Erin ♥ Enamel

for rebecca's assignment we are to pick three traditions, processes, memories, symbols or objects that intrigue us:

the three cultures i am interested in are moroccan, irish celtic (my heritage), and native american. i have felt very connected to morocco since i visited in 2005 on a trip with my boyfriend and his family. we stayed for only 5 days but in that time i was exposed to a completely new culture and part of the world. the colors were amazing, the landscape is completely new, and their arts are something that i have never been able to get out of my mind. their pottery and jewelry are great but what i am really fascinated by are their mosaics. the first memory that was made was when we stepped into the hotel and the inside was completely covered in mosaic tiles in beautiful vivid colors creating beautiful geometric patterns. i want to explore the idea of mosaic and the colors that are important to their culture as well as the designs that are made with it.

both of my parents are of irish descent and i also have been to ireland so again i feel totally connected to it and everything irish. my name, erin, means ireland in gaelic, and my middle name kathleen is irish, and my last name scully is derived from o’scolaidhe which means “son of the scholar”. my grandparents were somewhat religious, but my father’s side of the family is the one that is 100% irish and my grandmother has taken my father to ireland a handfull of times over his life. my father and some of his siblings are very interested in our lineage and have been researching and can date our family tree back to the 1700s. st. patrick was the patron saint of ireland and when the english took over ireland, the irish would wear a shamrock or “seamroy” on their shirts as a symbol of pride of their nationality. when catholicism came to ireland the three leafed shamrock became a symbol of the holy trinity as well. also the celtic knot, the triquetra, was the symbol of the three forces of nature or the three earthly domains. earth, air, water; earth, sky, sea.

my third interest is in native american cultures the ceremonial acts that occur. the narragansett indians of rhode island have a tradition of carving wampum beads and tokens out of the quahog shell that is native to the east coast waters. the opalescent whites and range of purples that are on the inside of the shells were something they prized back before the settlers as well as today. also the eagle is the most sacred animal to the narragansetts and the eagle feather as well. when an eagle feather is given to someone it is a truly high honor, and is watched over, kept safe, and used in powows.