Fred Conlon

I thoroughly enjoy using old army helmets in my art for several reasons. One reason is that the original M-1 helmet was hand sculpted by Leonard Heinrich. It is now part of the permanent armory collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The shape and contour of the helmet itself, then, gives the army helmet status as a work of art.

Secondly, I think everyone should remember the sacrifice of the men and women in the armed forces. As a work of art, the army helmet would serve as an excellent reminder of those sacrifices. However, it would be difficult to convince anyone to add an old helmet to a personal art collection in a home. Far better for the old helmet to become a whimsical animal or insect that adds color and a bit of hilarity to a garden or flowerbed.

And finally, it is very satisfying to transform something once used in war into peaceful garden decoration. The biblical prophet Isaiah recorded that “the day shall come when we will beat our swords into plowshares and out spears into pruning hooks.”

Now more than ever I see clearly that peace moves slowly. However one must still persist with determination in order to win the prize, for things that are worthwhile happen overnight (or while we sleep). Good things take time, and sometimes move at a turtle’s pace. Timeless are the words found in the moral to the well-known fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”.

Slow and steady wins the race.