You don’t have to be an official “artist” to be creative. From knitting to taking photos to painting to crafting colourful quilts, the options are endless. And whether you’re a beginner or a pro, you’re flexing your creative muscles – and likely having fun doing it.

My client, RTOERO, had surveyed its retirees, many of them retired teachers, about their creative efforts. My assignment was to follow up and get the details for the Fall 2024 issue of their quarterly magazine, which was all about creativity. The results are in my article below, featured in the RTOERO magazine, Renaissance.

****

The art of self-expression
Explore your creativity and discover yourself

Creativity is a way of living for Deanne Fitzpatrick, who has a rug-hooking studio in Amherst, NS. Although she is an artist herself, she hates when people say, “I’m not creative” and is adamant you don’t have to be “artistic” to be creative.

“Scientists are creative, mathematicians are creative, carpenters are creative,” Fitzpatrick told the hosts of the Finding Creativity podcast hosted by the Atlantic Centre for Creativity. “Creativity is about thinking, then doing. Mindset is huge.”

Diane Hoondert agrees. She has a home studio where she paints and does glass arts and pottery. “I encourage people to pursue the arts,” she says. “You might be surprised that you have latent talent, and there is a whole world beyond teaching that can be as rich as you want.”

While she was teaching, Hoondert occasionally sketched to illustrate something for her students. She took pottery classes in the early 1970s, hand-forming clay, learning glazing techniques and later learning to “throw” clay on a pottery wheel. Classes in stained glass followed in the 1980s, which led to glass fusing – cutting and layering pieces of glass before firing in a kiln.

After Hoondert retired in 2001, she took courses in sketching and became intrigued with acrylic painting. That led to watercolour painting when she found an instructor near a previous home in Florida.

“That teacher always encouraged the students to enter competitions, and I finally did towards the end of a fourth year studying,” Hoondert says.  She was honoured to win “best in show” with a vividly coloured scene of three Muskoka chairs on a classic wraparound porch. She has since continued to paint and exhibit through art communities in Florida and Alliston.

Besides finding an outlet for creative expression, Hoondert’s activities have allowed her to meet “a great corps of people who enjoy the same kind of pursuit.”

Amanda Eason has a creative outlet that reflects family talents. Eason’s grandmother was a dressmaker in her native England and sewed semi-professionally after emigrating to Canada.

“I’ve always sewed, too, after she helped me when I got my first sewing machine at age 16,” she says. Eason made her own wedding dress and her bridesmaids’ dresses and later crafted dance costumes and a wedding dress for her daughter. Now? She designs and sews opera and theatre costumes.

Eason taught 27 years of high school band, so she was always the one organizing groups of students to attend musical performances such as opera. Once she retired in 2004, Opera York asked if she’d like to help them, and she found her perfect role as costume designer. She also became a costume designer and wardrobe mistress for a local theatre group, taking over from a woman in her 90s.

While costumes for a production are usually set in a specific period, Eason adds her own creative interpretation.

“You research the era and may start with a pattern, but then you alter it because it’s never what you want,” she explains. It can take two or three full days to make a period gown, and the opera may have 40 people in the cast. The show might also need extra creativity – for example, coming up with a sack that seems to hold a body but allows the actor to breathe – as well as basics like curtains and tablecloths.

Eason stores her creations in her temperature-controlled basement rec room, along with hats and small props like pocket watches.

While two or three shows a year keep her busy, summers are usually quiet for local theatres, so Eason has time to travel with her husband. She’s also found a whole new circle of friends, including amateur singers and artists.

Eason believes in the power of the arts, especially for students. “Whether it’s music, theatre or painting, a creative outlet is so important to help students be well-rounded. When they go for a job, it goes beyond a math score; it’s what else they do to be a complete person.”

Ian Downie is also pursuing a creative outlet that began when he was young: woodworking.

Starting with a sled for tobogganing he built when he was a kid, Downie went on to build a canoe as a teen and a kayak as a young teacher. He enrolled in wood turning (shaping wood with a lathe) in the early 1970s and woodworking at a local high school when he retired in 1987.

After moving from a house to an apartment last year, he now creates in two woodworking shops. One is in the basement of his apartment building and the other in a nearby seniors’ centre. His art of choice is segmented polychromatic bowls, which use a variety of small pieces of wood fitted to form different patterns. He’s devised some of his own patterns but isn’t embarrassed to say he copies other designs.

At 95, Downie also recently wound up his other creative pursuit of acting in plays, films and commercials that followed his retirement.

“Acting is perfect for someone who wants to do something creative,” he says. “You might do one gig and then be off for a week or two, then another and be off for a month. I’ve had some wonderful experiences.”

Ruth Yablonsky, too, borrows from other art to create her designs for embroidery, stained glass, mosaics and fused glass.

Her training in embroidery and hand stitching began with a weekly class when she was in grade 5. In grades 7 and 8, Yablonsky learned how to sew and create patterns. Over the years, she explored new creative pursuits, taking introductory courses and then more advanced lessons.

She’s embroidered pillow covers with intricate stitching for all 10 grandchildren, with their names, images of a special interest like sports, and some reflection of their Jewish heritage. She took up stained glass, making napkin holders and ornaments as well as window hangings that reflect the grandchildren’s interests. She created mosaic frames for windows or mirrors. And lately she’s learned how to mould and shape glass that’s fused in a kiln, making items like spoon rests.

Tapping into her creativity has enriched Yablonsky’s life, she says, and also led to an unexpected friendship. “Meeting once a week to work on our stained glass led to a close friendship with a former student,” she says.

Related reading:

Find the secrets to a happy retirement
Help readers see the value of music on mental health
How do RTOERO members make family reunions memorable?