Food for the Spirit and the Soul

An Artful Moment: Emily Carr

For the sake of an aesthetically fruitful collaboration between eye and mind:

Emily Carr (1871-1945) was a Canadian painter and writer. She studied and worked in San Francisco, England, and France, but her art blossomed in the 1930s, when she returned to Canada and began specializing in depicting scenes from the lives and rituals of Native Americans living in the Pacific Northwest: “Indian Art broadened my seeing, loosened the formal tightness I had learned in England’s schools. Its bigness and stark reality baffled my white man’s understanding… I had been schooled to see outsides only, not struggle to pierce.”

Carr soon developed what today might be called an “ecological vision,” and she was deeply concerned about the destruction of the wilderness: “I glory in our wonderful west and I hope to leave behind me some of the relics of its first primitive greatness. These things should be to us Canadians what the ancient Briton’s relics are to the English. Only a few more years and they will be gone forever into silent nothingness and I would gather my collection together before they are forever past.”

I will let Carr’s words serve as commentary on her work:
“I sat staring, staring, staring – half lost, learning a new language or rather the same language in a different dialect. So still were the big woods where I sat, sound might not yet have been born.”

“It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she’s something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of.”

“There is something bigger than fact: the underlying spirit, all it stands for, the mood, the vastness, the wildness.”
I close with a biographical detail that helps to illuminate the character of Emily Carr. The Nuu-chah-nulth tribe of Vancouver Island’s west coast nicknamed Emily Carr “Klee Wyck” – “The Laughing One” – and that is the title she used for a book she published in 1941 that won the Governor General’s Award.

A Pensive Occasion for Those Who Love Both the English Language and Human Intelligence

Died 13 December 1784 – Samuel Johnson, English poet, essayist, literary critic, biographer, and lexicographer. Johnson was the author of the first definitive dictionary in the history of the English language, and his contributions to our literary heritage are immense. One does not read Johnson merely to learn his opinions on various subjects, but rather to appreciate the stylistic elegance with which he expresses them. At a time when twitter is helping to accelerate the pace at which Americans are becoming a nation of inarticulate twits, Johnson’s prose, with its abundance of wit, irony, and complexity, provides a model for us to emulate and an antidote to stupidity. Whether we like it or not, our writing is the shadow of our thinking, and anyone who spends time reading what passes for discourse on the Internet knows that some people’s shadows are very pale, indeed. Finally, Johnson is the subject of what is arguably the greatest literary biography in history – “The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.,” by James Boswell, a book which has been at my bedside for decades and one that I heartily recommend people read in addition to Johnson’s publications.
Here are a few quotations from Dr. Samuel Johnson:
“All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.”
“A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner.”
“Allow children to be happy in their own way, for what better way will they find?”
“Every man is rich or poor according to the proportion between his desires and his enjoyments.”
“Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”
“Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
“Getting money is not all a man’s business: to cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life.”
“He who waits to do a great deal of good at once will never do anything.”
“Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.”
“It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
“Life cannot subsist in society but by reciprocal concessions.”
“Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.”
“Of all noises, I think music is the least disagreeable.”
“The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.”
“What is easy is seldom excellent.”
“Whoever thinks of going to bed before twelve o’clock is a scoundrel.”

Another Homage to Catalonia: Two Wine Suggestions for Thanksgiving

Few places on the planet can claim a richer or more vibrant culture than Catalonia, a region of four provinces that constitutes one of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain. Everything about the place seems dramatic – the architecture, the literature, the music, the food, and, of course, the wine. Some of the world’s boldest, most full-flavored wines are made in Catalonia, but today I am going to recommend two that have been crafted in a more lyrical style, because I think that they would nicely complement Thanksgiving banquets for two reasons. First, wine lovers are always looking for something different, and while Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc pair nicely with turkey, so would these two wines. Second, some people at your table might be newcomers to wine, and both these bottlings are as accessible as they are satisfying, and would thus please both seasoned wine drinkers and neophytes alike.

The Torres family has been cultivating their own vineyards in Catalonia for 300 years, and recently they have made a commitment to helping alleviate the causes of global climate change by adapting eco-efficient strategies from cultivating their vineyards to transporting their wines to market. This development is not surprising, given the fact that the family’s motto has long been “The better we look after the land, the better the wine we produce.” Few people will argue with this claim if they sample either or both of the Torres wines I am about to describe.

Made from Moscatel de Alejandria and Gewurztraminer, Torres Vina Esmeralda 2010 ($15) is a charming white wine, with enticing floral aromas that lead to delectable, spice-tinged tropical fruit, lemon, and passion fruit flavors that would perfectly complement turkey, fish, or chicken. Esmeralda takes its name from the emerald color of the Mediterranean sea, and there is plenty of Mediterranean sunshine in this uncommonly appealing wine.

Rose’ can be a splendid dinner wine, and Torres Sangre de Toro Rose’ 2010 ($10) is substantial enough to complement almost any dish at your Thanksgiving repast. Its floral, blackberry, and tropical fruit aromas lead to exuberant raspberry, cherry, and spice flavors that close in a long, nicely balanced finish. While it is a good match for turkey, this Rose’ would also pair well with most appetizers, and it would be notably satisfying when sipped on its own before dinner.

I hope that everyone has a splendid Thanksgiving in the company of family and friends. I also hope that some of my readers follow my suggestion and pour either or both of these Torres wines with their Thanksgiving meal, since I promise that doing so would make an already wonderful occasion even more delightful.

An Artful Moment: Juliette Aristedes

For the sake of an aesthetically fruitful collaboration between eye and mind:

Juliette Aristedes is an artist and art instructor who currently lives and works in Seattle, Washington. In her teaching, she is passionate about the need for her students to acquire a rigorous education in the principles of classical realism, and the fruits of that conviction are readily apparent in her paintings.

In her words, “Traditional skills are necessary for developing a foundational base for the artist to work from. It is craftsmanship that opens the door to effective self-expression. I am excited about teaching the methods from our artistic inheritance. I know that once this knowledge becomes commonplace again, it can only enrich our cultural life.”

Aristides began her studies in 1968 at Design Systems, then studied drawing and painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, went on to study at The Atelier in Minneapolis, and then had two years of instruction at the National Academy in New York.

Juliette received both the Wilder Prize for Drawing and the Albert Hallgarten Traveling Scholarship. She is also the recipient of an Elisabeth Greenshields Grant and frequently contributes to “Artist’s Magazine.”

Juliette Aristides currently teaches at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art, where she founded the award-winning Classical Atlier Program. She has also written two books: “Classical Drawing Atlier” and “Classical Painting Atelier.” Finally, this quote can serve as a particularly eloquent expression of her artistic vision and educational philosophy: “I have a simple belief that the goal of learning to draw and paint is attainable by anyone who is willing to pursue it. It is as accessible as learning to write or play a musical instrument. There is more than one path a person can follow to be a well-trained artist. What is necessary, however, is a passion for excellence, discipline, and an unflinching desire to pursue truth.” That sounds very much like a formula for any sort of well-conducted and deeply fulfilling life.

To learn more about Juliette Aristedes and to view additional examples of her work, visit her website: http://www.aristidesarts.com/

An Artful Moment: Robert Andes

For the sake of an aesthetically fruitful collaboration between eye and mind:

“I have always been interested in the work of artists who paint the human form, so this remains my focus and usual subject.” Robert “Rob” Andes

Robert Andes is a painter who lives and works in Fayetteville, Arkansas. His stated intent is “to create a picture that is visually pleasing and captures people and their emotions through color and composition.” This goal is beautifully realized in a series of paintings Rob made after a trip to Santa Fe, where, not surprisingly, he fell in love with the light:

Since Andes believes that “the traditions of figurative art remain important in art to the present,” it is predictable that some of his portraits made during a 2009 visit to Siena, Italy will remind viewers of the works of the great Italian masters:

Because, in his words, Rob is interested in conveying a sense of “introspection and quiet observation,” it is appropriate that contemplating his War Memorial paintings made during a visit to Washington, D.C. is conducive to precisely those states of mind:

Rob’s portraits, including those of the children of some of his friends, perfectly capture the moods of their subjects, moods with which we can all readily identify:

For people living in and around Northwest Arkansas, I recommend contacting Rob Andes through email – robandes@yahoo.com – to arrange a visit to his studio, which is located at 123 E. Cleburn Street in Fayetteville. I also suggest that everyone should examine the artist’s website – www.robandes.com. – in order to peruse the gallery of wonderful paintings Rob has posted there.

A Timely Sports Note: The Big East Conference Should Go South

28 October 1538: The first university in the New World, the Universidad Santo Tomas de Aquino, is established in what is today Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the anniversary of its founding has inspired me with a plan that could help NCAA football. I think that every fan of college football should contact the commissioner of the Big East Conference, which is now scrambling to replace member schools soon to depart, and suggest that he should immediately recruit the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas into the league. After all, Santo Domingo is nearly 1,000 miles closer to Big East universities than at least one of the schools the Big East covets – Boise State – and it doubtless has better academics.

I know that some people will object to my proposal on the grounds that USTA does not have a football team, but if you have watched any college football for the past two years, realistically speaking, the same can be said about all the current Big East Conference schools, as well.

Talking Turkey: Two Wines for Thanksgiving from Joseph Phelps Vineyards

Many people prefer a red wine with their holiday turkey, and happily for them there are any number of good wines that would nicely complement a Thanksgiving banquet. One of my recommendations this year is Joseph Phelps Vineyards 2008 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($56). When I first tasted this richly complex wine several months ago, I paired it with turkey, and so readers can trust me when I state that it complemented the meal splendidly, though it would also go well with roast beef, pork tenderloin, or duck. Made from 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged in oak for 18 months, this Cabernet Sauvignon has seductive plum, dark berry, and spice aromas that lead to generous, perfectly balanced blackberry, plum, oak, and cocoa flavors that are joined by notes of vanilla and spice on its long, polished finish.

Nothing brings a good meal to better closure than a glass of dessert wine, and one of the best is Joseph Phelps Vineyards 2010 Eiserebe ($50 – 375ml). Made from 100% Scheurebe grown on the winery’s home ranch outside St. Helena, this exquisitely delicious amber wine has enticing aromas of apricot, fig, and pineapple that precede luscious mango, apple, stone fruit, and caramel flavors that close in a long, honeyed finish.

Since Thanksgiving is traditionally spent in the company of family and friends, I know that everyone wishes to make the occasion as wonderful as possible, and I promise if either or both of the Joseph Phelps Vineyards wines that I have described in this posting are served at your holiday table, you and your guests will have even more than usual to be thankful for.

Harold Camping, Endtime, and Confucius: A Call for Civility

When I was a young man growing up in the provincial hinterlands of suburban new jersey, I afforded myself every possible opportunity to acquire at least a patina of culture by escaping to New York City, which was a twenty-minute bus ride from my home. Upon arrival, I would exit the Port Authority Building and enter the teeming street, and almost invariably I would be confronted by someone, usually an old, rather disheveled man, carrying a sign or wearing a sandwich board which read: “Repent, The End Is Near.” I quickly learned never to make eye contact with or speak to such people, since to do so risked being the recipient of a long, apocalyptic rant. However, I also soon discovered that the citizens of Manhattan, not exactly famous for either conversational restraint or instinctive courtesy, were never rude to these misfortunate individuals. Rather, they recognized them for what they were – intellectually handicapped human beings – and steadfastly ignored them. And this brings me to the matter of Harold Camping.

Mr. Camping is, of course, an American Christian broadcaster who acquired considerable notoriety when he recently predicted that the world would end on 21 May 2011. When end times failed to transpire, Camping did what many of his numerologically obsessed predecessors have done: He recalculated the scriptural “clues” and then changed the date of his doomsday forecast to 21 October 2011. And yet here I am, typing this two full days after the predicted apocalypse, because, as every sensible person in the world already knew, nothing was going to happen. I will neither belabor the obvious point that all such prognostications are inherently absurd nor chide believers who credit Camping with having prophetic powers. Americans have the Constitutional right to believe whatever they want. Rather, my complaint in this posting is directed against two groups equally guilty of unpardonable displays of bad manners: the on-line popular press (and is there really any other kind in the United States these days?) and the people who comment on the articles published therein.

In case you missed the journalistic circus, Harold Camping was repeatedly featured in any number of postings, most of which fully chronicled his embarrassingly outlandish notions about reality, as if such things were worth reporting or could be considered newsworthy by any reasonably intelligent and informed person. Thankfully, our civilization has reached the point where it is no longer permissible to publicly ridicule people with physical, emotional, or mental handicaps. However, in the various expressions of on-line media, this courtesy is sometimes not extended to those with an obvious intellectual handicap. While many of the articles about Harold Camping were at least implicitly condescending – or worse – the majority of the comments posted by readers in response to them were unconscionably rude. In short, while it is permissible to elaborate the fallacies in Mr. Camping’s thinking in polite, scholarly, and impersonal ways, it is not acceptable either to exploit his character in order to garner an audience or to make degrading comments about him in order to make oneself feel superior.

Twenty-six centuries ago, Confucius said, “Good manners are the root of civilization,” and the root of “civilization” is “civil.” Argue against Harold Camping’s views if you wish, but do not dismiss them – or him – contemptuously. When confronted by someone so lost in delusion that he is immune to the appeals of reason and good sense, the proper course of action is to emulate the strategy of the polite Manhattanites of my youth: Ignore him.

An Artful Moment: Shoson Ohara

For the sake of an aesthetically fruitful collaboration between eye and mind:

Shoson Ohara (1877-1945) was a Japanese painter and printmaker who specialized in depicting birds and flowers.

Shoson began his career working in the nature print genre, though he was also adept with human subjects.

Shoson’s prints became immensely popular in the West, mostly in consequence of the 1930 and 1936 Toledo Museum exhibitions. In fact, more prints were sold by Shoson during these shows than by any other artist, at least partly because of their beautifully decorative character.

The prints and paintings of Shoson Ohara can be found in museums and private collections around the world.

Dear Extraterrestrials: Come on down! You’ll meet new friends, and there’s plenty of free parking.

I suppose that it isn’t entirely fair to mock California for being the home of so many zany groups and bizarre individuals, since, in truth, the Golden State performs a useful service by acting as an asylum for a significant number of seriously deluded inmates who would otherwise purvey their dubious wares in parts of America where sanity is at least the purported norm. I am pondering this matter today, because of two recent events in California, about which it is my distinct pleasure to report.

As I write, the Unarius Academy of Science is celebrating its 28th “Conclave of Life” festival just outside San Diego. If you want to know the genesis and general philosophy of this group, you can read the chapter “Welcome, Space Brothers” in Alex Heard’s witty, informative, and disturbing book “Apocalpyse Pretty Soon: Travels in End-Time America.” Or, if you are pressed for time, you can study the photograph below, which pretty much tells the story.

Meanwhile, in San Francisco, “UFO Phil” (Phil Hill) has announced plans to build “The Great Pyramid of Alcatraz,” a structure modeled on Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza. Phil claims to have received “secret blueprints and schematics” from space aliens that will allow him to use the pyramid both to beam free energy to the world and to provide fuel and a landing site for visiting UFOs.

And yet, there are actually people who wonder why flying saucers don’t land on Earth.