Published on Psychology Today (http://www.psychologytoday.com)
Home > Everyday Creativity
Everyday Creativity
By caralynn
Created Oct 22 2009 - 1:06pm
The tattoo artists throughout Russia's prison system have never had lessons in painting technique (nor,
apparently, hygiene training). They don't have ink and tools at their disposal. And yet they create entire
murals on one another's chests and backs: onion-domed cathedrals, intricate cobwebs, chilly grim
reapers. And they're not just beautiful decorations—they are coded biographies, telling those in the know
their bearer's history and affiliations.
One would be hard-pressed to find a tougher environment than the jails where these artists work. Their ink
is made from soot shaved off their shoes and mixed with urine. It's injected via guitar strings attached to
electric shavers. The tattoos are a brutal mafia ritual. But they're also a mark of determined
resourcefulness and self-expression.
When we think of creativity, we think of Mozart, Picasso, Einstein—people with a seemingly fated
convergence of talent and opportunity. It's too narrow a set of references, because the truth is that all
sorts of people, possessing various levels of intelligence and natural ability, are capable of engaging in
fulfilling creative processes. Just because you'll never be Brando or Balanchine doesn't mean that you
can't harness your idea-generating powers and make your life your own masterpiece.
Some do so every day. Pete Herzog noticed that his three kids rarely drove the expensive battery-powered
toy car he had bought them for Christmas because it was always out of juice. One afternoon he spotted a
broken solar-powered garden lamp rolling around and took off its panels. He hooked them to the toy-car
battery, using parts he melted off the lamp's circuit board. Now the car, left to bake in the sun all day, is
always ready for joyrides.
Herzog is director of the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies, a nonprofit dedicated to
researching how security works in all aspects of our