{"id":7044,"date":"2014-06-20T10:32:11","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T14:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gadflyonline.com\/home\/?p=7044"},"modified":"2014-07-22T12:06:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T16:06:16","slug":"reflections-on-mandela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/reflections-on-mandela\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Mandela"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Copyright<\/a>
Copyright Opal Morning Star. All rights reserved.\u00a0This material may not be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed without the express prior written permission of the copyright holder.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I am a magazine junkie.\u00a0 Love the things and find it hard to part with a lot of them.\u00a0 One day, it reached a point where I felt I was swimming in magazines and I needed to sort through them and part with some.\u00a0 I took up the task flipping through pages to decide which ones I could part with.\u00a0 I came upon a picture of Nelson Mandela gazing out of his cell.\u00a0 He had a wonderful peaceful look on his face.\u00a0 The article went on to tell how Mandela taught prisoners forgiveness.\u00a0 I was so moved.\u00a0 As a sculptor, I thought of doing a relief and putting it on my wall.\u00a0 I put the magazine away.<\/p>\n

A few days later, a call for entry came in the mail from an art gallery asking artists to create a 3-D sculpture focused on identity.\u00a0 The intent was to create something autobiographical that would engage the viewer emotionally.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I took this as a synchronicity.\u00a0 That was it I had to sculpt Mandela!\u00a0 By his very presence, he speaks volumes about his beliefs.\u00a0\u00a0 He automatically stimulates thoughts, and emotions about freedom, justice\/ injustice.\u00a0\u00a0 Instead of having him behind bars, I wanted to see him standing in front of the jail in a nice suit as opposed to prison garb.\u00a0 He would be looking at the viewer thoughtfully with one hand under his chin and the other extended holding a golden key.\u00a0 His statement to the viewer would be, \u201cYes, you can make a difference.\u201d\u00a0 My idea was that he would be challenging the viewer to look at what he\/she perceives in the world, believe in oneself and try to make a difference.<\/p>\n

I tried the idea out on a few folks and found that they thought it would make a powerful statement.\u00a0 Someone told me the sculpture would even inspire prisoners who might otherwise feel hopeless. \u00a0\u00a0Years back as a clinical psychologist, I worked for the Municipal Court, Psychiatric Institute in Chicago.\u00a0 My job there was to evaluate people who had been arrested.\u00a0 I often went to the House of Correction.\u00a0 Yes, prisoners need something or someone to inspire them.<\/p>\n

I set about finding pictures of Mandela at different times in his life and started figuring out proportions. \u00a0\u00a0I built the armature, and modeled a clay figure.\u00a0\u00a0 I am a real do it yourselfer; so I tried to make the mold. \u00a0\u00a0I laid on the silicone rubber and made a freeform support shell.\u00a0 \u00a0I was convinced I had it all together.\u00a0 I dismantled the sculpture and put away the clay.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I attempted to make a wax cast only to discover, I had screwed up.\u00a0\u00a0 There was no way my mold would work.\u00a0 Oy Vay!\u00a0 I failed in the mission. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I went to the foundry to figure out what I had done wrong.\u00a0 They set me straight by advising that I could make separate molds of the arms. \u00a0\u00a0Instead of one solid piece, I needed to make three molds.\u00a0 The foundry would pour the metal using the lost wax method.\u00a0 \u00a0I had to start all over again.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t make the call for entry, but I ended up with a piece that I feel positive about.<\/p>\n

Sometime later, a friend told me Mandela was in poor health and was in and out of the hospital.\u00a0 \u00a0At the time of the sculpture, I had no idea about the state of Mandela\u2019s health.\u00a0 I searched the web and learned he was 94 years of age and not doing very well.\u00a0 Later, I read some articles about the insensitivity of the media and the ANC during the time of his crisis.\u00a0 Given his age, the tenuousness of his health, and knowing none of us live forever on this planet, I was stumped.\u00a0 Now, what to do?\u00a0 I certainly did not want to be disrespectful, insensitive etc. \u00a0\u00a0I was not trying to cash in on his demise.\u00a0 \u00a0Instead, I would like to submit this concept to the public for feedback and possible endorsement as a bronze public art piece life size or larger. \u00a0\u00a0He is an inspiration to all of us.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

My name is Opal Cavitt Morning Star.\u00a0 By training I am a clinical psychologist (Master of Science, New Mexico Highlands University).\u00a0 I spent about 20 years working in various assignments primarily as a clinical administrator dealing with different populations.\u00a0 (Epileptic, schizophrenic, maximum security, adult developmentally disabled).\u00a0 A career in the psychiatric arena takes a lot out of you.\u00a0 On television, I was seeing various psychologists on talk shows discussing their books.\u00a0 My thought was they didn\u2019t have any more to say than I did.\u00a0 I wanted to write.\u00a0\u00a0 It happened that I ended up going to a social change workshop in 1969.\u00a0 At that event, there happened to be a white South African man; our brief association there created quite a stir.\u00a0 I am Heinz 57; I was clearly advised I shouldn\u2019t be talking to this man.\u00a0 My experience there later inspired me to write an intense social change drama.\u00a0 It was so 1960s and I would like to write a new social change drama taking in the dynamics of today.<\/p>\n

Family illness brought me to rural Colorado where I learned about Flight For Life and helicopter medevac.\u00a0 A horse had thrown a woman in the mountains and very possibly broke a rib.\u00a0 A horseman rode furiously to the resort where I was to summon help.\u00a0 It was feared it would be too dangerous to try to bring this person down the mountain and risk puncturing a lung.\u00a0 I was so intrigued by this event, that I later approached Flight For Life and asked them if I could have permission to write a book about them.\u00a0 They agreed and the result was:\u00a0 Flight For Life,\u00a0 A Matter of Life and Death\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/whyhelicoptermedevac.com<\/a>\u00a0 Within the next year,\u00a0 I will have another helicopter medevac book that brings in issues of the current controversy about the rash of helicopter accidents that have claimed lives of patients, pilots and nurses.\u00a0 I have done a lot of research on human regeneration and contacted Robert O. Becker who has pioneered to be able to regrow human limbs.\u00a0 He offered to help me with the science; I will have a fictional novel about this very real possibility.<\/p>\n

I guess I am a restless creative.\u00a0 Later, I saw a sign in a window:\u00a0 La Scuola Classical Sculpture School.\u00a0 I went right in there and did a couple of week end workshops and discovered I had a natural gift to sculpt.\u00a0 Tragically, the master sculptor, Jefferson Rubin who started the school lost his life in an unfortunate accident.\u00a0 A documentary is being made about Rubin; you can find him on YouTube.\u00a0 At a loss as to what to do, I started experimenting with African tribal art.<\/p>\n

Seeing Nelson Mandela gazing out his cell window mentally and emotionally took me back to the late 1960s and my interest in social change.\u00a0 Presently, I am doing a lot of research to create a venue\u00a0 \u00a0to help Native Americans gain economic access to the greater society while preserving their culture.\u00a0 Presently, their unemployment rate is 30%.\u00a0 I am so moved by social justice \/ injustice issues.\u00a0 I want to use my life to make a difference.\u00a0 Later when I have made significant headway, with this effort, I will share my thoughts.\u00a0 Thus far, the Commission on Indian Affairs, is supportive and wants to help find funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reflections of a sculptor.<\/p>\n

I am a magazine junkie. Love the things and find it hard to part with a lot of them. One day, it reached a point where I felt I was swimming in magazines and I needed to sort through them and part with some. I took up the task flipping through pages to decide which ones I could part with. I came upon a picture of Nelson Mandela gazing out of his cell. He had a wonderful peaceful look on his face. The article went on to tell how Mandela taught prisoners forgiveness. I was so moved. As a sculptor, I thought of doing a relief and putting it on my wall. I put the magazine away. <\/p>\n

A few days later, a call for entry came in the mail from an art gallery asking artists to create a 3-D sculpture focused on identity. The intent was to create something autobiographical that would engage the viewer emotionally.<\/p>\n

READ MORE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":7232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,214,217,212],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7044"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7241,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7044\/revisions\/7241"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gadflyonline.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}