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.