Totem Mask

Working with my hands, in this case, creating art from clay, "mud," helps me focus on the "here and now," while gaining satisfaction through the act of creation.

I've enjoyed the hands-on experience of ceramics at my local City College "Lifelong Learning" enrichment classes.

For my project in a class challenge assignment, and as a result of my attraction to American Indian spirituality, I created this "mask," modeled after designs of those of Northwest American Indians.

Fashioned from a medium bodied clay (containing a moderate amount of sand), this mask was bisque fired, then highlighted with enamel paint.

Bottom line: we all possess a unique ability to express ourselves.

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* This post updated from its original which appeared on Primate's Big Adventures.

Photo Credit: Connard Hogan

Moon Squared

I've found the creative act of drawing to be soothing, as well as rewarding. I don't expect to rival Van Gogh, though I do find satisfaction from expressing myself in this way.

A few years ago, when examining an aerial photo of an abandoned Indian village along a dry river bank (Anasazi, perhaps), the remaining building walls formed a grouping of rough squares, and an idea emerged.

What if all we could see were the walls from above? Since that time I've created a number of drawings using that theme.

This moon drawing is eighth in the "Moon Squared" series. If you've not seen one of my "squared" drawings before, look for the pun!

Hint: I have an engineering bent.

Bottom line: You possess the ability to create, too. (We humans are hard-wired that way.)

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* This post updated from its original which appeared on Primate's Big Adventures.

Photo Credit: Connard Hogan

Kokopelli Squared

One day some years ago, I examined an aerial photo of ruins of an Indian village along a dried river bed, I think perhaps an Anasazi village in New Mexico. The village clung to the long arch of a river bank. The buildings clustered together, and with their roofs long gone, the remaining walls formed rough squares.

Intrigued, the image of the village ruins stuck with me, until some time later an idea emerged, could I recreate an aerial view of that village? And thus sprang my "squared" drawings.

I enjoy drawing, though don't do enough of it. Drawing provides me another avenue of creative expression, relaxes me and offers immediate satisfaction.

My "squared" drawings fuse a number of interests. I've always had an inquisitive mind, studied science, mathematics and drafting in high school, then engineering in college.

Look closely to see the pun! The superscript refers to the mathematical term "squared." The subscript identifies this piece as second in my Kokopelli series.

I believe everyone possesses the creativity and innate abilities to express themselves, though in various ways and levels of skill, if only we don't limit ourselves by our own thinking.

You can start by listening to your dreams or noticing your random thoughts through the day, then, get out of your own way. Avoid pressuring yourself with high expectations and counter your negative thinking, such as "I can't do. . . ." Start small, keep it simple and allow the process to guide you. Do it for yourself, because YOU want. Remember, practice improves you skill.

Bottom line: Just do it.

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Photo Credit: Connard Hogan