Up To You Now.

For the last two weeks at new job my cowroker Rory and I were trained by a group from Taiwan. They have been training us on their precision manual pad printing and screen printing. The day before everyone left we went out to a traditional Chinese restaurant in Sterling Heights. Rory and I were challenged to eat a chicken foot. We accepted and it wasn't so bad! I thought it was pretty tasty! I have been pleasantly surprised by the authenticity of the restaurants we found. 

Thursday before their trek back home we celerated their visit over dinner. I made a piece of jewelry for the women we worked with to remember us by and to say thank you. Their time with us was invaluable and I can't explain the amount of information we learned in two weeks about more than just dial printing. It is up to us now to make the dials for Shinola based on the teaching we just had. 

     

              

       

Again, I made some amazing friends through work. Rory and I were invited to visit them next year so I plan to learn some Mandrin. I can't wait to visit but we will miss them dearly. Going to work on monday will be a very different pace. 

Getting into a different routine has been a challenge because our location of work has temporarily moved out to Sterling Heights but living where I work and not being in school has given me the time to work on my own projects like Arson Capital. I'v been able to interview several inspiring people around me and the website is getting a face lift! I am hoping to have it all in place by monday. It is up to me now to make my magazine everything I invisioned it.

The hardest part about being an artist and staying true as an artist is working with people. What I have noticed about many artist communities is people tend to be very selfish. Espeically working with other people. There have been many times when I photographed a project and get no name recognition for the work I contribute. 

I don't get down about it. I do the only thing I can in any situation where I feel short changed, I work harder and get better because I know my worth.  It is up to you to get your name out there and if some people you work with aren't doingin their part to support you... don't work with them again. They don't make the cut so snip snip. 

We have more than enough time to make it in the industries we were born to be working in. We have more than enough time to create the projects we were born to make. Just don't give up and know it is up to you. 

Everything in your life is something for you to learn from. Everything that tries to bring you down can make you better. It is up to you to decide though. As a person we are constantly involved with other people and other forces. These things can try to break you, knock you over, etc. to disrupt your natural path to success.

Don't let anything knock you from your natural path to success. 

Learn from your mistakes, learn from watching how your friends are treated, learn form how you are treated, learn from how you treat others. Don't get ugly or nasty because that is how other people are acting. Inverse the flow of energy and words. Instead of learning to treat others in a nagative manner treat people nicely. Greet everyone with a smile. 

Be nice to people who are bringing negativity to you because they probably have only learned how to be negative. Be nice to them because they might just not know how to be positive. Don't feed into the negative energy. It is easy to be negative. If you switch the flow of energy by being positive you will be surprised by the results you get. Not only are you creating better energy for yourself but you have just become more conscious as a human being and that is always a good thing. 

It is up to you now. 

Photos by Melania Plasko