Shawn Olson Creative Arts
Art, Poetry, Photography, Writing and 3D
Welcome to Shawn Olson Creative Arts, a diverse website devoted to arts and creativity. My interests and skills are wide ranging, spanning from years as a professional photojournalist and web developer to a lifetime of creative free-thinking.
Throughout these pages you can lose yourself in thousands of photos, artwork, poems, essays, reports, games and more. You'll find essays exploring philosophy and education; critiques of modern fads, media and commercialism; tutorials on web programming, graphic design and photography.
Please take some time to browse my site. I have been working on it diligently since the beginning of this millennium. I authored most of the work on this site. However, I do keep bylines attached to articles as there are some pages authored by some of my talented friends and family. When I first launched this site I envisioned it to be a community site; after dozens of people were on it I realized that I shouldn't make a community site attached to my name—which is why I launched the Artistic Network – A global directory of artists and art.
My professional life has led me to the development of Webonizer, a content management system that runs most of the large sites I oversee. Webonizer is the backbone of this site, the Artistic Network and many more sites that produce a lot of content. If you are interested in running a website using Webonizer or simply need a website, please feel free to contact Master Web Designers.
Use some of the links below to get a tour of me and my work.
You can find other areas by using the navigation menu at the top of every page or by using the search utility.
I always enjoy feedback from visitors. Feel free to send me an email with any comments, ideas, praise, criticism or corrections.
Latest Articles
Wild Mercy





Photos of a contemporary Celtic rock musicians Wild Mercy.
Promoting Interest in the Classroom
An essay about the role teachers play in making subjects interesting, valuable and relevant to students. Prompted by an Open-House visit to Westland High School.
The Phantom Dollar
Essay on American debt, credit abuse and the lies of economicists and politicians.
Molting Cicada







Photos of a nymph dog day cicada molting.
Fly in the Sky

Photos of bee flies, scorpion flies and other odd flies.
Spiders in Pursuit of Prey



Photos of spiders stalking, hunting and eating prey.
Grapevine Beetle



Photos of the Grapevine Beetle, a large orange beetle with black dots on its wings.
Fishing Spider





Photos of large fishing spiders that hunt on the surface of ponds and creeks.
The Daddy Long Legs (Harvestman) Myth




Photos of the Harvestman, also known as the Daddy Long Legs Spider. This creature is not a spider and is not venomous.
Ambitions and Weekends
Essay on being self-aware and realizing that the human psyche has some hardwired contradictions and paradoxes.









