Some Forms of My Creative Expression

Rescued Great Dane, 100 lb. Black Lab/Shepherd-X 
& My 6' Tall Grandson (Vet Tech.) 
©2010 PK Hawk

I really do have a creative side. I love writing, as well as photography, and when there is time and money for it, I also like to paint, and create things out of clay.

Once, about forty-five years ago, I was just working with a small pile of clay. I really had no idea what I wanted to do with it, so I let it tell me what to do. It ended up being a ballerina in a action pose with a long flowing dress. I never did have it fired, and eventually it got broken. One day, I think I will probably try to make one similar again,' one day.' I also have painted several small nature scenes, some on paper, and others on wooden plaques such as you might buy at "Walmart" or at "Michaels." I have to use either water or acrylics, as I am allergic to petroleum distillates in oil paints.

Palms at Midnight
©2010 PK Hawk

Once, and this was before I really knew I could paint a decent picture, my oldest daughter came home from school with a project she had for school. They were supposed to paint something about ecology, and the natural world around us. Parents were encouraged to get involved, and yes, even to help with the painting, as well.

After some discussion, we decided to create a picture from the scriptures, Isaiah 11:6-9 specifically. You know it, the scene that has the wolf and the lamb, and a lion and lamb sort of scene. We decided it needed to be a large piece, so rather than chance ruining a large canvas, we went to our butcher, and asked for some butcher paper large enough to paint a easily seen scene that could be hung up at school for the class to see from their seats.

We created a lake being fed by a stream, with plenty of pasture all around, and mountains in the distance. There were herds of sheep, and several horses, and a few elephants, all peacefully coexisting. There, together with the sheep and antelope, were several lions peacefully enjoying the sun and water along with all the other creatures. It was actually another thing my daughter and I created together, which we kept for many years, that is until it eventually became lost in a move, when it was torn too badly to try repairing.

From Under the Overhang
©2010 PK Hawk

I love photography, as you may also know, since I do use some of my own photos online, when they fit the article I have written.

I love singing, though I can no longer sing as I once did before my second neck surgery wiped out my lyric soprano voice.

I guess there are really many ways I like to express my creative side, though it was only within the past twenty or so years that I really discovered I actually have a creative side. If no one else likes the things I create, I still do, and I also enjoy painting small scenes of mountain cabins nestled among large trees, with a few flowers scattered around. I also like to create scenes of the desert, with dry gulches, and wagon trains, and people trudging along, as when the settlers were traveling across the plains westward. I like to make small plaques with little adobe huts like ones I have actually seen deep in the deserts of Old Mexico when I was about ten years old. We lived in El Paso, Texas at the time, and my father liked going over the border into Cuidad Juarez from time to time to buy gallon cans of jalapenos and serano peppers. We often would just go for a drive into the deeper parts of the surrounding desert. It was then that I saw many scattered adobe houses, with probably only one or two rooms, where poorer families lived, just sitting out in the middle of nowhere. There would occasionally be a small corral with a couple of horses, and may be a goat tied out, which I assumed was for milk.

Freeway Tieup
©2010 PK Hawk

Sometimes, I could even see a skinny dog, either lying in the shade of the little house or just wandering as if it might be looking for something it could catch for a bite of food, such as a lizard or even a tarantula, which many people actually do eat.

Sometimes, it's a good thing to contemplate one's creative side, as it can actually encompass much more than one might actually realize. Mental meandering can and often does open up entirely new ideas and opportunities to express one's creativity.

Sleeping Furby
©2010 PK Hawk