Analysis Of California's Wild Edge By Tom Killion

Art has been an outlet for people worldwide to express their views on political issues, to depict social revolutions, and to display picturesque landscapes. While there are many art museums across the nationwide, perhaps one of the most renowned museums in California is the San Diego Museum of Art, located in the heart of Balboa Park. Last weekend, I visited San Diego Museum of Art, in hopes of broadening my knowledge of artworks from around the world, particularly those of Asian influence, as my family has some Asian lineage. I found the collection, Brush and Ink: Chinese Paintings from San Diego Museum of Art Selected By Pan Gongkai, most informative in my search, as it displayed the traditional painting techniques from fifteenth century China to today (The San Diego Museum of Art, 2016).

The Central Valley of California, United States, is a notable structural depression which covers around 32,187km2 (Figure 1), and is bounded by the Cascade Range in the north, the Sierra Nevada in the east, the Tehachapi Mountains to the South, and the Coast Ranges and San Francisco Bay to the west (Planert 1995).

The California Gold Rush was not as good as people thought. It was very rough on people's bodies. Being there in the mines hurt their health. Some people even died. Some challenges in the California Gold Rush individuals face were giving up many things at home, rough traveling, and issues while in California.

The California Gold Rush almost did not happen. In his 1848 report to the adjutant-general at Washington, DC, Col. Richard Barnes Mason wrote a worker was checking the strong flow of water in a stream near a saw mill he was building. James Marshall noticed a few glittering particles in the mud that had accumulated. He collected and examined a few of them and, satisfied with their value, brought them to Captain John Sutter, owner of the land where the saw mill was to be built. They agreed to keep their discovery secret for a while but word soon spread and quickly hundreds and then thousands of miners flooded to the mines seeking instant wealth. Only three months after the discovery, it was estimated about four thousand workers were employed mining gold in the region (personal communication, August 17, 1848).

The future of California is pretty good, for the state is projected to see growth in almost every sector of the economy as well as the population, but there are many concerns that must be addressed first in order to see California’s growth come to fruition. International trade and business is one of California’s largest industries and it’s expected to continue increasing, for many emerging economies are also located off of the Pacific Ocean. Growth in the economy is good, but requires resources that California has a limited supply of. The main resource California always needs is water, since most of the state’s population resides in the southern regions, which are arid and receive minimal precipitation annually. The state is planning on improving efficiency and the aqueduct system to increase the water supply while decrease the environmental effects California’s aqueduct’s have on regions like the San Joaquin River Delta. For many years California has been considered a very liberal and left state, which is due to the fact that the state has the toughest environmental legislation in the country. With such strong legislation ensuring the protection of the environment California has become a model state in the fight against climate change, and must remain vigilant for there are numerous species endemic to the state that are found nowhere else on the planet. Though there are numerous other factors’ affecting California’s future these are some of the most interesting areas to

There are many historical sites today in California that share many similarities and differences to the book “Major Problems in California History” in the way of how both present the historical information they provide. One historical site in California that draws my attention and I found interesting was Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park. Sutter’s Fort was built in 1839 by a Swiss immigrant named John Sutter, who created the land into a flourishing agricultural empire, and a destination for early immigrants to California. However, Sutter’s Fort was abandoned less than a decade after it was established, as the discovery of gold on the land caused it to be overrun by gold seekers. The historical site Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park has been

As the world responds to climate change, one of the greatest personal challenges is an intellectual one. Where ought one to direct the limited amount of time and energy one has to most effectively engage the challenge of climate change? This question begins with how one gathers and processes information. There are so many particulars to understand and so many locations that demand attention. Where should one begin?

While the Midwest may be “the breadbasket of the United States,” the Central Valley of California is the entire rest of the Thanksgiving meal on the table for the country. With its fertile soil, Mediterranean climate, and expansive flat land, the Central Valley produces more than 250 different crops that produce more than $20 billion annually, meaning it provides over half the produce grown in the United States. Recent droughts, recession, and growing urbanization in California have changed the conversation around farming practices and the large role family farms still play in the state. Popular opinions circulating the urban areas were calling into question the sacrifices farms were making throughout the drought, believing they got a

The Great Valley is a large alluvial plain approximately 50 miles wide and 400 miles long. The

Captain was also captured and executed. The significant of the war is that their conflict was taken by John Forster to the American court against Pio Pico, the last Mexican Governor and leader of the forces in California, Pico lost claim to the land of Santa Margarita Rancho and given the interest to Forster. The war was over, but the entanglement and court battles of the US against the Californios and Indians continue, some lost their lands while some are waiting patiently for their claims (Sandos, 2000, p. 86-90).

by 90 in, or approximately 5 ½ ft. high by 7 ½ ft. wide. The artwork is imposing and takes up much of the wall, necessitating that the viewer stand in multiple places to view the panting from multiple angles. The painting is in a relatively thin frame, with no glass. The media is oil and acrylic on canvas. The lighting in this gallery space is dim, and the painting is illuminated with two dim spot lights, in such a way that middle of the painting is illuminated more so than the sides. The subject matter of the painting is a view of the San Francisco bay, with San Quentin State Prison visible on the opposite side of the bay. The prison composes the background and is placed in the center right of the painting, the water in the bay and a small sailboat compose the middle ground, and the coastline composes the foreground and is placed on the left side of the painting. The prison is very small in scale compared to the coastline, to create the illusion of distance between the two, and the viewer’s perspective is that of standing on the coastline opposite the prison. The prison and the sailboat are the only two man-made objects in the painting. The coastline depicted is a small and rounded beach. Large tan and brown boulders with sage green and brown plant-life growing on them are placed on the opposite side of the small beach from the viewer’s perspective, and partially obstruct the view of

The Mojave Desert a place of wildfires, non native plants, and native plants, a natural habitat for many living organisms, that feed and protect. The Mojave Desert is located in parts of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. Recurring wildfires are damaging the native plants which are then replaced with dangerous, non-native plant species that become uncontrolled. Air pollution and invasive species in the desert makes it hard for organisms found in the surrounding area to survive, with increasing numbers of wildfires and non native plants killing them.

In Iris H. W. Engstrand article, “Perception and Perfection: Picturing the Spanish and Mexican Coastal West,” I initially did not know what to expect of the article. I figured Engstrand would discuss multiple views and perspectives when moving to the Spanish and Mexican Coastal front. I found the thesis, after reading through the article as it was not outrightly stated, to be: “Artists and illustrators depicted the past -- or the observable present -- in pictorial documents that became the records of current events, journalism, of reportage, and of scientific exploration, discovery, and adventure.” I believe Engstrand’s purpose is to reveal to her readers the predominant primary sources of the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth century and how the art could be manipulated to please specific cultures or people.

Across the Great State of California, we have begun to see a revolution in a way many have not seen in quite some time. No, I'm not referring to some great political or religious revolution. No, what I’m talking about is an agricultural revolution that concentrates of not only bringing back true fresh produce, but also educating the youth of the state about agriculture as well. You may ask yourself, who is in fact leading this revolution?

Individuals are pushed to reach for their ambitions and dreams, and Zammit tried to capture this concept. His quest to understand what “what was going on up there in the sky and down here on [his] palette,” really demonstrates this idea that we often get caught up in the commotion that transpires around us (Zammitt). Because of this, we sometimes forget the more important parts of life and tend to miss out on the beauty around us. In some ways, this painting gives the same sentiment as the image of our course reader of the sunset behind the Hollywood sign. It’s undeniable that Hollywood is one of the centers for news and gossip in California. But in the midst of all of this, we tend to forget the natural beauty and peacefulness that California has. Zammitt’s creation mirrors the same theme, and he strived to showcase what people in this state sometimes miss out on because they are so captured by what is happening around them. In my opinion, I feel Zammitt wants us always to remember that sometimes we need to take a step back and admire the simple things in life such as a sunset. California is a destination for opposing thoughts, innovation, and new ideologies. But, California is also a location where you can find beauty