DARK TIMES DURING OUR CIVIL WAR... LITERALLY

During the Civil War there were seas of black bonnets worn by women in mourning.

Did you know that more people lost their lives in America's Civil War than any subsequent war combined since? The blood soaked fields, not just Gettysburg, but in so many fields east of the Mississippi. 

President Lincoln said it well: "Our country is dark." He meant that literally. In 1861-1865, everywhere one looked, people, mainly women, were in black mourning their family and friends. 

When I shared this fact on the Quilts, Quakers and Questors Underground Railroad tour last week, there was a moment of silence for people who passed almost 200 years ago.  They got it immediately. This is really history. Our Michigan men died.

Now, we wear black because that "little black dress" is just sooo cute. Or, gray is the new black? Oh, the film The Blue & The Gray, which features more emotions than actual history.

History happened on our soil. There are over 300 Underground Railroad stops and markers in our State.

THE BOUNTY HUNTERS: RAIDERS OF "HUMAN PROPTERY"

Fugitive slaves of the 1800s trekking north

Fugitives Slaves in the 1800's didn't patiently wait their turn for a seat on the Underground Railroad. Some conditions in the South were just too deplorable. Some "Masters & Mistresses" were just too sadistic. 

Slaves were not considered human and were not given the proper food, clothing or medical treatment. So they ran. Most didn't even know where they were running, but they had to get out.

Some ran into camps of the Native Americans -- a new language, a different way of living, a different life and not necessarily better.  The Native Americans took them into their tribes -- like they did so many others such as white children who were lost on the Prairie's, deserters from the Mexican War, people who just couldn't make a go of it on their own.

Tribes felt that the Fugitives were so valuable because of their gifts: speaking English, understanding the "white" ways, shielding them from their captors, planting and harvesting and skilled trades -- carpenters, metal smiths, furniture makers, seamstresses.  We really don't know about this side of the Fugitive Slave Story because it hasn't been told. And, it exists.

The other story we know very little of is about The Bounty Hunters, who, anxious to make a fortune off the head of a run-away slaves, pursued them relentlessly so that they could be earn the fat sum on their heads. 

This morning, I decided to divide my Quilts, Quakers and Questors Tour and feature The Bounty Hunters: The Raiders of "Human Property."  This tour swings into the far western part of the State and into Indiana and Ohio.  It is decidedly different.  It will discuss the capture of the fugitives and also the one's that got away. It was feature how the bounty hunters used the Fugitive Slave Act against the north. How children were tormented so they cried for their mamas, which lured them from their hiding spots.  It is about human tragedy and celebration.

I do hope you can come along for the ride.

THE HAIR OF THE DOG IN SLAVERY

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD MONUMENT

Who would have thought that fugitive slaves traveling to the North would have traveled with a pet? It never dawned on me until I saw the depiction in a monument to the Underground Railroad. 

Typically, fugitives did not travel during winter months. How could they understand snow -- especially those who toiled in the Mississippi cotton fields?

Our motor coach encountered a snowstorm leaving from the Detroit area even into as far into Jones, a little town on M-60, just the other side of 131 South.

Yet, when I really thought about this, I came up with another conclusion.  Dogs were really used to root the runaways.  They could inflict some serious harm to a slave, and many did because that is the way they were trained.

I believe though, this this is simply hyperbole in that this image shows the corralling of controll of the fugitive over things that threatened their survival.  This shows that when the enslaved become more secure, that they also are more in control.  So instead of fearing the hounds -- they fought back and factored dogs into their escape. However, it was noted that at night, in some instances, the slaves would take the dogs hunting and "would tree a 'possum."  So that means, that when a bond between human and canine is established, that it is just that much more difficult for a dog to attack a person who has been nice. 

Still, dogs were feared by slaves -- more than the bite of a water moccasin, alligator or wild animal.   

FREE TRIP: WHO IS THIS PERSON?

Originally Tiffany pulled glass window.

I was thinking about giving away a free trip to the Quilts, Quakers & Questors for Feb. 22 if a reader can answer a question that I think is a real stumper.  Time got away from me, but the question still remains. And I am just intrigued ... who could really know this except for one person that I casually know personally. How's that!

Well, since the tour is fast approaching, and let me tell you, and yes, there are some real excited folks, I decided to give away one of my day trips if one of my readers can answer the following by Sunday, Feb. 24.

WHO IS THIS PERSON?

• A very famous southern leader during the Civil War.
• Much loved and respected.
• Took the loss of the South to the North professionally.
• Loved military strategy.
• Spoke to over 10,000 people in Michigan. 

So what do you think? First person gets the free trip while the second gets a 1/2 price.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

SURPRISED BY CROATIAN CHRISTIAN SINGER TATIANA

Tatiana & Sanya, Croatian Christian Singers in Lima, OH.

A group asked me to take them to see the Christian singer Tajci, better known as Tatiana - (I don't know how to make the small v  Croatian symbol above the c of her name). 

Outside of Godspell or Jesus Christ Superstar, I am not familiar with Christian singers, especially because I am "married" to traditional Classical music of the greats -- Mozart, Hayden, Poulenc, Beethoven et al.

What a wonderful surprise.  I sat in the back pew of a Catholic church in Lima, OH, and listened in awe of this woman's gorgeous golden tones as she sang from her album: "I Thirst -- The Crucifixion Story."

Here is her song: Via Dolorosa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjKIhSNfUcE  I think it is just so beautiful.

When I went to Youtube.com, I typed in Via Dellarosa, which means the Way of the Rose; while Via Dolorosa means the Way of Pain. 

So, she gives an explanation of what the song is about and then sings it.  We were pleasantly surprised as she sang with her sister Sanya.  The two have been singing this concert since Lent 2001. Both have wonderful voices that blend in and out with each switching harmony and backup. Fascinating.

The song Eli Eli -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg17vYHlChI has some hints of the Croatian folk music as it is sung in the minor keys with some very doullful and maybe some violin music bordering on Greek melodies.  It's music where east meets west.

Tatiana was a very popular singer in Croatia and I would think in the other (former) Yugoslavian states -- when I was younger and hanging around others from the Eastern Europe Block, we all wondered what would happen after Tito, the ruler who kept Yugoslavia together. Now we know. 

Anyway, she gave up the limelight of the pop music scene because she felt empty and stumbled upon singing about Christ. We heard a few fragments about her life -- the war, being a refugee and then slide the conversation right back to singing. She gave the audience what they wanted -- her voice and her beautiful song.

So, I really liked the music. Got me back into Blogging and the rest of the Social Medi-izing that I should be doing. 

Follow here on FacebookTajci and you can get a free song each month.  You too, may be inspired.

FASCINATING FORGERS

Durwood Coffey, valliwood.com, commercial artist

Forgers fascinate me.  As a calligrapher, I have studied the Uncial hand, font -- my favorite because this was the style that was copied by monks prior to the printing press. Did they copy or did they forge? I believe they copied because of the number of references made of the orders they had to fulfill.

This picture is of commercial artist Durwood Coffey and his painting that I took at an art fair a few years ago. We've been working together for a number of years as I became a self-employed marketing maven back in 1993. Somehow, we met and have been working on projects ever since. He is wonderfully creative and has been very well apprenticed.  We frequently talk about the 'by-gone days" when designers started out emptying the water bowls of the "creatives" as a way to build their skills and learn the elements of composition on the job.

Whenever I give Durwood a design project, I always want to send my idea along, whether it is a "thumbnail" or something I saw somewhere.  Durwood will look at my rough idea and toss them aside coming up with something so much better.  However, he won't even look at the something I "saw somewhere" because he is adament about not copying someone's work as he doesn't want his copied.  Clearly, I respect the man. 

Durwood knows about our trip to the Toledo Museum of Art on January 18 for the "I've Been Framed" tour.  It was around 2005/06 that I went to the museum to see their show of the forgeries they purchased.  The docent clearly explained that almost every museum gets duped.  I loved the idea ever since and came up with this tour last year.  The museum was open and honest about it's unique purchases.

There's been a lot of books and some movies about criminal forgers. In my mind, it all started with the Romans, who just weren't clever enough to think for themselves, but blatantly stole from the Greeks who were the chief thinkers of the day. The Romans couldn't even come up with their own gods, but stole theirs. About the only thing they really contributed that was unique was to create one of the most diffcult alphabets: Roman, which was based on the rules of geometry. Well, they did steal that concept from the Greeks who already associated prime numbers with geometery and algebra. Try making a Roman A or M and you'll see what I mean.

In our age, many books and movies about fakes abound because we are just so curious about fakers.

In How To Steal A Million, Audrey Hepburn tries to loot a forgered Cellini made by her grandfather.  Then there's Honore' de Balzac, who wrote Pierre Grassou, about an artist who lives off forgeries.

My absolute favorite forgery is at the Getty Museum: The Getty Kourous, a sculpture of supposedly the perfect male.  It was purchased in 1985 to the tune of $7 million. However, scholars are torn as to whether or not  it is a forgery. No one is sure, but the sign at the Getty Museum says: Greek around 530 BC or a modern forgery. Honesty to be sure.

Heck, even Van Gogh painted a forgery every now and then just to keep the money coming in.

The point is, we're captivted by being duped -- as if it could never happen to us.

ANCIENT PATINA ON ELGIN MARBLES FOREVER LOST

The late Melina Mercouri had been loudly advocating for the return of the Elgin Marbles, about 20 sculptures that graced Grecian classical buildings such as the Parthenon.  According to what I am researching, and believe me, don't trust the Internet for accurate info, but apparently Tom Brice got a "legal" permit from the Turkish Empire for removal of the sculptures in order to transport to Britain.

Mercouri wants them back and who can blame her.  However soulful her plea, there is so much more to this story and many books and papers have been written about the pieces.  But then again, if the Marbles are returned, that it will set a precedent requesting ALL art be returned to its original location. Again, it's a damning scenario, no?

On one hand, if it were not for the "looting", if the statues fell they were burned for the lime -- oh the numbers that have been lost to posterity, how many would actually be in existence? On the other, we are able to enjoy the precious works by flying across the pond.  Bittersweet, eh? It's one of those no-win situations.

Here's what totally shocked me about the marbles.   Did you know that the patina, the paint that was applied so carefully and from natural sources decades ago, was removed from the statues in an effort to make them more saleable? This is just too amazing.

1.The pieces were probably purchased from the Turks (Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire for a time) for a very low price combined with trinkets.

2. Then a bunch of clerks removed the paint.  Tools used then were so primitive and a lot of damage was caused to the statues all for the almighty English Pound

In parts of Greece one can see fragments of color on some sculptures which is utterly priceless in that even those little fragments stayed for all these years.  Imagine the grinding process. How many apprentices did it take for Phidias to be satisfied with the outcome? I would have loved to see his studio.  

Though poet Lord Byron didn't care for the sculptures, he strongly voiced that they should be returned and that Elgin was a vandal bar none.   

"Dull is the eye that will not weep to see

Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed

By British hands, which it had best behoved

To guard those relics ne'er to be restored.'