Creative Hobbies and PUMPKIN PIE

So what creative hobbies do you have?

I do WOODWORKING, PHOTOGRAPHY,  PAINTING / ILLUSTRATING and COOKING.
I feel it is incredibly important for creatives to have creative hobbies that allow them to express themselves in other ways, without the pressures associated with their career  (or study) pursuits.

Occasionally I'll share a woodworking project, a drawing, or a photo.  I am also a bit of a foodie, and while I eschew the recipe exchange, I am definitely not above it!

With the holidays just around the corner, I recently came across (via CHOW) an incredible recipe for Pumpkin Pie by Boris Portnoy. In his CHOW recipe, Portnoy expresses everything I feel is wrong with Pumpkin Pie. Most pies seem to be about the spices, or “muddy-flavored” canned pumpkin.

I recently made Portnoy's pie, and it was pretty darn good!
I made just a few modifications. Instead of his crust, I used the über-flaky crust obtained by using the AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN VODKA CRUST RECIPE!

I skipped the cookie cutter toppings (although in principle I have no problem with them) and created a brown-sugar crumble that is often associated more with homemade apple pies (just put it on 10 or 15 minutes before the time is due.

Using fresh pumpkin was incredible easy using Portnoy's method! And the flavor is so much more PUMPKINY.

Watch Portnoy's CHEW video here. (It also links to the recipe).

This is Chris Kimball's/AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN's vodka crust.

RIGHT BRAINED?

I think most folks who know me know that I am a fairly creative person. I don't think anyone would tell you that I am creative at the sake of being logical though.

Most students arrive at the  idea of studying the possibilities of a career in graphic communications primarily because they loved a high school art class. They figure: “Gosh I loved art in school! Maybe I can get paid a ton while doing art!” (The ‘paid a ton’ part is unrealistic to start with btw… as is the ‘getting paid to play video games.’)

The problem is, in many high schools, art is purely an elective (there is not a stringent level art track). It is also very much about an individual communicating on their own terms, their own message, and in their own way.

When you choose a “creative” corporate career, you will draw upon much of your art training, but the overriding concern (no matter what) is effectively using your visual skills to communicate or reinforce a message … primarily a message that will also draw upon marketing strategy and established goals and objectives! This is all very “LEFT brain” stuff. But you are now the ADVOCATE for someone else's ideas and messages, using your creative and compositional know-how to do good by them or their product.

Creatives are among some of the most talented and clever people I know. They need very much to be multi-dimensional. They often have exhaustive store-houses of knowledge about quite a great number of things, and  (in my opinion) are scintillating dinner-party conversationalists.

Honestly, the most successful folks I know work their asses off. They continually study things, and research is a part of the daily grind on the job.

So please… if a well-meaning counselor says to you, “Oh, you like art and aren't doing great academically? Hmm… maybe you should try graphic design!” Please, please, please reconsider. At the very least, interview someone who has done the job for a while, and see if they'll let you shadow them for a day.

I can pretty much guarantee it isn't about drawing what you want, when you want. Nor is it about getting to have fun all day and get paid.  Just sayin'