Mary Don't You Weep

Theme: Mary Don't You Weep

It was almost impossible to chose a favorite version of, "Mary Don't You Weep" because listening to this song was so wonderful in every version. I ended up siding with Bob Dylan for this one and listened to the Swan Silvertones on replay. I felt my body sway to the rhythm of the song as I painted the piece above.

This song combines the story of Mary and Martha (from the New Testament) with verses from the story, Passage of the Red Sea. The weaving of these stories illustrates the importance of having faith in God. The first story is about not being so concerned with the troubles that surround you and to instead prioritize your time on what is important. The second story is about the power God can have in protecting you from harm. The strength "Mary Don't You Weep" creates caused it to become a staple song for slaves as they attempted to continue to live and find meaning in life.

Although I do not relate to this song in its religious aspect, I understand the power of knowing everything will be okay. So, for this project I painted a woman looking towards the distance where the sun rays are breaking through the gray sky.

Work Songs, Spirituals, and Gospels

For this project I choose the song "Greenland Whale Fisheries" by Watersons. The song itself alludes the feeling of sadness, remembrance and regret. The rhythm of the song makes it sound like an anthem of a lesson that must not be forgotten. The foreign accents of the band sent my drawing to a far away place in the middle of the ocean. The major components of my piece reflect the lyrics that made this song so powerful. The premise of the song is that in seeking to capture a whale, four lives were lost. The lesson here is that although obtaining a huge reward is great, what may be lost along the way is not always worth it. I choose this song because its lyrics really resonated with the life my parents choose to provide for me. There decision to leave their home land for another inherently caused them to lose time with family, the comfort of familiarity, traditions, etc. They captured their whale when all of their four kids went on to pursue higher education but the feeling of longing for the things they choose to leave remains.

key lyrics:

"To lose a whale...It grieves my heart full sore. But oh! to lose four gallant men It grieves me ten times more."

You Are My Sunshine

Where do we come from?

Clustered buildings entangled by freeways and streets, mountains in the distance, water and sand, residential structures, areas of greenness, and a park, are all fragments of the space that surrounded my younger self. The nice thing about Southern California is that its diverse terrain and elements kept my young mind and body active and excited. The background of the piece shows the background of my character. A slightly hazing but extremely colorful culture. For the first 5 years of my life I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico. In coming to the US at such a young age, the history that has led to my creation and my being became more like a collage of stories that I stitched together with the help of my family. I choose to only incorporate that aspect of myself in the background because although it is what grounds me and what has shaped my customs, Los Angeles is where I matured into the person I am today.

Down in the Valley

Theme: Down in the Valley

The various versions of "Down in the Valley" epitomizes what folk songs are. Most folk songs vary in lyrics because they get tailored and transformed into something that is more meaningful to the singer. An example of this is seen when Leadbelly substitutes "Shreveport jail" for "Birmingham jail" which is a place where Leadbelly preformed when he was young. These personalizations are what make folk songs genuine and relatable.

After listening to a number of versions of "Down in the Valley" there was a consistent feeling of loneliness, and longing. The protagonist of the song is calling out for the lady he loves. Although the song seems straight forward, we are missing the opinion of the female. The missing side of the story makes me questions the "real story." What I mean by this is that the protagonist might be singing for a woman that does not desire his love.

This piece is meant to be the delusion the man in Birmingham jail is singing about. In his mind he pictures an unbelievably beautiful women, wearing a crown of flowers to exaggerate her femininity. Her contemplative face is meant to represent the ambiguity of her side in the song.The background is a representation of a dreamlike state.

First Song

Learning to Play the Guitar

Growing up I was always an independent learner. I preferred learning a new skill on my own over being taught because it allowed me to keep my mistakes to myself and in that way I only presented the refined version of myself to others.

I dedicated this project to "my first song," meaning the first time I played a song on the guitar. After a lifelong habit of learning skills, studying, etc. on my own I opened up to the idea of having one of my housemates teach me to play the guitar. After living with him during the Fall semester, I finally got the courage and agreed to have him teach me to play the guitar.

I learned to be vulnerable. I revealed the imperfections of my guitar playing which at times were frustrating and embarrassing. At the end this experience opened up a new world of expression and creativity. Most importantly it gave me a great friend.

For this piece I drew bare bodies to symbolize the vulnerability I felt when my fingers could not move as I hoped they would, and when it seemed impossible to sing and play simultaneously. The color and swirls represent the creative flow inherent with music. The black box represents the unknowing future of this friendship.