Corporate entity dilemma

To be honest I don't really know what this post is for. I guess it is sort of a desperate rant . I spend the last 10 years in the corporate IT sector. I have worked for little Dot Com's and multinational giants and I have taken part in dozens of projects, from designing tiny web apps to building huge platforms with countless components. I have been to many interviews, I have gone through dozens of trainings sessions, hundreds of meetings, I have endured brutal deathmarches and I have been part of successes stories. I have seen and done it all.

And I just cant stand it any more.

I did not start as a software developer I come from a more artistic/creative background that had nothing to do with computers. But I was always interested in them so I chose to work as a software developer. And I discovered that I actually loved it, and the worst part is I still do, every part of it. Designing, coding testing even debugging (i know it is sad). I can just stand in a bus stop waiting for the bus and I think of ideas for a new mobile applications or how to organize the localization of a large telco platform (this is actually a real problem). It is as natural for me as breathing air. But at the same time I cannot cope any more with working in an "office/corporate" environment.

It has to do partly with the actual physical environment it self as time goes by and I become more "senior" and integrated to the system by getting employed by larger companies. The small development groups of 4-5 people (usually of the same experience and quality) working in comfortable rooms of 1-2 people each is replaced by large open space offices where 100 people of various types are hoarded together almost shoulder to shoulder in some cases. In my early years I could partially cope with it but now it is killing me. The fact that my social skills are not exactly my strong point is a frequent cause of problems in these large group/team environments. On the other hand I can be extremely efficient and easy going when I'm with small groups of people I know well or if I'm isolated in room with remote minimum direct contact with others. But this type of work conditions are almost impossible to find in the corporate environments I have experienced.

Another equally serious problem I face more and more as I progress in the corporate system is the hostility towards individually and creativity and freely expressing opinions that I have to face. Up to a point it is expected I guess. The larger the corporation the more bureaucratic and politically driven it becomes even when its main business has to do with cutting edge technologies (like mobile internet frameworks or web platforms) .
I have tried all my working life to stay outside of this and it seems also impossible! My last failed attempt to avoid it was to work as a contractor. I mean what the hell! Why would a contractor be involved in company politics. You are there to do your job and give a solution to the client, right? But it seems that not only you cannot avoid politics and bureaucracy but you are completely powerless against them. You are hired to solve problems that permanent stuff cannot solve (usually because they haven't got the knowledge or the talent) but you end up paralyzed by the same mechanism while at the same time getting hits from above(managers) and bellow(company permanent). It is so frustrating!

Currently I'm in a bit of a dead end. I love my work to the point I cannot stop thinking about new ideas on software. It is part of me in a very real way and designing and coding applications makes me happy is the same way as painter or a sculptor is happy working on his art. But at the same time I cannot stand having to work inside the standard corporate environment that provides me with my income. I cannot go back and moving forward is killing me.

I really don't know what to do.There must be something better than this.