made in America

AMERICAN MUSIC is probably one of this country's most enduring exports. I'm not checking facts here, but I know for sure that New Orleans jazz, rock and roll, gospel, bluegrass and many other types of music originated in this country. The American South, in particular can lay claim to the birth of many of these forms which continues adding to the list with rap and hip hop music, much of which originated right here in Atlanta, Georgia. You have to wonder what brought forth the circumstances to create such a rich musical heritage. Is it the freedom to express ourselves? A unique "melting pot" of people in one place? A big new interest in folk music seems to be taking hold with bands from all over the world importing it back to the U.S. (like the Swedish folk singer duo, who are sisters, named First Aid Kit who I'm going to see in concert soon).

GOOGLE DOODLE | Today's banner logo art for Google's home page uses some nostalgic yankee doodle dandy typography forming the word "Google." The lyric "this Land was made for you and me" is from Woody Guthrie's folk song titled "This Land is Your Land," which has become one of America's favorite (and inclusive) patriotic songs since it was first recorded in 1944.

I HAVE TO think it is the independent spirit that first formed this country back in 1776 with the origin of the 13 colonies that gave birth to such an exuberant musical heritage. I pay homage to that spirit with this tree hung with 13 striped lanterns.

FIREWORKS and picnics are also represented with this tree. The hot July 4th holiday is a great time for grilling outdoors, making homemade ice cream and watching fireworks explode across the sky. That's exactly what I'm about to do with a group of friends, but I'll leave you with my mother's homemade ice cream recipe which I recently started making again. Today, Devin and I are serving it with fresh blueberries, fresh "strawberry" cherries and lemon cookies after grilling some of Devin's turkey burgers. Happy 4th!

MAMMA MOLAND'S HOMEMADE ICE CREAM 

2 12 oz. cans of evaporated milk (such as Pet Evaporated Milk)

2 cans sweetened condensed milk (such as Eagle Brand)
1 cup sugar
6 eggs beaten (since they're used raw, it's best to buy the pasteurized kind for safety)
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract (or more if you like, but make sure it's the best you can buy—DO NOT buy imitation vanilla flavoring)
1 quart whole milk (or enough to fill the freezer's canister to the fill line)
4 quart hand-cranked or electric ice cream freezer
1 large or 2 small bags of ice
1 box of ice cream rock salt 

In a large mixing bowl combine evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, sugar eggs and vanilla with a wire whisk one at a time. Pour into the ice cream freezer's inner canister (4 quart-size). Pour in enough whole milk to fill to the level of the freezer canister's fill line and stir with a long spoon to combine with the sweet mixture.

Place top on securely and freeze submerged in the freezer's bucket according to manufacturer's instructions packed with layers of ice and ice cream rock salt. Cover with a towel. Hand crank or freeze until your arm gives out or the motor stops.

The ice cream (very milky instead of too creamy) will be a soft consistency. Let canister cure in the ice mixture covered with a towel for at least 30 minutes). Scoop and serve with whatever toppings you might want. It melts fast in the July heat, but you'll want to eat it fast because it is so good! 

PATRIOT GAME | Count the lanterns on this tree in the photos above and you'll see that there are thirteen, representing the independent spirit of America's original 13 colonies. The lanterns were originally bought from Bayberry Cove and were designed for the Bruce Elsass Collection for Bethany Lowe Designs, Inc. The lanterns are just large enough to hold a flickering LED votive inside (no live flames with these) to carry the tree's festive look into the night.The red, white and blue mylar sparklers attached to the ends of some of the branches of this wire tree represent the holiday's fireworks—purchased last year at Target (I snapped off the wooden sticks they were attached to). Below the tree is a plaid tin picnic basket found this year at Cost Plus World Market along with a starry napkin purchased at Pottery Barn. The wire tree was originally purchased from the now defunct Martha by Mail catalog as an Easter tree, but I thought its spiky look would be evocative of the sparks produced by fireworks.

©2012 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

collecting, photography and styling by Darryl Moland

the liberty tree

A STATELY ELM TREE that first stood in Boston Common in the late 1700's became an early touchstone for American independence. In the decade that led up to the American Revolution, this particular Liberty Tree provided a symbolic canopy and a physical gathering place for the people to assemble on their own terms and for their own purposes. The open space under its branches was called Liberty Hall and a flag pole was erected through its branches. A hoisted flag on this pole served as a call-to-action. Inflammatory cartoons and verses were nailed to its trunk. Even Tory effigies hung from its branches in protest. Under the boughs of the Liberty Tree in 1765, patriots, calling themselves The Sons of Liberty, gathered to protest the imposition of the stamp act. Innumerable lanterns were hung among its branches after the stamp act was repealed.

IN  THE  YEARS  that followed, almost every American town had a Liberty Tree —a living symbol of freedom of speech and assembly. Thomas Paine wrote the following song (below) in 1775, which explains the original tree's demise and its symbolic promise. During the siege of Boston, at the end of August 1775, a party of British Loyalists cut the tree down and used it for firewood. It was a spiteful act, knowing what it represented to the revolutionists. But this only fueled the fiery spirit of the colonists. As resistance to the British grew, flags bearing a representation of the Liberty Tree were flown to show an unwavering spirit of liberty.


In a chariot of light from the regions of day,

The Goddess of Liberty came;
Ten thousand celestials directed the way,
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the gardens above,

Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
And the plant she named Liberty Tree.

The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground,
Like a native it flourished and bore;
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around,
To seek out this peaceable shore.

Unmindful of names or distinctions they came,
For freemen like brothers agree;
With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued,
And their temple was Liberty Tree.

Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old,
Their bread in contentment they ate
Unvexed with the troubles of silver and gold,
The cares of the grand and the great.

With timber and tar they Old England supplied,
And supported her power on the sea;
Her battles they fought, without getting a groat,
For the honor of Liberty Tree.

But hear, O ye swains, 'tis a tale most profane,
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain,
To cut down this guardian of ours;

From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms,
Through the land let the sound of it flee,
Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer,
In defense of our Liberty Tree.

THE  INDEPENDENT  spirit of the American people was first symbolized by the Liberty Tree. It is my hope that on this and subsequent July 4th celebrations, the symbolic spirit of this tree serves as a touchstone for America's common link to all the people of the world as well as our original colonists from wide and far. Trees play an important role in creating and purifying the air that all the people of the world breathe freely, not independently. And they create it by the simple process of living in harmony with nature. 

STARS AND STRIPES | (Top) My interpretation of the holiday serves as a tree centerpiece and is a bright reference to the original 13 American colonies. To represent each colony, I decorated a painted tree branch supported in a striped glass vase with 13 glittered wooden stars. I trimmed each star's edges with complementing ribbon and a paper star in the middle. See details below on how this was done. And since this is the United States' 234th birthday, we must eat cake. I've simply added little flag toothpicks stuck through a single blueberry to store-bought cupcakes. The table top is trimmed with a ribbon garland from the 2007 Martha Stewart Crafts line. 

FLYING FREE | (Above, right) The American Liberty Tree Revolutionary Flag, circa 1775. 

LANTERNS OF LIBERTY | (Above, 2nd and 3rd photos from top) This Liberty Tree, hung with 13 lanterns representing the original American Colonies is a dominant feature of Liberty Square in Walt Disney World, Florida. When I first went there as a child with my parents, it made a big impression on me. The lanterns are wired and lit at dusk. This particular tree is not an Elm, but rather a Southern Live Oak that was transplanted. Both photos by ladystardust722.

LIBERTY TREE MONUMENT | (Middle, right) Liberty trees have been popular all over the world. This sculpture in Carlow, Ireland was designed by John Bethan to honor those who were massacred in the Battle of Carlow, who fought and died in the cause of religious and civil freedom (marking the Bicentenary of the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland). The sculpture features a number of macabre skeletons arranged around an abstract tree shape. It is made of bronze and set on a circular base with a fountain.

TORY ROYAL OAK | (Bottom, right) Toryism is interestingly enough symbolized by this Royal Oak insignia. Toryism is a traditionalist political philosophy. It is one of the prominent political parties in Great Britain, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada. Historically it also had exponents in former parts of the British Empire.
 

STAR MAKING | (Left) I bought these glittered wooden stars in the dollar bin at Target, Then I glued contrasting ribbons around their wide edges with a hot glue gun. To finish I added a punched paper star to the middle of each punched from metallic cardstock paper, then tied all 13 of them to the tree ("radiant star" craft punch from Martha Stewart Crafts).

©2010 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Photography and styling by Darryl Moland

the year of the tiger | 恭禧發財

HAPPY NEW YEAR! The traditional Chinese phrase: 恭禧發財 (also superimposed in photo of the decorated tree above) is the broad-brushed symbol for this sentiment. The Lunar New Year is regarded as the most important cultural holiday among Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian nations. This year is the Year of the Tiger, which symbolizes strength. Personally, it is the to honor Luci, my beautiful Calico cat, who is a tiger in her own right. She has shown the strength to stay with me much longer than she should giving me 16 "Luci years" (all with her certain prosperity of luck, strength and beauty). I'm glad she's still with me now, but the new year will show me the strength to let her go to run with the gods.

THE NEW MOON changes are tracked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar (which consists of both Gregorian and lunar-solar calendar systems). The Chinese New Year celebration can begin anytime between late January and mid-February. This year, the 14th of February (Valentine's day) kicked off the beginning of the lunar calendar or Lunar New Year. This new beginning is the culmination of 15 days of spring festivals celebrating the event in China.

THE TREE I designed to celebrate the Year of the Tiger is inspired by the many rich traditions of the holiday. I wanted it to be a simple and elegant representation of only a few of the many and varied elements of this richly symbolic holiday. Using only mercury glass lantern ornaments in a sophisticated pallet of reds, golds and greens (from this past holiday season's Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's) hung from red cotton cords on simple natural branch forced into flower, I'm representing a time of renewal, rebirth and a precious celebration of life (honoring Luci along with the Lunar New Year).

HONG BAO NA LAI (紅包拿來) literally means "may I have the red envelope, please." Red is considered the luckiest color in China. During Chinese New Year, elders give lucky money in red envelope packets to the young people close to them, thus "hong bao" is essentially a cash gift. It is an important part of the New Year celebration. The ones you see in the photo at left have a large traditional Chinese symbol 發 (fa) with means literally "to emit," or rather "to send." It all depends on what other characters precede or follow it to complete the meaning of the expression. This one letterform symbol has more direct meaning when combined with others, but can imply so much standing alone. For instance, one can also think of it as  “to have plenty," 發財 (or "fa xai") can be translated as such.

WELL WISHES for good luck, happiness and prosperity  are the main sentiments embodied by the Chinese New Year traditions. But they are not the only ones. The celebrations are also centered around reconciliation and forgetting grudges. A clean sweep, if you will. This new year interpretation of a decorated tree is my way of relating this and more to all of the people (and little tigers) that bring the light of many multi-colored lanterns into my life. They give me the strength to recognize life's worth as clearly and as strongly as possible, seeing through the fog of uncertainty.

LANTERN FESTIVITY | (Top and middle) This "forced" tree branch is made quite elegant with the addition of mercury glass lantern ornaments from the Martha Stewart Collection 2009 at Macy's. The traditional paper lanterns used on the fifteenth day of the Chinese New Year for the Lantern Festival, are bright, colorful, and in many different shapes and sizes. The container holding the branch is an antique stoneware vase from a friend's private collection. The green spider mum symbolizing longevity (within a glass globe from Bungalow I bought a few years back, above, left) and in a vase by Victoria Hagen for Target (top), kumquats and oranges symbolizing prosperity and red envelopes (a custom explained above) are all a part of the varied traditions surrounding the holiday.

YEAR OF LUCI | This portrait of Luci (Above) was lovingly painted and given to me by Odette Colón, my dear friend (and talented co-worker) this past Christmas. When I received this incredible gift from the heart, I shed big blubbering tears of joy and grief at the same time. Looking at it prepares me for the inevitable loss of a life, and it will give me the strength to carry on after Luci is gone. I like to think all the good energy put into this painting has translated to her living longer than expected. Even so, I'm glad to have her already immortalized for the prosperity of life to continue. Already in addition to my Bengal Abella, I've added a lovable tuxedo cat that found me much like Luci did 16 years ago, coming into my life suddenly and without without warning. I think Luci somehow called for the new little one to help me in this transition. That's how magical Luci's existence has always been. And at the risk of coming off as a complete cornball, this last line of the song "Memory" from the musical "Cats" is more resonant than ever before: Look. A new day has begun.

©2010 DARRYL MOLAND | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, collecting and styling by Darryl Moland, tree photographed by Harold Daniels Studio / assisted by Shawn May