Jeanine Henderson: Inspiration from life

I usually keep from blogging about personal and/or non-work related things—but sometimes life just intersects with work, when something so lovely or beautiful or exciting or interesting happens, that my creative mind just begins to explode with possibilities! The 10-day adventure I took over the holidays—first to Colorado, then Hawaii—was just that for me; and just way too amazing to not share a few tidbits!

I feel like most of the pics I took on the trip are disappointing...I must be the world's worst photographer. (Guess I didn't have enough interest in my art school photo classes to retain much! Or, I could blame my little point and shoot camera....) Anyway-clearly, my natural abilities lie in a pen or pencil and not a lens. But it's also partly just because there is no way for anyone to fully capture the beauty of experiencing things so majestic and amazing as the snow covered mountain tops of the Rockies, the black sand beaches of Maui, or the sun rising above the clouds at 10,000 feet on a volcanic crater. These are absolutely some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen; I also experienced so many fun, adventurous things—like snowboarding for the first time, hiking through a bamboo forest, climbing waterfalls, cliff jumping and surfing! (and yes, all in the same week!)

The trip was incredibly rejuvenating for me. As much as I love living in New York City, I can't believe how refreshing it can be to leave and be out in such big, open, fresh-aired spaces! I haven't had the opportunity to travel as much as I would like, and so for me, this was seeing a world I didn't know existed; It made me feel like I walked through a door to a whole other side of life, just waiting for me to begin to experience it. I find inspiration for my work in so many places—other cultures, other artists, music; But, I feel like the best inspiration comes from personal experiences like these and I'm really excited to digest and translate some of this into some new work.