Creative Outlets

[Danny]

http://hearthereeverywhere.blogspot.com/2007/03/having-time-to-be-creative.html

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Cooking and trying to figure out some new goofy thing to do that makes my 18 month old giggle.

 

[LOL!]

This isn't probably what you wanted, but my job is a creative outlet. I'm a scientist and also help create computer software that many others use. Each day, I end up doing something new and unique. It's fun to discover something about nature that no one else has ever seen before. It's more fun to teach others to do the same thing.

And to round out the post with something I don't get paid to do: I do alot of photography as well. The joy in that comes from folks who request my photos and use them in calendars, web sites, Christmas & greeting cards, brochures, books, magazines, and on refrigerators.

 

[bow-tie]

...What muses have a hold on you...

I don't know... they won't give me their names and I can't see through this damn duct tape they've bound me with.

Sorry.

I have been gifted with taking things apart.  Reassembly?  Not so much.  I used to draw constantly as a kid, but haven't done it intently for years.  It's definitely something I would like to learn more about/develop.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Photography, especially of my niece and nephews, and I print them and give them to my sister and SIL as little gifts. Made a nice album for my Mom of all the grandkids, and included pics of our animals! It is a nice hobby, provides a lot of satisfaction for little cost beyond the (digital) camera. I also take a lot of outside shots on our nature walks.
Sarah

 

[bow-tie]

I love a good picture.... not very often is it one of my own.

 

[peggy]

I write. Journals and novels. No, the novels haven't been published (yet!), and the journals never will be.

I take occasional classes in subjects that look interesting - cooking, drawing, whatever.

 

[thefed]

i'll second the part from the OP about appreciating the female form. i have been known to be very creative with it...what a wonderful oulet

 

[Martha]

Gardening has been my creative outlet for a few years.

I play the piano, but haven't much lately.

Also do stained glass windows, but again have been away from it for a while.

 

[BUM]

I don't know... they won't give me their names and I can't see through this damn duct tape they've bound me with.

Sorry.

I have been gifted with taking things apart. Reassembly? Not so much. I used to draw constantly as a kid, but haven't done it intently for years. It's definitely something I would like to learn more about/develop.

Well said bow-tie! I too have a strange gift for disassembly. It started with my first toy that I noticed came screwed together (Mattel six-shooter). Also I stopped drawing many years ago but picked the sketch pad back up LAST WEEK!

Need to do more of that

 

[SteveR]

I am hoping my creative side will float to the surface after a few months of retirement. It would appear that 30+ years in mega corp. management has turned off my creative genes.

I do enjoy photography and have kept at it for many years. I do my kids family Christmas card photos each year as well as some work photos for various projects. Mostly nature stuff and family but I enjoy the craft enough to spend a lot of time being creative but would not wish to try to make a living doing it.

Enjoy music and may go back into that again someday.

I like to draw and may learn painting (other than house painting ).

Would like to work a sound/lighting board for a small theatre company just for fun. Did that many years ago and enjoyed it.

 

[bow-tie]

Looks like an extensive list SteveR.... you better get crackin'.

 

[Kronk]

Martial arts is my primary outlet, creative or otherwise.

On the more creative side, I play piano fairly frequently (primarily ragtime, Mozart, and Beethoven).  In the past, I've played in community bands/orchestras playing tuba, trombone, euphonium, and cello.  I might go back to that some day.  I'll also probably go back to vocal music at some point.  I had been a member of SPEBSQSA - Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America (or Some People Especially Baritones Should Quit Singing Altogether) - and in fact was a member of the last place collegiate quartet in the 1994 international competition.  Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.  In any event, I stopped doing that several years back.

Also on my personal todo list are: learn guitar and learn to paint.  I've done a couple (exactly two) paintings, and it is kind of fun.

I might go back to doing community theater as well.  Musicals can be fun.

I think FIRE needs to come sooner so that I can pursue more hobbies.

 

[donheff]

I have a fair touch of ADD so my creative pursuits seem to go in spurts. I always wished I could draw, so I picked up "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" and learned that I anyone can. After ER I took an intro to drawing class and spent a fair amount of time with pencils, pastels, chalks, etc. After a while I just stopped. But I will eventually get back into it.

I have done the same with computer interests - set up a web server in the basement, mess around with firewalls, intrusion detection, vulnerability assessment, etc -- then drop it for months. Same with photography - dark room for a couple of years in my 20's, then would drop it for years, pick it back up, drop it. Similar experience with digital photography and photoshop/GIMP manipulations. Got intensely into design for a while when we were planning out weekend home. No interest now.

The things that remain constant have been board sports (windsurfing, wakeboarding, snow boarding/skiing) and reading of all sorts. I can read for hours on end without getting the least bit bored. My year old interest in golf seems to be holding up -- we shall see.

To keep intellectually stimulated I still do a few short HR projects (for pay) now and then. And I teach basic computing (volunteer) to immigrants twice a week. The later is fun and covers some of the "worthwhile contribution" angst that can plague some of us until we get comfortable lounging around.

 

[Mwsinron]

Cooking, I am so amazed by the chefs who can do things like the Iron Chefs on TV. Exercising is a close 2nd since well I like my cooking Some people live to eat. I exercise to eat! 

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Does listening to Jazz and drinking wine a couple hours a day count? 8)

What kind of jazz?

I'm a jazz enthusiast. Played trumpet professionally in a jazz combo in the late 60's/early 70s working my way through college. Piano, drums, bass, me. Miles Davis, MJQ (remember them?) et al. Ultimately decided to go to med school, but still wonder once in a while what it would have been like to stay in music.

 

[Dawg52]

I played a little guitar when I was a teenager. Plan to try and pick it up again in a few months. Something to do on a rainey day, along with drinking a few brew. 

 

[KB]

Gardening iis my main creative outlet.

As a recent graduate of a Master Gardener program, I have a large number of gardening activities that I can do. I work at a demonstration garden each week for a few hours with a small group, maintaining the gardens.

I'd like to take a photography class sometime soon and have a kayaking class scheduled next month. I'm learning to knot and crochet though will probably wait until winter to start that up again. I should watch cooking shows, I love food.

 

[Sundance Kid]

I enjoy photography! Always looking for the perfect picture;; haven't found it yet!
Got a digital camera, a few years back, that I really enjoy. Don't like the picture,
just "Erase It." Take some more and repeat the procedure. I like objects and scenery, rather than pictures of people. (Wife isn't crazy, about photos, coming out of the shower.) I do have some good vacation shots. Some, that I've blown up and framed.

Tried to learn guitar, at age 50 plus. Took lessons, for a year and realized I was
adding to the instructors lifestyle and accomplishing, little else. Shoulda done this,
earlier in life. It ain't easy!!

Guess, I'll stick to photography. At least, it's easier on your fingers!

 

[Michael Moore]

CAD/CAM, machining and sheet metal work for my motorcycles. Seems like sculpture to me.

My sweetheart has done stained glass work, and has been into orchids, lapidary/jewelry-making for a long time.

We both cook, though she tends to be the pastry/candy chef.

cheers,
Michael

 

[yelnad]

I quilt and do scrapbooks of the trips I've taken.