This is the space for our members to discuss and share their creative projects, ranging from written works to drawings, photography, and even craft projects such as knitting and woodworking. Self promotion is welcome and certainly encouraged (websites where we can view and/or purchase your work). Please continue to preface if content is NSFW and properly spoiler/link such content. Those of you who’d like to post future Creative Endeavors Threads post your request in the comments below.
I got the new job! I’ve been working at my (still) present kitchen job for over eighteen years, and, as you can imagine, said labor has occupied the vast plurality of my working life. I try not to talk too much about my job here except for its creative impact, but it’s definitely had an effect. The latter’s often been positive, but the opposite ramifications are impossible to ignore. Around the time I started drawing again (itself a partial trauma reaction that had at least a little to do with limitations imposed by my work environment), a few negative trends at work took a turn for the worse, and almost by the time the pandemic came around, I was pretty much flailing for reasons to even like my job (which I’d used to love, believe it or not).
One resulting focus was an exponential improvement in my hand-eye coordination, and a focus on efficiency (and, to be fair, certain methods and concepts at least theoretically promoted by my present employer) helped inform my approach to production in both my primary spheres of activity. So, however annoying work could get, I’d be able to use the energy from my culinary work to fuel my creative work and vice versa. This kept me going (through varied challenges) during the “new normal” until several months back, when one of our dishwashers asked, almost offhand, “don’t you guys get bored doing the same thing every day over and over again?”
My aforementioned safeguards against this very thing—the artwork, basically—had suffered due to my video game immersion this past winter (again, itself a partial reaction to overstaffing at work and reduced hours, whatever the other unexpected benefits) and I don’t think I’d realized until then how much the connection had broken down. I’d been applying every half year or so to various departments with the new employer in any case, and the revelation really built a head of steam over the past few months (not going to go into details, but a particularly obnoxious incident Sunday afternoon really helped crystallize how increasingly excited I am to leave).
Concentrating for right now on the material and professional possiblities of the new situation rather than creative ramifications, not least as I don’t know how the work or the new schedule (the latter of which could at least prove very promising in some ways) will have an impact. Right now I’m just trying to enjoy the feeling; looking for a job (and this time finding one) when I’m not absolutely desperate feels downright disorienting (and I’m fully aware of my good fortune in being able to do this, believe you me).
The header this week is a sketch I did of the tea-centered cafe where I’ve been spending more and more occasional early weeknights (trivia nights are fun but they tend to conflict with my sketch nights in the town next door). The latter will be a thing of the past with the new schedule and I’m hoping that actually having weekends off (Fridays and Saturdays, anyway) will compensate and then some.
How’ s your work going?