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FROM ANTLERS TO HOOVES, A CREATIVE BLOG

What Creativity Means To Me....

READ A POEM

The Mooseville Do-Si-Do

3/28/2019

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Writing a song isn't easy. Performing it in front of a crowd is even harder, especially without assistance from friends like Jack Daniels and Jose Cuervo (#ThirstyThursday), but this week, I challenged club members to do both. The result was, hooves down, one of the best meetings we’ve ever had.
 
Voices cracked. Hands shook. Sweat broke out. Wah-wahs descended. Stomach’s fluttered, even among the ones who fancy themselves musically-inclined. Yet, everyone rose to the challenge and delivered a spectacular performance.
 
As President of MU Creative Club, I’m responsible for pushing members past their comfort zone so they can grow and find deeper fulfillment in their creative work. Some hate me now. I’ve been rutted in their minds as an evil leader set on wiping out their world.

Truth be told, I do want to wipe out their world. Mmwwaahh!
 
I want to kick down the fences that trap them in their pen so they can roam and feast in other pastures. The grass there isn’t greener, it just tastes different.
 
Fear keeps us chained to our pen, even when the gate’s been left open, because we are too afraid of the unfamiliar. We’ll make firm statements like, “That grass over there looks different. I won't like it,” or “why would I walk over to that pasture when the view right here is just fine?”.
 
If you want to grow, you have to let some slack out in your safety net and expand your comfort zone. The only way to do that is to try things that challenge you. Don’t cheat yourself, at least not metaphorically and creatively, by playing it safe. I’m not suggesting you do something like eat Tide pods. That’s dumb and physically dangerous. Don’t rush out and dodge trains or do Crack because you’ve always been too afraid to but now Mort said it was okay.
 
I’m talking about positive challenges. Snag the mic at an open poetry reading. Join in at the company karaoke night. Try something on the menu you've never ordered. Watch a movie in another language or listen to music from another country. Apply for a promotion you’re not qualified for or a new job in a different field. Hell, take a new route to work one day.
 
Push the boundaries of your comfort zone. Do this, and you’ll find that your pasture will be humongous yet as cozy and quaint as a cottage you've lived your whole life in.

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The Amazon Collection

2/26/2019

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When designing my own t-shirt, right out of the gate, there’s a hurdle.

HURDLE #1: I’m a writer not a designer. I eek out Monets because the world is a visual place. We talk with pictures, graphics, signs, and gestures, but only in the privacy of a website I create for fun do I dare don a designer’s hat.
 
I’m not afraid of hurdles. Used to run Track at Mooseville High. Besides, no one besides you will see these, so I nip that first hurdle and set out to do some sketches. After all, designers do sketches of some sort before starting. Don’t they?

HURDLE #2: After 15 minutes with my pencil frozen half an inch above the journal thinking of all the potential t-shirts I can create, I decided to give myself parameters to help make concepting more productive.

I chose the Mayor’s book, Becoming a Warrior, as a theme because it’s chock-full of potential for unique tee ideas. MORT'S REVIEW: If you haven’t read this book, you should. Good stuff. I give it two hooves up.

I GOT MY STRUGGLES

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HURDLE #3: My hoofnails did not come out like I had envisioned. I’m such a writer. The evidence is rutted on the page. And what with that bird? I basically went under this hurdle rather than over, which would technically disqualify me in the race.

C.A.W. is a group of young citizen vigilantes who are training to fight like Warriors. The acronym stands for Citizens Acting (as) Warriors. In times of war, by queen's law, all citizens are taken across the Great Ravine to the Reserve, but this group wants to help protect Themiscia on the battlefield.

HURDLE #4: THE FONT

Too many fonts, too little time. I slapped more parameters on the project and stuck with the fonts the author used in the book’s cover and innards design. Another hurdle, cleared.
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HURDLE #5: THE BIRD

Since my drawing skills are abysmal, I had to turn to others for the bird, which meant a Google search. This hurdle was higher than I had anticipated because once on the Google, I got the wah-wahs. This world from the novel does not exist (or does it), so the choice couldn’t be too familiar. On the twelfth page, on the fifth key word search, I finally threw in the towel.


So many problems with the first bird. One, it looks like birds that perch on my antlers and hind, or at least the way I imagine them to look. The assholes fly off when I swivel to see who’s there.

Another problem with Option 1, the beak wasn’t big enough to fit the “C.” I had to warp the perspective, thus making it look a bit like a seagull that had a fish stuck its throat. Oh well.
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This bird is more in tone with the novel. It has a mythical, magical, or prehistoric feel, like it comes from another world. Plus, I didn't have to alter the beak to fit the lettering. Score.

MOOSE MUNCH MOMENT: Sometimes patient and persistence in the scouring for images phase really does pay off.
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HURDLE #6: FONTS AGAIN
 
The first choice, Atari Bold Grunge, is too boxy, too formal for their primitive world, but Native Land was a bit harder to read. Based on name alone, I chose Native Land. After all, this book is Avatar meets Gladiator meets Harry Potter meets Swiss Family Robinson.

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Slivers were the original surfboard. Citizens and Warriors alike love water sports. It's part of their naval defense, and fishing provides a large portion of their food source.

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There are several businesses in Themiscia. Scented Goddess, Savage Huntress, Second Hands, Terra's Tea House, Madame Shaw's, the island is covered in entrepreneurship. According to Amaria (the main character), Night Run Slivers make the best watercraft, second only to those made for the queen's army.
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Yikes, what shitty Photoshop work! This is too ragged around the edges. Talk about a rough comp. But, the idea comes through whether on a white or black tee.

HURDLE #7: TIME

I've run out of time. The deadline I set for myself is here. I'll return to this project next week. I've made a solemn vow because, of all things I got out of this exercise, the best reward has been bringing what's been written on paper to life. All in Her name.

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Leap of Faith

2/13/2019

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Life is full of opportunities to leap. New jobs, projects, relationships, and chances for financial gain are always on the horizon, but sometimes I get stuck on a ledge.
 
I know I can keep climbing, but it’s comfortable here. The boundaries, terrain, and threats lurking in the area have been identified and are mostly contained. As plush as this plateau is, I can’t grow as a writer, creative, teacher, or person if I don’t keep climbing.
 
That overhang on the adjacent mountain dangles out of reach, taunting me, haunting me, scaring me, cementing me to the ground. What if I miss? What if I plummet into the Great Ravine? The fear of not knowing quickens my breath. I gasp and suck in the anesthetic. It’s potent, so I quickly drift off to sleep.
 
Waking up groggy, I'm still on the ledge, still questioning, still afraid of trying. Shake it off. Muster the moxie. What if, be damned. Today, I shall leap.
Inspired by:
MAM LETTER ART EXHIBIT 2019
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What Creativity Means To Me

1/21/2019

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A doodle interpretation to express what creativity means to me.
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My limited doodling skills probably don't communicate a cohesive message, but the doodle inspired a poem.
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Ode to Creativity
Creating for creation
Making a connection
Having valuation
In education or recreation
Elevation or alleviation
A priest to confess fear, anger, and stresses
A solvent to eradicate the messes
Red light to no; green light to yeses
 
In a box, it picks the locks
Busts out like a fox
Oohs, awes, wows and shocks
A beast with heightened senses
A master of self-defenses
Slips through all the fences
In past, present, and future tenses
 
Lickety-split, moves real quick
Takes no shortcuts; uses a few tricks
Watch the clock, and listen to its ticks
Mind the ground; it’s bound to be slick
Stop, stall, stumble, slump, slide, slip
Drop the top and gawk on your road trip
 
Can’t get to good without driving thru shit
Find lots of misses digging for a hit
Ignites a spark in flooded fire pits
Tired of keeping this kindling lit
About to pull over and call it quits
 
Press on; toil on
Gamble, ramble, and Calgon
Keep the pros; Chuck Norris bad stuff
Because life is tough, can I get a Sho’nuff?
 
For this go-round, you only get one shot
Eminem said that, be it truth or not
Creativity is all we got

This doodle by #MUCreativeClub member, Reagan Adams reminds me that creativity allows us to boldly go where no one has gone before, but that there is no easy way from the earth to the stars.
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BoredPanda's doodle reminds me that there's always a more creative idea out there, and it's important to stay humble, inspired, and to only compete with myself. Rid yourself of kiasu.
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Got a poem, doodle, meme, gif or giraffe to explain what creativity means to you? I'd love to see, read, or ask it a few questions. Drop me a line, if you're feeling kind.

Until next time...keep on creatin' on.
- Mort

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    The Bull's Bio

    A creative vigilante for nearly 50 years and a graduate of MU Creative College, Mort Moose holds a phD in Epic Fails and is MUCC certified in If At First You Don't Succeed Try Try Again.

    Mort's Doodle Bar is a journal to encourage creative accountability and is a space to showcase the fruits of that labor.


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