How can you turn cooking chili into a creative art?

Hello again, folks! It has been a crazy week, and I am ditching the esoteric-ish post I'd planned and replacing it with my non-recipe recipe for chili. As a southerner by accident rather than birth, I did not receive a Texas chili recipe as part of my birthright. In fact, I don't remember ever eating chili as a child. Now, it is one of my go-to recipes, esp. when the weather begins to turn cool.
My approach to chili is sort of like my approach to cooking in general: Do what tastes good to you!

I usually start out by sauteing a variety of ingredients which always include chopped garlic and onions and may also include red or green (or any other color you like) peppers. Then I figure out which protein I feel like including. Tonight, I've sautéed some boneless chicken breast tenderloins that I had in the freezer. Often, I use turkey sausage, ground turkey or ground beef.
Next, I raid the pantry for canned goods to include. Tonight, I've used 2 cans of black beans (rinsed and drained), a can of dark red kidney beans and a can of pinto beans. Navy beans work well also, but I didn't have any on hand.
I also grabbed a can of chipotle chilies in adobo sauce (Is that a new one for you non-Texans?)--
and a can of chopped green chiles as well as a can of fire-roasted tomatoes. I also used a large container of chicken broth. Feel free to substitute vegetable or beef broth; either will be fine.
Next, I headed for the spice rack. This is where things really start to get creative!! I use a mixture of the following spices:
*Chili Powder
*Curry:
*Cumin
*Salt
 But there are tons of ready-made chili spice packets available at your local grocery stores.

A crock-pot is your best friend if you are cooking chili. After sautéing the onion/garlic mixture and the meat/poultry, I dump everything in the crock-pot and forget about it until dinner time. Well, you can't actually forget about it because the rich, spicy smell of chili starts to waft through the entire house. YUMM-O!!!

I need to figure out the art of making chili LOOK good in photos!

A few warnings: Use the chipotle chilies in adobo sauce sparingly or not at all. I only used a few, and they added substantial HEAT!!
Another optional and surprising chili ingredient is beer. I often add about 1/3 of a bottle and it does add a special something. An old boss of mine told me that he did that, and it is the most useful piece of  knowledge he ever gave me.
Finally, a discussion of chili could not be complete without talking about toppings. In our house, we like to top our chili with a dollop of sour cream, a little shredded cheddar cheese and (if we are feeling especially decadent) a few slices of avocado.
By the way, the perfect accompaniment to a steaming hot and spicy bowl of chili is a freshly baked cornbread muffin. I used the Honey-Cornbread recipe from the Neely's which can be easily printed out from the Food Network website.

In closing, even though I have absolutely no authority to say this, I think that if you do make homemade chili, you should be able to call yourself an "Honorary Texan"....at least until all the chili has been eaten.
Have fun experimenting and eating.
Rachel