I never showed much creativity in my childhood and what was there was not encouraged. I still recall my first attempts with clay when I was in primary school in Lusaka. It was a head of a Roman wearing a separately constructed helmet. I remember it as being crude with dirty brown/green glaze.
Those who have never worked in software development may find it hard to appreciate the creativity in software design and programming. As with mathematics, there is beauty in an elegant solution to a complex problem and for years this was my primary creative outlet.
In my early 30s however, something changed and I felt I wanted to start making something with my hands, not just with my brain. I can't remember how I chose pottery but the 3D nature of it appealed more than the 2D flatness of sketching or painting. I took to ceramics immediately though I was drawn to hand-built pieces rather than using a wheel, which felt like a bit of a cop-out. A slab or coil pot felt more artisanal and allowed one to escape the inevitable symmetry of revolution inherent in thrown pots.
From pots, I moved on to working with wood (I've always been drawn to the grain of oak, it's ancient history and the distinctive vanilla smell of fresh sawdust) though working without a mask has given me a sensitivity to fine hardwood dust, resulting in asthma-like symptoms.
Other areas have included paper and card, knives, musical instruments, clocks (using a bought mechanism), poetry,
Being a perfectionist is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it drives me to research, experiment, prototype and refine, my goal being to create items that look professional. On the other hand, this makes each project a much longer ordeal than it should have been. If there's a happy medium (no pun intended), I have yet to find it.
Having this creative interest has been hugely fulfilling particularly in the years since early retirement. I have seldom defined myself by my profession, but my other interests have certainly made it a lot easier for me to make this transition and still have some purpose, meaning or goals. The goals are normally in learning new techniques and creating pieces to a as high a level of skill as I can achieve and although this makes my rate of production really slow, I'm comfortable with that.
<to be continued>