional culture as surely as do the fields of art, folklore, geography, history and so on. It expresses tradition, memory and, particularly for southern culture, family,conviviality and all the other aspects that are deep encrusted in southern societies.

So, why, if food is that important, it is not studied as it is for music or religion for instance ?

For her the problem came from the fact that food is too usual and to implicated in our life. For her ,if it was as rare as art or music, it will be easier and more acceptable for people to study it.

By Hamadoun ISSABRE

ALL SOUTHERN STYLE BY ELEA ORTEGA

ALL SOUTHERN STYLE!!

In the few past classes, we have been really interested into folk art and southern food. It all started at the Kate Skipwith Teaching Museum. We walked there, and discovered a lot of great things, we saw different paintings and art from people who lived here, in Oxford, Mississippi, and from people who did not, too. It was amazing, how the majority of the artists, were not professionals and they did quite amazing jobs. Not only painting, but also art, with other different objects. For example there was a big quail with different tones and patterns of fabrics.

Our first stop was in the Theora Hamblett paintings, which was my favorite. Theora Hamblett that loved so much the countryside in Mississippi, she was really passionate for trees, especially fall trees, she also used to dream about trees and then she would go and paint them. Her paintings are, usually surrounded by trees. Beautiful and huge fall trees, which makes her work completely stunning and colorful.

I remember walking in for the first time to Theora Hamblett exposition, and one painting caught my eye. What I love the most of Theora Hamblett’s work, is the delicate way she used to paint the leaves of the trees, she always would combine red and yellow and make it beautiful.

After the Theora Hamblett room we went to see other types of art from other Mississippians and others that were not from Mississippi. How they would spend their time doing amazing and surprising folk art.

Then we went to see other part of the museum, where was the art of Marie Hall and Andrew Bucci. Andrew was Marie’s student, which then becomes Andrew’s student. Teaching her modernism art. They are both really great artist. My favorite folk art was from Marie Hall and the name is Bright Fields. The reason why I loved Bright Fields is because, is so colorful and it inspires me love and serenity in my heart and soul.

It was a great experience going there. Although I have not been an artistic girl during this visit, it makes me appreciate the hard work of people. It also taught me how to understand what people thought in those past times, which is not that different sometimes from this time. And now, I feel more passionate for art then I used to.

We got to take pictures of landscape and then try to paint those landscapes. I had so much fun doing it. It was the time of my life, like the paramore concert that I went to, the august 18^th. I was trying to paint my tree as the Theora Hamblett’s trees. It was not perfect but almost.

This is my FOLK ART!!!!

We got to read A Rose for Emily, which is a short reading, wrote it by William Faulkner, which is the easiest readings from William Faulkner, because he always use hard words and nobody can totally understand what he is trying to say or explain. This reading I found it really tragic and realistic. In this reading Faulkner tries to explain, how in little towns or village, all the people knows each other, and how the people talks about each other, gossiping. And also shows the status of the people’s name or family.

ANOTHER EXCITING! PART

We got to go to Rowan Oak, also known as William Faulkner’s House. William Faulkner’s House was built in the 1840s. William Faulkner bought the house in the 30s and he did much of the renovations and decorations by himself. I took a lot of pictures and videos too. It was nice time in the William Faulkner’s House even though sometimes it was creepy. It was nice to see the place of this great writer and get to see where magic happened. It was a nice time.

The last thing that we have been doing is reading an article about southern food, and explains why the study of the food is so fascinating. The article talks also about the sense of what is Southern is more than just a Truman Capote or more than just biscuits. After this amazing southern food reading, we were required to read another form the Internet and watch a video about southern food both of them.

The name of the article from the Internet is called Hot Tamales at the Mississippi Delta Better known for its association with cotton and catfish and it talks about the relationship with the tamale, and it says that has been called “the most southern place on earth” according to the article. This article also talks about the beginning of the restaurant and all its history.

Then the video, last thing that we were required to do is about Scott’s Hot Tamales. This video I loved it. Elizabeth Scott’s talks about how they first got the recipe and the process how they step by step add more and more ingredients to it, and make their on recipes to their tamale. Even the girls who make the tamale were part of the video, and they talk about how much love they put on their cooking and making the tamales. Now, I want to taste those tamales so bad. It would be amazing. Those tamales for me are unique, they made those tamales with love and care, and there is nothing better that does something with love and care.

What I learned from the southern culture....

* I did not know, that here in the southern part of the United States, people like tamales that much. I thought it was only in Latin countries.

* I consider, really interesting how the slaves brought from Mexico the corn and then make tamales.

* I consider folk art amazing and how the people from the south, used objects, that you can not even imaging, what wonders you can do with them.

* Southerns are recognized worldwide by their folk art and their amazing literature.