Retirement: A Wonderful Time to Nurture Your Creativity

Is there an art or craft that you’ve always fancied trying or do you fancy making music, learning to play a musical instrument for instance. Is there something that you’d like to make for your home or as a gift for another? Maybe your retirement years are the perfect time to explore your creative potential. After all you’ve got all that extra time on your hands. I’m saying this with a pinch of salt as I seem busier than ever! However I have had time to develop my mosaicking skills. Here’s one of my own creations that I’m pretty pleased with.

What’s Stopping You?

Many people would love to flex their creative muscle but are held back because they think that they’ll be rubbish. One of the keys is again about playing to your strengths. Here’s a great TED talk by a artist named Phil Hansen that spurred me on. This guy thought that his career was over when he developed a condition called ‘essential tremor’ It causes his hands to shake and he can’t hold a pen or pencil still to produce intricate pictures any more . But the tremor has become a tool for his art in itself, helping him to branch out into a whole new area of creativity.

My Own Creative Story

In school practical classes such as art and needlework were the stuff that nightmares were made of. Teachers were demanding a level of precision and accuracy that I found it difficult to achieve. I probably have dyspraxia but teachers didn’t know about that in the seventies. The anxiety around their expectations seemed to exacerbate the problem. I became more and more inept.

Yet at home I crafted for pleasure and extended this interest into adulthood. Over the years I’ve discovered that work that demands precision is a no-no for me. Naive artists such as the Cornishman, Alfred Wallis and the Canadian painter, Maud Lewis, are my inspiration. You do not have to have massively honed technical skills to produce something thought provoking and pleasing which has real value. If you were to look closely at my needlepoint cushion below you’d probably find misplaced stitches. But warts and all I’m happy with the overall effect.

There’s so much more that I want to explore in my retirement years. I’ve got a real hankering to develop the skills I’ve already picked up, new mosaicking techniques, revisiting silver jewellery making and honing my lino cutting for example. There’s things that I’ve tried in the past that I’d like to pick up again. I’d really like to have another shot at pottery. Maybe I’ll throw a pot before my time on this earth ends. The first on my list though is exploring collage. I’ve been picking up materials for a few months to get a start. It’s just a question of having the confidence to put glue stick to paper.

Time For Formal Study?

I met a bloke at a music festival once. I’d gone just with my young son and no other adults. A group of early retirees took us under their wing while I was sitting in a marquee. One member of their party took me that he was starting a glass blowing degree, a marked departure from his medical career.

My friend Mel, who is in her sixties would like to formally explore her creative side too. She has a request for the magic fairy If she can get her hands on a substantial sum of cash she would use it to pay the fees to do an art degree. I’ve promised to grant her wish when I win the lottery.

Keeping it Casual

Personally I haven’t wanted to explore my creativity in a way that involves getting another qualification. I’ve got enough of those. Instead I’m indulging my love of mosaic making. Occasionally I’ll take a short class to learn a new technique. Good face to face tuition kickstarted my other hobbies of printmaking and jewellery making. They’ve been a great way to spend time with like minded people and gain the confidence to go it alone.

They’ve also helped me to screen out crafts that I’m not so keen on before I’ve incurred much expense. I found wet felt making wasn’t too my taste. It was so physical that it was more like a bootcamp. But don’t let me put you off if you fancy a try. I was pleased with the cushion and the glasses case that I made.

For the most part YouTubers are my teachers. Think about exploring learning that’s available for free as an alternative to splashing out on courses. There’s so much out there to teach and inspire!