Hands-On

Something I've aspired to do consistently throughout my life is continue to develop my artistic skills and identity. I want to create. I want to be hands-on and produce things using multiple materials and through various methods. Woodblock Printing is a form of printing - on either paper materials or fabric. Its origins date back to ancient times, but is still popular today (recently making a sort of come-back, actually). Currently it's mostly being practiced in India, where it is then exported to major economies - such as ours here in the USA.

Recently I became very interested in the process and decided to attempt it myself. The following is my (extremely) novice first attempt.

To begin, I took a block of linoleum and traced my simple chain design on top. Slowly, I carved away at the block. You need to carve away the block that isn't included in the design, and so I took out material until just an outline of the chains was left.

When I was satisfied, I took my ink spread on a brayer (basically a small rubber paint roller) and rolled it over the block. Because I carved out all of the empty space, it only applied to the outline of the chain. I pressed it onto my paper and repeated. Thus producing a kind of cool little chain pattern!


Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing it so I'll continue to experiment with different designs, colors, and mediums. I really want to get to fabrics.

Thanks for reading!

The Autumn 'list

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their fall. It's been rather summer-like here in Denver... but I'll survive. To convey more of a heartfelt and peaceful fall feeling, I created a simple and short playlist that I've been basically listening to on repeat. ;)

I'll continue to update it.
Hope y'all enjoy!

P.S. For this playlist, I'm only including 1 song per artist. So if you like what you hear, I highly encourage you to check out the rest of their work. Also! I realize it is on a Spotify player, which not everyone has (although by now, everyone should!) so I apologize if you are not able to stream it. There are no clean, reliable, and easy-to-operate playlist sharing widgets.

(In) Confidence

   Recently a good friend asked me to assist her in a new self growth project that she will begin going through shortly. In short, she asked me if I could remind her to be or do something, or if I had something I wanted to say to her, every day, what would it be? I thought for a few moments and came up with "You are beautiful." Instantly I decided how cliché that, overused, and honestly boring that statement was. I didn't want to scrap that though - since it is true, but decided to add onto it instead.
   Confidence.
   That single word was the piece of wisdom I would share with her in this time of change she was embarking on. With confidence you can be more, do more, and be seen as more by others. Something I have been working on the past couple of years in my own life, especially in this recent transitional period I've been going through.
   I used to be an extremely shy, reserved, and quiet kid in high school. I struggled to make friends most of the time (which was also due to the fact that people thought I was intimidating for some unknown reason...), so much so that I only keep in touch with a single person from then now. But if you know me now, I have no problem going out of my comfort zone to talk with others - especially if it could be an opportunity to take advantage of (socially and professionally).
   Many accomplishments I've made in recent times can be traced back and attributed to confidence. As I said earlier, you will do more and be more if you have confidence in yourself. For instance, a year ago I would never have left my full-time salary-and-benefits job to go back to school and not only sacrifice all income, but also increase my expenses. Sounds crazy right? But in my own personal journey I acquired the confidence to leave that seemingly dead-end job in an industry that I never even wanted to be involved, to pursue an education in a field that I truly want to make a career out of. You can do so much more in life if you believe in yourself. There's no way I could have gotten where I am now, or where I will be going, if I hadn't gained confidence in myself along the way.

Life in Pictures: Instagram

Documenting every day life and events has been a crucial part of how we are able to understand the past and piece together history as well as how we leave footprints for the future to follow. Some of the earliest ways we humans did this was using images- paintings, drawings, carvings. Before we had a language to communicate with, we would use pictures. This is no different from today.

There's a new (I say new, but it's been out for a while now) app out called Instagram that allows you to take a photo with your smart phone, quickly edit it using a few hip filters, and share it with the world. With all the social media already out there, and you've probably heard me rant about it, I didn't see any use for yet another. But, to my surprise, after being encouraged (pressured) by some friends, I decided to install it- and I love it. 

I'm still a newbie to the whole community, but it's a wonderful and bright world to share things, places, and experiences. The best part? You don't have to think about what to write with it- allow me the cliché of "A picture is worth a thousand words."

In short, I suport and believe in the app myself and will continue to use and grow with its community. And so should you.

A few of my own pictures:

Follow me: theseanhenson

The Pages

I'll admit, I sometimes have a problem taking on too much at once. If it hasn't been made obvious already between how much I work and go to class, then let me share a little something about myself.

I love to read. That's not something exciting, strange, or sickening. But my problem is that I start too many books at once, and then it takes ages to finish any of them. Currently I'm in the process of reading 5 different books. None with much correlation to any other.

1. The Girl Who Played With Fire
2. Zen & American Transcendentalism
3. The Early Greeks
4. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
5. The Buried Book

The only real tie between a handful of those is their focus on History. If you know me personally, you know how much I've always hated History courses in school, but surprisingly, I truly enjoy reading and learning about certain civilizations and periods in time.

If you're reading any of those, related books, or any great books you'd like to share, contact me. I love talking about good literature.

Currently listening to: Shadows in Silence - Enigma

Changing

Do you remember the post I made a few months ago when I was leaving the last job I had? Apparently I don't- because I started typing nearly the exact same sob story about How much I learned, What I'll miss, and All of the people I became friends with.... But my lack of a decent memory is another story. Anyway, here's some highlights I'll pull out.

It's been almost 2 years since I've been on the other side of the interview. I've become accustomed to the other party being the nervous hopeful applicant. And yet, here I am, about to be that very person. You could say I have the jitters, but what I'm most nervous about is being back in that uncertainty of starting a new job- How will I do? Will I like the job, it's responsibilities and duties? Will I get along with the people?

Even though I know I won't have a problem with the interview- I'm a natural at talking to people. I can get along with nearly anyone, and even those I don't, I can tolerate them until I don't have to. (That skill took a lot of time and practice, mostly done at school and while working in food service.)

A newfound acquaintance of mine recently gave me one of the best compliments I've ever received from any professional relationship, "Right off, you need to know that you have the right personality & professionalism that is already in the winning arena!" A direct quote, literally. I'll admit, I had a visibly warm feeling course through my body as I read that. And I believe it- those are things I've had to work for. If you ask anyone who knew me in Junior High and High School, they'll attest that I was the quiet, shy, awkward kid in the back of the room. Which, to an extent, I still am, but in a much more controlled manner. 


I guess what I'm really trying to say is I'm excited. It's been a long time coming, but I'm ready to be out of the Food Service Industry for good. Embracing change is something that comes rather easily to me- especially after the past 3 or 4 years have treated me. Adaptation is one of my better qualities.


Good luck. May you always be changing.



Currently Listening to: Yuna - Deeper Conversation

Overload

With the myriad of competing social networks these days, we're experiencing a 'sharing overload' as I like to call it. This overload, while a useful tool in keeping connected with peers in different and unrelated circles, has also caused some of us (myself included) to neglect other friendships and simpler ways of communicating.

As the telephone did to mail, email did to the telephone, and the cell phone did to email, social networks have now done away with many forms of communication. A person will share that they are currently at a coffee shop downtown and another person will "Like" the post and comment that they love that shop. There are many arguments for and against the trend; from claiming it makes us as less social, causes various psychological problems, and encourages bullying to allowing easier conversation,   planning, and business opportunities.

Personally, I see validity of both the pros and cons. Although, many of the cons can be true about a lot of technology. We become so reliant on it that when you actually do meet up with someone in real life, a) the interpersonal communication can be awkward, and b) both parties will often spend at least some of their time together back on that social media.

In any case, to represent myself equally, the following are my social media links:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn