shawn hebrank . minnesota tattoo artist

All Settled In.

2012-01-22T20:12:00.006-06:00

Meryl and I made it to Grants Pass, Oregon without any hitches.

I mean, it was a 3 day ordeal totaling some 36ish driving hours,

with a packed car, a dog in the backseat,

and a bike strapped to the back,

but we did eventually arrive at our new (though temporary) home.

It's definitely an amazing opportunity to be out here

and working at Jeff Gogue's shop.

Without anything else to do,

I am being brutally self-indulgent,

and filling all of my time with tattooing and art making.

At the studio I have an easel set up,

and can paint on any of my down time.

In town there's the Southern Oregon Art Academy,

and they have been kind enough to let me sit in on their figure drawing sessions.

So what used to be Naked Mondays will now be renamed Naked Tuesdays for the next few months.

I am happy to get back to drawing from life again.

Here's two 5 minute poses.

I am super grateful to Jeff, his family,

and the shop for making me feel so at home.

I couldn't be more excited to be here.

I plan on making the absolute most of this time,

and having lots to show for it.

And, of course,

I am avoiding the Minnesotan winter this year.

Awesome.

Back! (for a limited time)

2012-01-08T21:34:00.005-06:00

I survived the whole 2 weeks in Hawaii,

and I escaped almost completely intact.

One of the last days I did a bad cliff jump, though,

and broke my ass right off.

I swear, it still hurts so bad.

I don't even know how it's not black and blue,

but you should feel very fortunate that it's not.

Because friends, this post would be nothing but butt shots it it were.

I have a fear of heights,

but I'm also really competitive,

so when Meryl's sisters were jumping off stuff,

I usually had to do it, too.

We first found Black Rock on the douchebag side of Maui,

and I jumped off that,

but it was pretty easy at 22ft.

Then you swim to shore,

which was also easy, even in Carhartts.

You thought I was kidding?

Then, a few days later, and on a whole different island,

we went to check out the southernmost part of the United States.

It just so happened that there was some serious cliffs there,

and a few people were jumping off of those, too.

So I videotaped Meryl and her sisters jumping those cliffs,

and then, while they were swimming around below,

I stripped to my boxers and did it, too.

Some terrible fear of being outdone overpowered my terrible fear of heights,

and I jumped 44 feet into an ocean I didn't even want to swim in at all.

So dumb.

But luckily, no one was filming MY jump,

because I must have looked like an idiot when I hit the water in a sitting position.

(and since i was only wearing boxers it was probably NSFW)

Here's a video of Lindsay jumping, instead:

But yeah, I'm back in MPLS now,

but only for another two days.

Crazy packing time.

Then a long drive west,

and settling down for the winter in Grants Pass, Oregon.

I don't think I'd call my Hawaii time relaxing,

but vacation time is officially OVER.

More Lanterns.

2012-01-03T13:16:00.004-06:00

More Rebecca and the Cucch hang out time happened,
and we released another few lanterns before dinner.
As the third one went into the sky,
this nice older homeless man asked if I was videotaping.
I wasn't.
So then when Meryl and I got back to the condo we asked her sisters for help,
and we released the last two.
This time I did take video.

Here's two lanterns trying to reach the moon.

Kicking it Off.

2012-01-02T00:56:00.008-06:00

New Year's Eve.
Meryl and I met up with Rebecca for a lunch at Fresh Mint,
an all vegan place in Pa'ia.
Such a good final lunch of 2011.
Then, after he got off work, the Cucch joined us,
and we ate dinner and rang in the New Year as a big group.

I had those 30 Japanese floating lanterns

(think mini hot air balloons)
and we went to the beach to set them off.

It was so windy,

but we managed to release a bunch before midnight.

A couple of them didn't clear the ocean,

but the rest were headed south last time we saw them.

And they were cruising.

I think I took a nap after that,
and "woke up" at 3:00 am.
The family got into the rental car and drove a few, windy hours
up to the top of Mt Haleakala to watch the sunrise.
Hatsuhinode is the Japanese word for the first sunrise of the New Year,
and their traditions of new years firsts is something I'm so brutally into.
So we saw the first sunrise of 2012 from the top of a volcano,
and it was awesome.
10,000 feet above sea level,
and we were sitting above the clouds.
It was even cold up there.

Goodbye 2011.
Hello 2012.
I think I'm f'n ready.
I get home from Hawaii soon,
then I'm off to Grants Pass, Oregon.
I've set up this year to be the best ever.
I hope everyone had a beautiful beginning to this new year.
All my best wishes to you all.

Hiding from the sun (continued)

2011-12-31T16:07:00.005-06:00

It's a crazy place, this Hawaii,

especially for tattooed weirdies trying to avoid the sun (like me).

Yesterday we got driven around Maui in the back of an old bio-diesel Mercedes by the Cucch and Rebecca, and it was so amazing.

We hit black sand beaches, red sand beaches, a billion waterfalls,

caves, spring fed pools, and other other-worldly views.

All of this on a 12 hour, too-close-for-comfort,

driving-on-the-side-of-some-cliffs kind of adventure.

Highway to Hana.

It's even better when someone else is driving,

and you can hang out the sunroof.

On vacation.

2011-12-27T20:34:00.006-06:00

Hawaii, kids.

It's a love/hate relationship.

I love the ocean, but hate the beach.

I love islands, but hate the people that flock to them.

Meryl has family living down here for a year,

and she had never been before.

And she's also moving out to Oregon just for me,

so......Hawaii for the holidays!

You know I don't even own a pair of shorts,

but so far we're doing well.

Day two and I already have two different lighthouse visits.

This first photo is at the top of a mountain Meryl and I climbed to get to Makapuu Point Light the really hard way.

There's a two mile paved path winding around to the lighthouse,

or an unmarked, not-at-all-legitimate super steep climb up to the top and then over.

It got dark before we even hit the top,

it was scary windy,

and some Hawaiian dude kinda told us we were screwed.

But we did it,

and it was so rad.

Here's a view of of the Makapu Point Light from partially up our hike.

At our destination we met this couple who were both biologists working in Hawaii.

We bonded over our shared love of dead birds

(i was wearing a 'dead birds are sexy' shirt)

and they brought us out to dinner and drove us home.

And since their jobs include working with sick and dying birds,

we're about to have some amazing additions to the I love dead birds blog.

So awesome.

This morning I woke up early

(which isn't hard to do with a four hour time difference)

and took a bike ride with Meryl's mom, Colleen,

out to Diamond Head Lighthouse.

Then a few hours later,

Meryl, her sisters, and I hiked the Diamond Head crater,

and got to see the lighthouse from above.

We then ate lunch at the top in a coastal artillery bunker built in 1908.

Tomorrow we fly to Maui,

and get to see some stuff out there for a while.

Rebecca and the Cucch are living on that island these days,

so we'll have some hang out time with them.

And New Years happens while we're there.

Luckily, I was prepared,

and shipped those 30 Japanese floating lanterns to myself.

I don't know who else will be there,

but I will be saying my goodbyes to 2011 in style,

and making sure 2012 gets kicked off right.

Last day of Fall (and Maple Grove).

2011-12-23T18:11:00.005-06:00

Oh man.

I'm done with Identity Tattoo for a little while.

Don't expect to see me back there till April.

It's been an awesome 4.5 years,

and I look forward to more fun when I get back.

But for the next few months,

I'm very excited to be working out at Jeff Gogue's shop in Oregon.

My last day there was spent working on Manda's strange animal sleeve.

We colored in a lot of poppies around an antlered squirrel,

did some background,

and tried to tie everything together.

Up top is the (antlered) blue footed booby,

and the sheepgoat under that,

and then some squirrels playing in a poppy field.

(i didn't do the blue armband thing)

It was also Handsome Adam's last day,

and he's leaving for the west coast, too.

So after packing and cleaning up,

we smashed our coffee mugs and released a couple floating lanterns.

Adam's such a good dude,

and it's been a pleasure working with him for the past year.

So it's just Todd and Ben at the shop for a few months.

Do me a favor, and check up on them every once in a while.

Stop in and be loud for a minute,

just so they don't forget about me.

I'm afraid they might get soft while I'm away.

(i can almost hear Maple Grove collectively breathing a sigh of relief)

This tattoo is garbage.

2011-12-18T21:33:00.004-06:00

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

It's a real thing.

And now it's not just polluting the Pacific Ocean,

but also taking up space on Adam W's forearm.

It was a lot of fun, so I hope he collects them all.

I guess every ocean has one,

due to ocean currents,

and filthy, wasteful human beings.

One week till xmas.

Which means one week till we board a plane and fly to Hawaii.

I'm gonna fly right over that big, floating garbage patch,

and spend the holidays somewhere a little less....seasonal.

I mean, you probably won't find me on a beach,

but you won't find me shoveling snow, either.

But if you're super into the holidays,

and need some new xmas jams,

head over to the Suckapants blog,

and get this years (and all the previous ones, too) mix.

It's free, and Dark Dark Dark has a track on it.

Get caroling.

Stealing Shiny Shit

2011-12-15T00:52:00.004-06:00

Liz got her magpie and pendant tattoo yesterday.

It looked all red and hurty when we were done,

so I asked her to stop back in today so I could grab another photo.

Unfortunately, the best one I took came out blurry.

Nice.

So, here's them both,

and you get the idea.

I also tattoo her brother-in-law on Saturday,

so I'll try for a third time, then,

if it's not too peely and gross.

One more week left at Identity Tattoo (for a while).

It doesn't quite feel real yet...

but I'm about to send out a big deposit for our "vacation home" rental,

and that is certainly helping it all seem less pretend.

We're a bunch of stressed out weirdies at Louderhorn Inn these days.

We've got multiple to-do lists,

but there's not enough coffee or hours in the day to get it all done.

It'll be less sleep and more yelling then normal.

My apologies to the last few people getting tattooed by me before I leave.

It's a Rocky Horror sing-a-long from here on out,

(no matter WHAT is playing on the stereo)

happy holidays.

Dead Rabbit, healed.

2011-12-11T13:58:00.004-06:00

Alleeshia came in yesterday for a quick touch up to her 11s dead rabbit tattoo, and I grabbed a few photos before I went back into it.

Black and grey healed looks so brutally different than fresh,

so I try and get healed photos whenever possible.

I'm pretty much trying to do anything right now

other than pack up and clean the house.

If you also need some beautiful distractions on a sunday,

nothing beats old Sinéad O'Connor videos.

Herbs and Tea.

2011-12-09T00:21:00.007-06:00

I had a four hour cancelation for today,

so Handsome Adam called in Chef Ryan.

And he showed up, of course.

We have a chef sleeve to finish up, after all.

(including this, this, and this)

We got some rosemary, basil and sage done,

along with some smokey background action.

This is the sage part:

Also, a while back I did a shirt design for a store called Juniper,

but haven't posted any photos yet.

Here they are;

a close up of the printed shirt,

and also Rahma modeling one for me.

I personally don't have any for sale,

but if you want to get one for yourself

(or some special lady on your holiday gift list),

just head to Maple Grove.

If you're out of state,

you might be able to order it over the phone.

(just ask for Liz and tell her I sent you)

If you're usually a 'bad at gift-giving dude',

I just handed this one to you.

Updated.

2011-12-05T00:51:00.003-06:00

I spent tonight gathering photos together for my new portfolio,

and also uploaded a bunch to my website.

Here's one of the ones I just added,

Katelyn's moth-eaten fan chestpiece all healed up.

I also changed my contact info,

and added my extended guest spot plans.

It's getting closer,

and starting to feel more real now.

I'm fully booked the rest of December here in Minnesota.

I'll be back in MN in April,

and will probably start booking a month before my return by email.

I'll drop the info here on the blog first,

then my website and facebook.

It's winter here now,

with snow on the ground.

And it'll probably stay there till I get back into town.

Nothing melts in Minnesota,

it just piles up.

(i'm pretty sure I should have raked the leaves before this snow fell,

this spring is going to be a mess)

It's also getting really cold,

but instead of hibernating,

I'm packing up and moving out.

Jumper.

2011-12-01T01:02:00.004-06:00

Did this elephant hockey referee today on Clayton.

My last tattoo of November

(only one month left in MPLS, kids).

Then off to visit family for the holidays,

and out to Oregon for the next three months.

If you didn't book your appointment for before I leave,

you might be too late.

(though i hear that Handsome Adam might be taking bribes to fit you in)

I also tattooed Nona of Dark Dark Dark today.

She didn't sing any DDD for us,

but she did sing some Third Eye Blind as she filled out her paperwork.

no kidding.

I mean, it wasn't her fault,

Ben has it on the ipod for some reason,

and that shit is SO catchy.

(if you like her singing in DDD,

check out her side project with her choir)

Anyway, it's after 2am,

which means December is here,

and 2011 is almost over.

Hope your 11 months have been good so far.

If not, you've got 31 days to make it better.

Not Allowed in Hawaii

2011-11-28T20:51:00.005-06:00

Oh man,

I forgot my memory [card] at work today,

so here's just a cellphone photo of the baby hedgehog tattoo I did.

It's probably better than any of the real camera shots I took, anyway.

{edit: nope, this real photo is WAY better, so i got rid of the cellphone one}

I did it on a day off because Rebecca leaves for Hawaii tomorrow.

But don't worry, she's planning on hanging out for a few months,

so I don't have to fret about her exposing it to the sand and sun while it heals.

She's moving out there to keep the Cucch company,

but we're all invited.

(except for your hedgehogs, they are illegal)

Meryl and I already have tickets (no kidding).

Christmas in Hawaii, kids.

Like pizza in Minnesota;

it exists, but it's weird and out of place.

I also got my foot tattoo finished,

so it's back to sexy gladiator sandals for the next few days.

(good thing it'll be a high of 34° tomorrow)

I have no idea what's on the books for tomorrow tattoo-wise,

but Handsome Adam is back at the shop,

so the day is starting with coffee,

and a grapefruit juice chaser.

Got to start the week off right....

A little bit of Portland.

2011-11-23T00:47:00.003-06:00

After working/traveling/working 18 days in a row,

I was really looking forward to my first couple days off.

I was going to write this Portland blog post then,

but it was the worst weekend ever.

I should have just kept working.

No kidding, I even got into a minor car accident.

But don't worry,

I went back to work right away,

and pretended it didn't happen.

Anyway, Portland was awesome.

My people out there are the best.

I got to hang out with Elias and his housemates,

and it just so happened that everyone swung into town that week.

Optic Nerve Tattoo is a super great shop,

but almost everyone was on vacation or away while I was there.

(maybe they called my references)

A big thank you to them for hosting me.

Korel came down from Olympia to start her peahen/peacock tattoo.

We're sleeving her right arm,

and got the outline mostly taken care of the first day.

I had a few cancelations,
so when Summer came in Day 2 for her 41rst birthday tattoo,

I was happy to accommodate.

We drew on a big phoenix in sharpie,

changed the head,

and tattooed for a couple hours.

But, since I don't live nearby,

and a half-finished chest piece is hardly a way to celebrate,

Summer came back in the next day,

and we finished it up.

For reals, kids.

They don't make many this tough.

I did my best to incorporate all her other tattoos,

cleaned up parts, covered others.

Happy Birthday, Summer.

Portland is amazing,

once you see past some of the hipsterdom.

There's beautiful things and amazing people everywhere,

and a sign that says 'vegan' in every place you go.

I'm sure come January,

Meryl and I will be spending lots of time there,

and I know a little basement bedroom that's just perfect.

Thanks again to everyone that got tattooed,

showed me around,

gave me a ride,

and let me share their space.

Jellyfish, part duex

2011-11-20T17:06:00.006-06:00

Man, 11 blog posts in a row,

and then nothing....

I flew to Portland the day after my big project,

and tattooed out there for four days.

I have some photos, and some stories,

and I hope to do that post asap.

But first, I did this jellyfish tattoo yesterday,

and thought I'd toss it up on the blog real quick.

Dani is the best.

She drove up from Kansas to work on this again,

and although it's not quite done,

it's certainly getting there.

You can check out the post from the first session here.

And she brought more food presents,

this time some loaves of homemade vegan bread.

so good.

(we'll be eating another tonight when Handsome Adam comes over for dinner)

We'll do a little more color and some background next time.

But who knows when that will be.

Here's the progress:

Louder than ten (number 11!)

2011-11-11T22:48:00.004-06:00

aaaaaaaand.....DONE!

11 tattoos,

11 days straight.

Ending today, 11/11/11.

Each with a different animal (well, one ghost),

and a different light source.

Today I finished the project with Matt,

and he got this escaping goat with a flashlight.

He's such a trooper.

He sat for 7.5 hours,

though I think he had to put up with a little more f'n around than the other 10.

I even took a break to race Handsome Adam.

(i lost)

A big thanks to him for grabbing the final day,

and for putting up with me at my not-quite-best.

The project was a lot of fun,

and a lot of work,

but I think it was super successful.

and here's a little collage of them all together.

Thanks to everyone who got one of the 11s,

I'm honored to have so many willing participants

whenever I come up with these odd tattoo plans.

And I'm also happy everyone finished their piece in one session,

nobody tapped out early,

nobody called in sick.

Everyone turned it up to 11,

and I really appreciate it.

Here's the original post about the project.

Almost done! (number 10!)

2011-11-10T22:17:00.004-06:00

Camden.

Man, I haven't seen him in a year,

and haven't tattooed him in two.

He lives in Denver these days,

but came to visit this weekend.

So Austin picked him up from the airport

and brought him right to Identity Tattoo.

We had joked that we were just going to blindfold him,

and tattoo whatever I wanted on him.

The only thing he was going to have a say in

was the color of his blindfold.

Well, I thought we were joking.

But Austin didn't.

(and Camden wasn't sure what to believe)

However.....

Oh man, Austin.

You are one sadistic friend.

We decided to be nice, though,

took the blindfold off,

and gave Camden a choice between two drawings,

ending up with this pincher beetle/lightning piece.

We did a little wash of "plum" in the bug,

so when the hurty red fades away in the rest of the background,

it'll stay purpleish-red just on the insect.

Just one more tattoo to go,

11 tattoos in 11 days,

ending 11/11/11.

Hopefully Matt is ready to rock tomorrow,

and help finish off this little project on a very Not-Casual Nigel Tufnel Day.

Turn it up, kids.

!!!

Number 9/11.

2011-11-09T19:15:00.004-06:00

You can tattoo Katie till she she's swollen and sore,

but she doesn't get any less loud.

She did so good, kids.

Really.

7 hours.

We beat up her hip bone,

and pissed off some stretch marks,

but she sat so well the whole time.

The tattoo expanded, with the help of a Sharpie,

once we put the stencil on her thigh/hip.

But she asked for it,

and I delivered.

7 hours is the longest sit so far,

(even if just by a little)

but I still have two left to go.

Tomorrow is Camden, who moved to Denver,

and hasn't gotten beat up for a while.

And then Matt is on the 11th.

Only two left!

Crazy.

Number Eight of the 11s.

2011-11-08T22:41:00.005-06:00

Austin came in and got number 8 of the 11s today,

a little demon/ghost starting fires with a Japanese paper lantern.

Those lanterns are so delicate,

just a little shake and it's on.

(aybe it was the wind,

maybe it was something else)

I really enjoyed tattooing such a non-specific subject.

Just some eyes, horns and hair.

The tattoo is on Austin's calf and shin,

but it went super easy,

and he didn't seem to mind at all.

Maybe 4 hours total.

(this is also the second tattoo we hid a little XI in...)

Seven of the Elevens.

2011-11-07T21:35:00.006-06:00

Oh man.

What a weird little project I'm in the middle of.

Today was the hardest day to fill.

I don't know if the rat (above) wasn't much of a crowd pleaser,

but no one wanted Monday, either.

Marshall was all set to stay a couple days later than planned,

and grab the rat right before he moved to New Orleans,

but then plans changed back,

and the rat was a free agent again.

So it looked like Handsome Adam was going to get one against his will,

(just kidding, he was brave and willing)

but then last minute Alleeshia said she'd take it,

but wasn't into the rat.

Somehow it turned into a dead bunny,

and since it was upside-down,

the candle went right-side-up.

And then grape vines and grapes happened.

(I don't know)

I do know that I enjoyed doing another mostly black and grey tattoo

with certain parts in color.

(kind of like this one)

I loved working on this piece,

and Alleeshia sat so well for the first 4 hours.

The 5th hour was a little iffy,

and everything past that I feared for my safety.

No kidding.

But aside from the death threats,

she was awesome,

and she even wore her NQNS shirt to the appointment.

I worked through my weekend,

but tomorrow it's back to working with the rest of the crew.

And Austin is coming in for the Japanese ghost thing.

Awesome.

Number 6 (of the 11s)

2011-11-06T17:38:00.004-06:00

Rachel was number 6 today,

which put me just over the halfway point.

Awesome.

We got a super early start,

I picked her up at 9am so that we could carpool to Maple Grove.

Good thing we got that extra added hour last night,

cause MayDay Cafe's line was extra f'n long this morning.

And speaking of MayDay,

you know what tomorrow is...

Vegan Pizza Day!

Here is the fox/lantern Rachel got.

She did great,

but after getting your stomach tattooed,

the back is pretty easy.

Almost Halfway! (number 5)

2011-11-06T01:25:00.005-05:00

Mr Shoemaker finally got his turn today,

and he was ready.

He might have the most individual pieces from me of any client, ever,

so he knows the drill.

We threw the stencil on,

got a little tip from Ben to flip the frame horizontally,

(thanks, dude!)

and then pretty much just did it.

It fit his arm super successfully,

considering it was drawn without anyone

(or any body part) in mind.

The only real break we took was one to size up another one of the 11s on Austin's leg.

Austin also brought all the guys at the shop our own individual vegan banana bread loaves that he and David baked this morning.

So good!

But I guess I don't know how long this took.

A while.

And yeah, those hooves above it are from an avian swine flu tattoo I did a few years back.

Back when it was going to kill off the human race,

if I remember correctly.

It's been a crazy week,

5 of these done so far,

and I'm not even halfway there.

It's a good thing we get to turn the clocks back tonight,

because I sure could use the extra hour.

It's 2 am right now,

and I pick up tomorrow's 11-getter at 9am to carpool to Identity.

And then I come home to a dinner party I guess.

Tonight was an aa bondy show,

and yesterday was Meryl's art show opening at MCBA.

No kidding.

Super packed nights after very full days.

Oh man, I just saw the clock go from 1:59am back to 1:00am.

Time for bed.

Enjoy your extra hour.

Number 4 of the 11s.

2011-11-05T00:34:00.004-05:00

The best part of today was when I was halfway through the outline,

Jason sees the drawing which I had taped up near-by and says,

"Dude, is that a mouse?"

Um...yup.

I don't know how he didn't notice it in the initial drawings,

or once we put the stencil on,

but I'm glad he was into it when he did notice.

Cause I'm pretty sure that's my favorite part.

The owl is in color,

but all the background is black and grey,

which is why it looks so red and hurty.

It was also 6+ hours of tattooing.

Day 3 of the 11s.

2011-11-04T00:24:00.004-05:00

This turtle/firefly tattoo was number 3 of the series,

and I believe is the only one of the 11 taken by a brand new client.

It's also the only drawing with another animal as the light source.

Chandos sat like a rock for 6ish hours,

and I couldn't have asked for a smoother session.

We made very few changes from the posted sketch to the final product:

Day 2 of the 11s.

2011-11-02T22:00:00.005-05:00

Ryan saw that I was doing a weird tattoo project,

had a spot to fill,

read it had something to do with animals,

and was all in.

He didn't know there had to be a light source involved, too,

but we figured it out today.

He got this Norwegian Fjord horse tattoo,

along with a magical viking amulet with glowing orifices as the light source.

That backwards mohawk mullet thing is really the hairstyle they rock,

I didn't make that part up.

(go check them out, they're crazy looking)

The amulet, however, is slightly fictional.

A big thanks to Ryan for hanging out all day,

and getting a 6+ hour tattoo on his shin.

the first of the 11s

2011-11-01T18:15:00.003-05:00

Pat helped me kick off my 11s project today,

getting this hermit crab/lighthouse morph on his right arm elbow area.

He sat like a rock,

and was all about the 4 hour block of Black Keys we listened to.

(the rest of the night is all Honeyhoney,

which is awesome,

but they only have two albums.

It's been a HH sing-along since saturday night)

But anyway,

I'm happy to finally have this project under way.

One tattoo down, ten to go.

Big Holiday Weekend Action

2011-10-30T13:28:00.002-05:00

Oh man.
Sometimes work isn't much fun,
unpleasant clients with terrible requests.
But yesterday....
one of the best days ever.
Three of my favorite pieces,
all brought to completion.

First I reworked the strawberries on Liz's thigh piece,
and it's finally done-done.
And I mean it this time.

Then Jenny came in for another Mastodon session,
and we finished that up, too.
I only got a few terrible photos of it,
but I didn't want to leave it out.
So here's a bad photo of a hurty and swollen tattoo.
The feather is actually in color, reds and purples,
you just can't tell here.
Jenny's the toughest.
She just studied the diseases of spleens while I tattooed her,
and doesn't even seem to notice I'm even there.
Amazing.

And then, I got work on and finish up this Japanese fan chest piece on Katelyn.
Again, here's a photo from immediately after tattooing,
so it's super red and angry looking,
but I'm terrible at waiting.
I'll get a healed photo soon,
for all three of these.

How do you finish off a day of super fun tattoo action?

A honeyhoney show, of course.
And although joshua james went on right before them,
and did his best to ruin the night,
honeyhoney stepped it up,
took it over,
and rocked it out.
So f'n good.
And lots of our people knew what was up.
Identity sans Mr Lambright were there
(and Suzanne gave the shop a shout out!)
Liz and her posse and her finished tattoo showed up en masse.
Tiffany and friends were there.
Handsome Adam's friends were there.
OTHER clients that I didn't even know were going to be there were there.
It was a night, kids,
and it was such a good day, too.

If you want the what's up for tonight,
get yourself to Hidden Falls Park for some super sexy Halloween costume and puppet fun.
And then we're headed to Cult Status
for the annual God's and Monsters art show.
And it's mischief night,
even though the midwest doesn't know what that is
any more than they know what a "tag sale" is.
I'm happy to teach.

Happy Halloween Weekend.
Better not miss out.

Not even a real berry.

2011-10-24T11:38:00.004-05:00

I started this nest in a strawberry plant a while ago,

but wanted to wait till I had healed photos to show it off.

Unfortunately, all of it is not quite healed yet in this photo,

and I still need to touch up the strawberries some,

but I couldn't wait any longer.

It's one of my favorites,

because of subject matter, style, and the way it fits on her leg.

I also had a lot of freedom with it,

which was super nice.

When it's 100% done and healed,

I'll get some detail shots, too,

like of the little slug on one of the leaves.

OshKosh B'gosh

2011-10-23T11:14:00.003-05:00

Vicki wanted a memorial tattoo for her father,

but I was all out of crosses with wings,

so she settled for this squirrel.

Oh!

Kidding.

Vicki will most likely think that's funny.

(i hope)

She's one of my favorites,

and it's not because she heals her tattoos really well.

It's been a minute since I've done an anthropomorphic tattoo,

I miss doing them.

Lately I've been doing some big, realistic animals,

and I forget about these fun one session pieces.

But yeah.

Thanks Vicki.

NSFW (if you got a sucky job)

2011-10-22T02:17:00.009-05:00

Jill is a champ.

She took a last minute opening on Thursday

(announced on my Facebook page)

and got this pelvic snail and mushroom scene started.

And then, the VERY NEXT DAY,

I had another cancelation,

and she came back in for some coloring.

I think that's awesome.

I don't think I'd ever do it,

but I applaud her badassery.

For real.

(but then again,

I know some of her friends,

so I'm not that surprised)

I can't wait to finish it,

I almost hope I get no-showed tomorrow.

The mushroom on the left is a scarred star cover-up,

as well as incorporating a birthmark

Somewhere in between snail sessions,

I did this skull and flowers tattoo on a forearm.

After work, I've been heading to MCBA

(Minnesota Center for Book Arts)

to help Meryl with her big art book project.

(Molly has been documenting some of it here and here)

Long days, kids.

It's 2:30am right now,

and we just finished making a plaster cast of her shoulder.

I have to go to work tomorrow,

then back to MCBA.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Sometime after 1am yesterday,

while we were the only people in the building,

we scared ourselves silly.

(tonight all I saw was an ugly little mouse)

But really.

Haunted basements?

The Soapfactory has nothing on MCBA.

If you want to get your Halloween on,

I know Meryl could use some night helpers.

Like the end of something wonderful sometimes

2011-10-17T23:47:00.003-05:00

Well, I guess I lied.

But it wasn't my fault.

You KNOW I got the vegan pizza,

and this photo is Walt of DarkDarkDark and

Why are we building such a big ship?

rocking it solo,

so you know I was at the show.

But Mr Sweet was sick today,

so my foot tattoo was postponed.

That's fine.

I hate getting tattooed anyway.

That shit hurts.

But the show was pretty dope.

Walt rocked the house.

Drums, trumpet, and accordion all at once?

So sexy.

And Nona Marie and the Choir were wonderful, too.

All cover songs, except for the last one,

when a few people joined them for "It's a secret".

It was a tape release show,

and I brought a couple home.

Yeah, cassette tapes.

Luckily I still have the ability to play those things at my house.

Masochistic Mastodon

2011-10-16T19:41:00.003-05:00

Started this mastodon thigh/butt piece this week.

Jenny cracks me up,

I think she only got this as a stress release from school.

I mean, I think she also wanted a mastodon tattoo,

but I'm not 100% sure.

She also read her physics text book the entire time,

and didn't seem to mind the pain at all.

Awesome.

I hope it helped,

she has some big tests coming up this week.

Not sure how much longer we have to go,

but I can't wait to work on it again.

I've started a pile of big, new projects lately,

and I'm hoping to have most of them wrapped up

before I go to Oregon for three months.

Unless you'd all like to come visit Grants Pass?

I'll be there mid-January to mid-April.

I'll be in Portland Oregon even sooner,

November 13-16th,

and I still have a few spots available.

I ALSO have a few of the November 11s drawings still up for grabs.

I should go through the other post and mark the taken ones for anyone not following the progress on Facebook.

Tomorrow is going to be pretty awesome.

Monday is always Vegan Pizza Day at Mayday Cafe.

Then I get my foot tattooed by Jon Sweet.

And then, as long as I'm not being a huge baby,

I'm going to the Nona Marie and the choir show at Bryant Lake Bowl.

You should go, I'll be the dude in the front row

not wearing a shoe on my right foot.

Midwest Jellyfish

2011-10-14T18:55:00.007-05:00

You know what hurts?

Ass tattoos.

No kidding.

Dani did so awesome, though.

Not only did she drive up from Kansas

to get a serious start on a big all-over jellyfish,

but she brought me super awesome vegan cupcakes.

From Kansas.

I didn't even know they HAD vegans in Kansas.

I tattoo Dani's boyfriend, Will, today.

Working on a half sleeve that I started exactly 3 years ago next week.

No rush, kids.

ha.

Hope your Saturday is rad,

I'll be tattooing and eating too much sugar.

National Coming Out Day.

2011-10-13T13:56:00.004-05:00

How did you celebrate?

Katie threw a big gay three way matching tattoo party in my station,

and everyone got similar popcorn pieces.

Plain, cheddar, and caramel,

color coded according to ethnicity.

(no kidding)

That's Katie in the center,

posing lewdly for Handsome Adam and his camera.

(but mostly just for him)

Jay and Billy were lots of fun,

and I'm glad the holiday was observed appropriately.

November Days

2011-10-11T23:31:00.001-05:00

It's the eleventh,
so here's the rough drawings for next month.
Eleven pieces,
one for each of the first 11 days of November.
I'm working 11 days straight,
so that the last tattoo will end on 11-11-11.
Get it?
Choose a drawing,
choose a day,
and then we do this.
Color or black and grey, your pick.
$400 each.
I expect them to take 4-7 hours each,
depending on everything these things depend on.
The only catch is that you need to get it done all in one shot.
No two session pieces.
If you don't think you can sit for the whole thing at once,
maybe sit this one out.

Light and Darkness.
11x.
(there's ten here,
the 11th one will be up at a future date)

Foot Time.

2011-10-06T00:19:00.005-05:00

I did this little cuckoo clock on Bria's foot today,
as a tribute to her grandmother.
Super fun, and she sat so well.
(she also took the above photo,
which i stole from her facebook page)

I'm getting MY foot tattooed next week.
Mr Jon Sweet of Uptown Tattoo will be doing something for me.
My right foot, believe it or not,
is completely empty right now.
I'm not exactly sure why I'm getting it,
everyone knows those things never leave their boots.
But it'll be one of the best never-seen tattoos ever, I'm sure.

Cherry on a Spoon.

2011-10-04T22:55:00.003-05:00

Cody and I have been working steadily on his MN leg sleeve,
and I look forward to unveiling it in the not-too-distant future.
We skip around a lot to avoid healing areas,
and today we worked on the bottom part;
Minneapolis' 'Spoonbridge and Cherry' art piece from the
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
We even did a little reflection of it in the pond below,
and I thought that was kinda cute,
so I snapped a little phone photo to end my lack of blogging as of late.

You know what else I did today?
Bought my plane tickets for Portland, Oregon.
I'll be tattooing at Optic Nerve November 13-16th.
If you want to book some time with me while I'm out there,
let me know asap.
Four days fill up fast!

Unfinished Business.

2011-09-28T10:18:00.003-05:00

This tattoo was supposed to be an all-dayer,
but that didn't happen.
Tattoos hurt, kids.
Problem is, Eric-Pete lives everywhere but Minnesota,
so we're hoping, hoping, hoping we figure out a way to finish it up before 2012.
Maybe Portland in November?
Or MN in December?
Otherwise it's Grants Pass, Oregon from January to April.

Anyway, it's a raven choking out an owl.
No kidding.
His idea, and we were all a little jealous.
I wish I finished, and had the whole thing to post,
but just a little peek for now....

I did tons of painting all weekend,
and I'll have plenty to post soon.
Two different shows are happening in October that I have pieces in,
one here in MPLS,
and one in Connecticut.
Busy work weeks,
and busier weekends.
Don't forget to enjoy the outside,
it'll be winter before we know it.

Think of a place I would go...

2011-09-25T10:48:00.004-05:00

Finished this hawk tattoo up yesterday.
It was a pretty big project,
and done in two sessions with only two weeks in between.
I had a lot of fun doing it,
and learned a few things, too.
(mainly, don't take photos of your tattoos
against a tie-dye shirt background)

....I'm daydreaming.
If I'm not at home here in the Louderhorn Inn,
Maynard House in Northampton is the next best thing.
And I've never wanted to be there so much as I did last night.
A DarkDarkDark sleepover party?
Damn.
I am one jealous dude.
I know it went well,
because Amy is the best.
It's good to have rad friends.

Ball Bashtabula

2011-09-23T02:12:00.004-05:00

I had this lovely post all typed out about my little detour to Ashtabula, OH,
to visit FX Tattoos, the Tubbs Family,
and to see the Ashtabula Lighthouse.
But Miss Mandi dropped a little comment on my blog before I published it,
so I erased it and decided to dedicate this to her, instead.
Mandi is the biggest ball buster in all of Ohio.
For real.
I'm no match for her abilities.
And she takes it to amazing lengths.
She keeps trying to get me to go out there and tattoo her,
but ever time I do,
she gets pregnant just to mess with me.
(pregnant women shouldn't get tattoos,
for any of those who didn't know)
So I still haven't tattooed her,
and she's working on her fourth kid.
ha.

Here's Jr on the beach with me,
trying to find some "sea" glass.
It's amazing being on the great lakes,
because they seem just like an ocean,
but they are missing that salt water smell.
They still do have some top notch lighthouses, though.

The guys of FX Tattoos are super rad,
and I was given a sexy deer skull gift when I arrived.
I tried to tie it to the grill of my Yaris,
but it had to ride shotgun to MA instead.

I DID get a photo of me with my likeness on Dustin's leg.
(the portrait tattoo of me that JR did to win the Antler/Crutch War of 2008)
Yup, that's me, with antlers,
a Dr Pepper can (a little outdated, eh?),
some acorns/leaves,
and a banner that says "shawnhebrank.com".
I'm not sure why he's grabbing his balls in the photo.
I think over the years he's developed a fetish or something,
since every time his wiener is out,
my face is right there, too.
Yeah, I know, gross.
How do you think I feel?
I'm invited to every party in Dustin's pants,
and attendance is mandatory.

All joking aside,
the Tubbs are an amazing family,
with wonderful kids,
and super sweet friends.
(except Dustin, he is actually a sexual deviant)
And it's nice knowing that I can make JR have another daughter whenever I want,
just by promising to visit.
And since it's always fun,
I'll plan on visiting every nine months or so.

I don't even exercise.

2011-09-23T01:52:00.004-05:00

As Josh and I were working on his lion/deadbird tattoo,
he said I could do whatever I wanted with the rest of his arm.
No kidding.
I've had a few of those offers lately,
and I couldn't be more flattered.
(but sometimes it feels like:
"Oh good, my way. Thank you Vizzini... Which way's my way?")

So this is what got started on today;
an elephant shooting fire from it's trunk.
And flowers, of course,
though most of those are tucked under his arm.

It was a lot of outlining,
and since the next appointment isn't for a whole month,
I wanted to share the progress.
Click the photo to enlarge.

Welcome to Paradise

2011-09-21T01:22:00.010-05:00

I'd never been to the Paradise Tattoo Gathering before,
but this year I was convinced to go,
and it turned out a million times better than I expected.
It's way different than other conventions;
there's less public,
and it's mostly just filled with tattoo artists, aspiring tattoo artists,
and serious tattoo collectors.
There's seminars/panels all day every day on painting, tattooing, taxes, etc.
It's pretty nuts.
I took a Shawn Barber painting seminar,
met a bunch of awesome people,
did a few fun tattoos, etc.
But there were two things about the weekend that topped it all.
Amy and Jamie came out from Northampton to stay with me for the weekend,
and I got to share a double booth with Jeff Gogue, Mick Squires (of Australia), and Horien (of Japan).

I think the Amy and Jamie hangout time made everything so much better.
They brought batches of homemade vegan cookies,
and boxes of vegan chocolates.
They brought smiles, hugs, and laughs.
They are two of the best people I've ever met,
and I couldn't have been happier that they weekended with me.
They got along with everyone,
are brutally helpful,
and took a ton of wonderful photos for me.

Sharing a booth with Jeff Gogue and friends was pretty amazing.
Jeff was the keynote speaker of the convention,
and all of his art was on all of the promotional materials.
He is kind of the entire face of Paradise.
He is also one of the most inspiring people I have ever met,
and it was a huge honor to have been included in that booth.
Usually I come away from tattoo conventions with no voice,
tired, cranky, etc,
but this time I left hungrier than ever,
and full of drive.
I'm somehow even more excited to go out to Oregon in January for the extended guest spot.

I did two new tattoos during the convention.
This big leg addition is on Scout,
a fantastic artist and tattoo apprentice in Northampton, MA.
She already had the mermaid,
but we added some fish morphing into birds going up her leg.
We got all the black and grey work taken care of,
and next time we'll do the color.
She sat like a champ,
and a lot of fun to talk to.

Todd H came and got tattooed,
and it was fun hanging out with him, too.
(as always)
He got a memorial tattoo for his friend I once met while tattooing him.
She died last year, and he wanted a piece based on her nickname,
"stubborn jungle man bad guy".
That's certainly the right way to remember the good times.

Thanks to everyone who helped made it a fantastic weekend,
especially the people at Off the Map/TattooNow who put it all on.
And for Miss Mary Bowen,
since she always looks out for me extra special...

Thumbs Up!

2011-09-09T22:34:00.003-05:00

Miss Burgess and Jay filled the latter part of my Not-Casual-Friday
with matching "thumbs up" tattoos.
And banners reading "Yes, Please".
And to be honest,
I don't think I caught the whole story.
(but I think it's a little dirty)
Who knows?
We were too busy laughing too loudly to worry about backstory.
So make up your own questions to pose to Katie's ribs.

Taking Bill Murray to the beach...

2011-09-09T08:37:00.003-05:00

This is kind of like a healed photo, right?
I'm promised more, bigger, better ones,
but i'll take what I can get.

What do I have to do to get 8 more people "following" this blog?
Contests/giveaways?
More photos of tattooed women on the beach?
Let me know,
and i'm on it.
I've been fixated on hitting 100 for a while now.
I don't even care if you read it ever again,
but that nice solid number is taunting me.

I am tattooing Miss Burgess again at Identity Tattoo today.
yup.
Cover your ears, kids,
the cackling will be deafening.
We can't help it.
There's a few people who bring out the best
(worst? loudest?)
in me,
and she's one of them.
I hope everyone else in the shop was bad last night,
because they're about to be punished.

Tested.

2011-09-07T23:09:00.005-05:00

Really.
And with Blake as my witness, I stood my ground.
Not 13 hours after making the new rule concerning MN pride tattoos,
a very nice young lady came into the shop,
asking for me specifically,
and wanting a "minneapolis skyline tramp stamp".
But she'd only been to 5 states other than MN,
(not the now mandatory 10)
so I passed her off to Ben.
Rules are rules,
even if the ink that penned them isn't even dry yet.

Blake was getting a start on his new Halloween half-sleeve,
a zombie scarecrow thing on his outer forearm.
I'm excited about the whole project,
we mapped it all out,
and got some of it outlined and shaded.
Here's the in-progress outline:

I can't believe I leave so soon for the east coast
Tuesday I'll be getting in the car,
and driving insane amounts.
The first leg is 812 miles to Ashtabula, OH.
I'm stopping at FX Tattoos for some high fives and butt slaps,
and then driving the rest of the way wednesday.
I'm not even close to ready or prepared,
and more than a little bit stressed out,
but my good friend Amy Briggs will be there,
(with vegan cookies!)
so I know it'll all be ok.

I'm tattooing AND getting tattooed
while at the Paradise Tattoo Convention.
Jeff Gogue will be working on my big front piece on Friday.
If you're around, come visit.
I'll be mostly naked and crying,
and there will be a couple hundred people trying to watch.
I know, sounds like so much fun....

Land of 11,842 lakes.

2011-09-07T01:30:00.005-05:00

Yeah, someone counted.

A start to a MN pride leg sleeve.
Big love for the sota, none of that mini shit.
And it's his first tattoo.
Ankle to upper thigh.
No kidding.
AND he's been to almost 30 states, so he can pick favorites.

You know what drives me nuts?
The dudes who come in to get a little state outline,
and tell me how dope Minnesota is,
and how it's the best state,
and all of that.
Dudes, you don't have to convince me,
I moved here.
From some other state.
You were born here and have visited only South Dakota and Wisconsin.
(Duluth doesn't count as a separate state)

I'm enacting a new policy, right now.
You have to have been to at least ten states
in order to get a "MN Pride Tattoo".
(and I'm leaning toward only counting the Dakotas as one)
Even if (especially if?) it's only a little state outline.
And 15 states if you want it behind your ear.
Trust me, it's for your own good.
Some day, you'll visit Chicago,
(or somewhere REALLY crazy, like New York)
and your whole world will be blown.

Anyway, Cody's leg sleeve has it all,
except for Prince.
I thought he'd fit in perfectly riding the wolf,
especially if we were doing it in color,
and could use lots of 80's purple.
But black and grey is is,
so Prince was out.
Oh well.
I'm still having fun.

"This is the light that shines..

2011-09-05T01:01:00.005-05:00

...and I can see the pines are dancing."

Handsome Adam got his full birthday present now,
since I spent part of my day off tattooing his second hand.
He got the moth almost a week ago,
and we finished it all up today with the mason jar lantern on his left hand.
(the left side of the jar isn't warped in real life, just in the photo)

The strangest part of it all
(other than knowingly f'n up your friend's future)
was trying to work with what he already had.
Mr Todd Lambright had done both of Adam's existing sleeves,
and uses really saturated, vibrant colors
(and I usually do the complete opposite).
But we had to blend it all together,
so this lantern tattoo has a red background,
and the moth has a blue one to match what was already there.
Here's his naked hands to show where we started from.

A few people turned me on to A.A. Bondy this week,
so here I am passing on the favor.
He'll be in town November 5th at the 7th St Entry.
I'll be doing one of my "elevens" tattoos that day,
but be sure I'll be attending this that evening.

A How To:*

2011-09-01T19:02:00.006-05:00

How to Piss Off or Win Over your tattoo artist.

There's few things more infuriating than 'no call, no shows' at work,
especially when it's a full day appointment,
and I've done all the drawing for it ahead of time,
AND they confirm the day before the appointment that they are,

in fact, coming in.
It makes me go bananas.

But before I gave in to my homicidal urges,
Handsome Adam used his good hand to call Ms Broccoli Stegosaurus,
and see if she wanted to come in a few days early.
And did she?
yup.
Crisis(es) adverted.

I couldn't be any more excited about this moth-eaten hand-fan chest piece.
And now she's been added to my "favorite clients" list
for her willingness to not only get a tattoo I've been dying to do for a while,
but also to get into the tattoo chair at a moments notice.

She isn't exactly fond of her tattoo shop nickname,
(and that's usually set in stone)
but if anyone has earned the right to get a new one, it's her.
So, maybe by the time we show off the finished product,
we'll be referring to her by something else.
Something she believes suits her a little better.
We'll see.

* This post has been slightly reworded due to the misuse of specific terminology
that was misleading, wrong, and offensive.
For a more accurate definitions about list removal,
please go here.

Brand New Skin

2011-08-31T01:16:00.003-05:00

When J.L. was 2 years old,
she got hot grease spilled onto her chest,
and it scarred up pretty seriously.
28 years later she decided to get the spot tattooed,
and in two sessions we put some waves there.
Not to hide them, per se,
but instead to put something there she'd rather see
when she looked in the mirror.

The scar tissue was really varied in thickness and texture,
(notice the shininess in spots)
and some areas gave me a lot of trouble.
This photo is not long after the second session,
so some of the waves are fully healed,
while the bottom and ones on the left are fresh
(and thus darker right now).

It was a really interesting project,
and I'm happy with how it turned out.
(and the little bit of tie-in to the swirly tattoo on the right)
I don't usually tattoo over burn scars due to their inconsistent nature,
but this worked out well.
Thanks to J.L. for her patience and trust.

Backhanded Birthdays

2011-08-29T23:02:00.010-05:00

Now-Slightly-Less Handsome Adam got his right hand tattooed today.
Nothing like pain and swelling to celebrate getting older.
Though, if you've ever seen Adam getting tattooed or lazered,
you'd know he takes it like the toughest of badasses.
He doesn't seem to care at all.
We had a HoneyHoney sing along during the session,
and listened to both their albums.
Twice.

Today was only half of a birthday gift.
Next week we'll do the other hand,
and it'll look something like this stencil/marker mess we made today.
One at a time, though.

Baby Portfolios of Cuteness

2011-08-29T01:00:00.005-05:00

This is the 500th post.
Which normally would be an accomplishment to be proud of,
but I'm friends with Albie Rock, kids,
and he's way ahead.
Like 800 posts ahead.
And he started after me, too,
at the less-than-gentle prodding of yours truly.
(really, i just started it for him one day)
And since there's no catching up,
500 is just a minor milestone along the way.

But anyway,
since I'm heading to Oregon to work at GogueArt for 3 months,
and having to build a mostly new clientele out there,
I decided to make up these mini portfolios sans shop info.
Just links to where I live in the online world,
my website, this blog, tumblr, etc.
That little thing on the front is a qr code for all your robotphones,
and sends you directly to shawnhebrank.com when scanned.

For some reason I didn't take a photo of the backside
(and that's always the best part, right?)

The idea came from my Japan trip a year and a half ago.
There was a shop there called Cat's Claw that gave away printed portfolios,
and a restaurant that had a mini accordion style menu.
You combine those two ideas,
and ask the awesome Robyn Seguin for her graphic/layout expertise,
and this happens.
You need some printed material, too?
Email her: seguin.robyn@gmail.com
She has a lot of skills with this type of thing,
she just doesn't tell anyone.

Party Hopping

2011-08-29T00:04:00.005-05:00

Meryl and I flew to Colorado for her sister Nicole's wedding,
but it was a super quick less-than-3-day visit.

Fly in, drive, rehearsal dinner, drive, bed.
wake up, drive, wedding, drive, bed.
wake up, drive, hike, fly home,
(and then do a birthday dinner for handsome adam!)

Here's us post-vows with our nephew Sia:

We went hiking at Brainard Lake near Boulder.
Meryl took this photo,
and others just as sexy here.
It's pretty unreal out there.

Once we landed in MPLS,
we still had a birthday dinner to attend.
Identity's Handsome Adam had his golden birthday,
27 on the 27th!
We ate too much blops at T's Place,
since that's tradition now.
We had lots of mango juice, too, of course.
And then,
since shots on your birthday is part of T's tradition,
we had some birthday mango shots.
Just look at me.
That's a dude who doesn't know what state he's in.
Or maybe just poorly adjusting to normal altitude.

Ruining Adam's bday photos wasn't my only birthday gift to him.
Tomorrow I'm going to ruin his future, too!
How?
Hand tattoos.
Well, just one tomorrow.
(only a-holes get both their hands done in one day)

And then with that comes some big nickname changes.
"Handsome Adam" will also be known as:
"Don't Date My Daughter Adam",
"We're Following You Around the Store Because You Look Sketchy Adam",
and my favorite,
"What Does Your Mother Think About That Adam".
Yup.
27 and all grown up.

Happy Weddings and Happy Birthdays.
You throw the party,
and we'll be there.

A little extra bit more

2011-08-24T01:01:00.004-05:00

Yup, the Dark Dark Dark "Celebrate" video is already up.
My face gets a little cameratime at a few spots (1:54 and 3:31),
and it's kinda funny to see myself.
Luckily I just got a haircut that morning,
otherwise everyone would have thought Justin Bieber made a cameo.
yuck.

And just so it's not three exclusively DDD related posts in a row,
here's the stencil/sharpie stage of a backpiece I started today.
The existing tree/feet/moons were done by someone else,
I'm just excited to do all of this artichoke, eggplant, sunflower and snail action.
More of all of that soon.

The Big Show.

2011-08-23T15:03:00.004-05:00

Last night was a blast.
Getting to work with Marshall, Dark Dark Dark,
and all the other talented people involved
doing the live score to Fritz Lang's "Spies" at the Walker Art's Center
was a pretty awesome experience.
We performed in front of a few thousand people,
and it seemed like a big success.
Meryl took the above photo as the movie was just starting,
and then I found this clip on YouTube of the train crash scene.

We also did a music video for DDD's "Celebrate"
while we were at the Walker,
and hopefully that will be released soon.

Now that all of this is done,
I'm back to having rehearsal-less Sundays
(and I'm expecting some series stepping withdrawals).
Goodbye, dear Spychestra Crew.
I'll be hearing your beats in my dreams.

Spies!

2011-08-22T11:05:00.005-05:00

Tonight is the DarkDarkDark and Modern Times Spychestra performance,
we're doing a live score to Fritz Langs's silent film "Spies".
Minneapolis' Walker Art Center
It'll be outside if it doesn't rain,
and it's free,
so if you miss it,
you're probably an a-hole.
If it rains,
it'll be in the Walker's theatre space that we did the rehearsal in last night.
That's what these photos are from,
expertly taken by Meryl.
(and there's even more here)

It's been really amazing working on this,
and being a part of it.
(even without any musical talent,
dance skills, or singing ability!)
I'm excited for the actual performance tonight,
hope to see you there...

Too many words...

2011-08-18T22:46:00.005-05:00

...no room for photos.

Plans.
I've made some serious plans for the rest of 2011,
and the first few months of 2012.
I'll start with the new year plans and work backward.

In January, Meryl and I will be headed West.
Back to Grants Pass, but this time we'll stay for 3 months!
We'll be living out there,
and I'll be working at GogueArt,
Jeff Gogue's tattoo shop and art gallery.
I'm beyond excited,
and I feel like the luckiest,
most fortunate tattoo artist in the world right now.
Jeff is such an amazing and inspiring person,
and I look forward to four months of growth in both tattooing and painting.
Obviously, I don't have a Grants Pass clientele,
so I might be doing some guest spots occasionally in Portland,
but otherwise, that's where you'll be able to find me.
Then, in April, we'll be moving back to Minneapolis.

So with that departure date in mind,
I have committed to only two (tattooing) travel plans for the rest of 2011.
In September (15th-18th) I'll be doing the Paradise Tattoo Gathering at Jiminy Peak in MA,
and in November (13th-16th) I'll be at Optic Nerve in Portland, OR.

I will also be doing a big tattoo project the first 11 days of November.
I'll be doing one 5 hour(ish) tattoo each day,
starting November 1rst,
and ending November 11th.
(11/11/11)
I'm almost done with the 11 drawings for that,
and will have them at the shop for viewing and booking soon.
If you already know you need one,
contact me for more details,
and to save your spot.
And then after November 11th,
I'm thinking of printing up a little art zine
with the drawings and finished tattoos in it.
.
.
.
Aside from all of that,
if you're working on some tattoo projects
(that you want finished before January),
come by Identity Tattoo and have Handsome Adam book a series of appointments.
The rest of August is booked,
and September is filling up, too.
And if you're unable to come into the shop to leave a deposit
(let's say you don't live in MN),
I can take paypal deposits now, too.
Just email me.

That's pretty much everything.
Minneapolis and both coasts,
tattooing and moving and all of that.

full moon over minneapolis

2011-08-13T21:05:00.005-05:00

It's a big, beautiful, full moon out tonight.
I took Shamira for a walk around Powderhorn Park
when I got home from work,
and it was so bright.
Which was good, because it helped me not step on any of the frogs (toads?)
that weren't trying very hard not to get stepped on.

I got to end my week on a positive note* with this half sleeve.
No joke, the only direction I was given was "something pretty".
And then this happened.
Handsome Adam was a little trigger happy with the camera today,
so I have some nice progress shots.
(thanks adam!)
Stencil/marker, in progress, and final product.
6 hours total.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

*thank goodness, too.
because, man, one of friday's appointments
brought me right to the brink of crazy.
it wasn't pretty.
i somehow even lost my dress shirt, but kept the tie on.
and then went to go scrub tubes to calm down.
check out how defeated i look.
well, i know, i always kinda look like that.
but trust me,
i was not amused.
but no matter how bad it was,
it was still only the third worst client experience i've ever had.
you know connecticut still holds first AND second place in terrible tattoo getters.
forever.

Slow and sexy

2011-08-04T19:51:00.005-05:00

Max and his friend Ally,
(both from Connecticut )
are heading cross country,
and Max decided he needed a sexy pin up sloth tattoo,
so I figured out a way to squeeze him in.
He says Varga was his grandmother's brother,
and he wanted a sloth after visiting Costa Rica recently.
Somehow, those got put together into Max's first ever tattoo.
Sloths are weird, for sure,
but way weirder when trying to look sexy.
Here's a link to the original Varga pose we used.

Max never even got to see Minneapolis,
since they drove up from Chicago that morning,
and they kept heading west as soon as we finished.
But Ally did head into the city
and checked out the mill ruins for a bit while the tattoo was in progress.
I gave them a few spots not to miss on their travels,
a few email address,
and some good luck wishes.

dirt love.

2011-08-02T00:18:00.004-05:00

Peyton stayed with us at Louderhorn Inn this weekend,
and we showed her around some parts of MPLS that she's never seen before.
I never get tired of those mill ruins downtown,
so if you're coming to visit,
I'll take you there, too.

Peyton is getting a doctorate in microscopic soil bugs.
Or dirt creatures.
I don't really know,
but I like the parts about symbiotic relationships,
especially between mushrooms and trees.
Anyway, we worked on her sleeve some more today,
mushrooms and ferns and roots and mycorrhiza.

It's slightly less scientific
(but still kind of relevant):
Over at Ilovedeadbirds.com
we're having a little contest.
A vote of the best photo/post from the last two years,
since the blog's 2nd anniversary is coming up.
Head over there and vote on your favorite.
And here's to another two years of loving dead birds!

"To the stars on the wings of a pig"

2011-07-29T00:24:00.005-05:00

Strangely enough,
the client who got the flying pig tattoo has a brother
who also wanted a flying pig tattoo!
So today I got to do another one;
similar, but different.

The original brother, Chris,
stopped in recently to show me the tattoo all healed up.
Which is awesome,
especially with black and grey tattoos.

I don't usually post healed photos,
but since it's a flying pig filled day, today,
here is that one, too:

It's a documentary! It's all really happening!

2011-07-27T00:10:00.003-05:00

Bill Murray.
Portraits aren't my thing, I guess you could say.
I don't think I've done an actual person portrait
in the entire 4 years I've been at Identity Tattoo.
But this request for Bill Murray,
with fake flowers stuck to his beard,
and on one of the Johnson twins.....
well, sometimes you do what you feel you have to do.

Riley wanted Mr Murray on her "almost butt",
and was coming into town for a week.
I didn't want to miss a chance to see her
and do a silly tattoo at the same time,
so I said "yes".
Plus, as far as actors go,
he's pretty much my favorite.
Thanks for the push, Riley.

Breakfast Time

2011-07-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

The breakfast feet got finished on Friday.
(i posted an in-progress here)

I don't even know what I'd get for a breakfast tattoo,
everything I eat in the morning is ugly.
Really.
Mayday Cafe's vegan scones?
Not exactly "tattooable".
Or their vegan pizza only available on Mondays?
Seward Cafe's tofu earth (earth-nest)?
Or cranberry walnut bread for toast from the Wedge?
And now, my new favorite brunch place,
Modern Times Cafe (not to be confused with Hard Times)
has some awesome eats, but I don't yet have a "usual".
But it won't be too long,
Meryl and I were just there this morning.

But yeah, I'm glad Ben's breakfast of choice wasn't as bloppy as most of the foods I eat.

Saving the Day.

2011-07-22T01:04:00.004-05:00

I had a super rad windmill tattoo planned for today,
but they had to cancel due to serious spousal disapproval.
No kidding...
Maybe they were anti-sustainable energy,
or just dislike the Dutch, a lot.....
who knows?

But I then had a decent (and short-notice) time slot available,
and was hoping for something to fill the spot so that I didn't just sit around moping about how I wan't tattooing a windmill.
Thankfully, Austin stopped by and scooped it up.

This squirrel wraps around his arm quite a bit,
and then onto his shoulder blade,
so here is us trying to get as much of it into the photo as possible.
But since it mostly just looks like weird foreshortening,
I'll have to take new ones soon.
(edit: here's another angle added)

It stopped being so unbearably hot, finally.
It looks like all of that mess headed east.
Thank goodness, though.
I was almost wishing for winter again.
So yeah, sorry Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire....
(kinda)
but those kind of temperatures are not welcome here.

Cover-alls

2011-07-21T00:33:00.002-05:00

Rachel had a tattoo she didn't like,
and a desire for some big cherry blossom action,
so we did some cover up backpiece work.
Usually I leave most of the cover up "fun" to Mr. Ben Rettke,
but I never seem to turn down a tree or animal tattoo.
Plus, Rachel is the client who has the Gremlins foot,
so you have to hold onto those few sacred rad clients.

Today was the second session;
it was maybe 6 or 7 hours combined.
I'd say she sits like a rock,
but that'd be a terrible lie.
She somehow keeps her back still,
and wriggles the rest of her entire body.
Whatever works, I guess...

It's like a sweaty armpit outside.

2011-07-17T15:54:00.002-05:00

Oh, Katie....
She and her friend Jill took up most of my Saturday.
I did matching goat tattoos on them,
with a banner reading "IN IT TO WIN IT!".
Some kind of stubborn Capricorn pride tattoo, I was told.
And then, because it was completely way too easy/painless/quick,
she also had me tattoo an ice cream cone in her armpit.
You know what's worse than getting your armpit tattooed?
Trying to heal an armpit tattoo when it's 93º out with 90% humidity.
I think just being outside at all today is against the "no swimming" rule.
It's so gross out.

A straight up birthday shoutout!

2011-07-15T23:57:00.005-05:00

Maynard House's Miss Briggs got a little older today.
As far as people go, she's one of the best.
There haven't been too many people that I've met,
and immediately liked so much.
(and even fewer that liked me back!)
I hope she had an awesome day,
but knowing her girlfriend Jaime,
I'm sure it was dope.

I recently got some healed photos of her arm and chestpiece.
I have no idea why I didn't have these before,
but I have them now!
Happy Birthday Amy!
Thank you for your friendship, hospitality,
inspiration (and tax help).
xxoo.

Music Makers

2011-07-15T00:24:00.003-05:00

I did this zebrawood-guitar-turning-into-a-cherry-blossom-branch tattoo today.

The guitar makes me want to give some music recommendations,
which I don't usually do on here,
but you'll like them if you're not sucky.
I promise.

Eddie Vedder released Ukelele Songs a little while ago,
and it's awesome.
Here's a video for Longing to Belong

William Elliot Whitmore's Field Songs came out Tuesday,
and it's being played pretty non-stop.
Everything Gets Gone

My dad happens to be in town for business,
and tomorrow we get to hang out.
So just a half day at work for me, kids.
I could use it,
I've been working my butt off lately.
But Saturday I have a truly awesome tattoo schedule.
My good friend Katie is coming in to get some terrible ideas tattooed,
and I can't wait.
We're the loudest laughing pair you've ever heard.
And she really makes me tattoo the worst places.
This time, it's an armpit.
Nice.

If a bare bottom is NSFW....

2011-07-11T23:26:00.004-05:00

...you probably have a sucky job.

Anyone who's been in the shop since November has seen the statue stencil hanging up in my station.
I started the tattoo way back then,
and posted about it here.
We didn't work on it for a few months,
which only made me more anxious to work on it again,
but we hammered out a few sessions in a row recently to get it done.
And today Hannah and I met up to take some (almost completely) healed photos.

(the photos get bigger if you click on them, of course)

A big thank you goes out to Hannah,
she was so tough, and sat so well,
and made the whole process super fun and easy.

Pyrotechnics in Powderhorn

2011-07-05T00:43:00.003-05:00

Man, it's been a minute since Painting Mondays were in effect.
But hopefully they are back on track, now,
after getting re-inspired out at Jeff Gogue's shop last week.
I started this one out there,
and finished(?) it this afternoon.
I used a photo that Meryl had texted me that morning as reference,
which you can see it on the "i love dead birds" blog here.
And if you're into that kind of thing,
check out Zadora's addition today.

Oil 8x8

Some friends came over for a picnic style dinner tonight,
then we met up with our neighbors,
and walked across the street to the fireworks.
Powderhorn celebrates only the best holidays,
and Powderhorn Park is one of three spots to see fireworks in Minneapolis.
I love this neighborhood.

We brought a few blankets,
enough sparklers to share with everyone,
and had ourselves a time.
Meryl has a fancy new camera,
and snapped some shots of everything.

I hope everyone had a super loud,
and bright bright bright 4th of July weekend.
Back to work tomorrow,
but it looks like a full week of fun on the books.
Some old awesome clients I haven't seen in a long time came out of hiding,
and new ones appeared out of nowhere.
(sounds so good to me)
I hope they're ready,
I just got filled up with lemonade and blackpowder.

All summer long...

2011-06-28T09:57:00.005-05:00

I'm back from Grants Pass,
and at Identity Tattoo this week.
(and next week, too!)
Pretty much there every week till late August.
If you're looking to get tattooed,
let me know.
Especially chest pieces, please.
I have some serious hankerings to work on some big ole chest pieces.

It officially became summer while I was gone,
and I came home to find some awesome little signs of it.
The mulberry tree is full of ripe berries,
the weeds are looking crazy,
and this guy and his friends are growing in my front yard:

Carl came in for a consult,
and he was nice enough to get his leg shaved and photographed.
Originally we just did the tree tattoo,
but then he came in to add everything else.
I have 5 different angles of the tattoo,
but the photoshopped combination photo i was making looked terrible,
so here's just two shots of it.
Click it for a bigger version.

And I did this tattoo yesterday,
just a fun little piece on Amanda.

Fourth of July weekend coming up,
and you know where the fireworks will be?
My front yard.
Powderhorn Park shoots them off from the lake,
so if you're around, let me know.
We'll be there.

Happy summer kids.

Back in Grants Pass

2011-06-23T11:42:00.007-05:00

Mountains, kids.
Grants Pass has got them, in abundance.
Minnesota is so flat,
it's nice having a whole new kind of horizon for a week.

This trip so far has been awesome,
Jeff and his family are the nicest ever,
And Meryl was here for the first half of the guest spot.
We got to do a little exploring,
And I even started a new tattoo on her.

My old buddy Craig from Connecticut made a trip up to Grants Pass
(from San Diego!) to get some work done,
and we tattooed the heck out of his chest for over 6 hours.
He's super rad, and it was beyond flattering for him to take a plane and rent a car just to get a tattoo from me.
You can check him out here,
and beg him to send you some of his rad stickers he makes.

I'm here tonight and tomorrow night,
then driving back to Portland early Saturday morning.
The rental car company messed up,
so I'm driving a white Mustang this week.
I feel more than a little out of place rolling around town it in,
with the windows down and playing HoneyHoney.
(go get yourself their First Rodeo album)

Grants Pass isn't sure what to make of me.
I'm not sure what to make of me, even.

When this happens....

2011-06-18T21:47:00.003-05:00

I love traveling,
but hate the packing/housecleaning that always goes with it.

I fly out to Portland tomorrow,
meet up with Meryl in the airport,
(she's flying in from Denver after a week in Boulder)
then get some hang out time with the west coast crew.
Then we rent a car and head to Grants Pass on Monday.
Both coasts in 30 days.
With a little bit of MPLS time in between,
just enough time to do some laundry and a few tattoos.
(big thanks to Handsome Adam for being a semi-permanent resident of Louderhorn Inn,
and taking such good care of Shamira)

But enough putting off the inevitable,
I have to go put some things in a suitcase.

Three Footed.

2011-06-11T23:51:00.002-05:00

If you have a foot fetish,
you missed out hard yesterday by not being at Identity Tattoo
I tattooed three feet,
and three feet only.

Ben got his tribute to pancake breakfast started,
and we outlined and shaded both feet.
I can't wait to give those some color in a few weeks.

Bex wanted a chubby little owl,
to go with the rest of the chubby animals she has.
Actually, some of them are just downright fat.
This was super fun to do,
even if tattooing a foot isn't the easiest body part to tattoo.
(or get tattooed)
But they both did well,
and I didn't get any kicks to the face.

Weekend time, now.
Less feet in my immediate future,
more catching up on stuff before I head out West again.
I'll be doing a guest spot at GogueArt June21rst-24th,
and I'll post about that more in a bit.

First weekend in June.

2011-06-08T19:10:00.008-05:00

Oh man, there's been some serious neglect of this blog for a while.

This past weekend was pretty crazy,
Meryl and I participated in Northern Spark,
Minneapolis' first annual all night art festival.
Meryl was one of the printers working on a project called Call and Answer,
created by Amanda Lovelee.
Here's a photo she snapped of us around midnight,
before Meryl read at the peoptry reading that was also a part of it and started at 1am.
There was also square dancing and pie.
And all of that was just at MCBA.
There was stuff city-wide.
We hit up as much as possible before 4am,
and then went home exhausted.

Sunday was the Cucch's 31rst birthday,
and he came to MPLS to celebrate.
No kidding.
Between birthday brunches and vegan cupcakes
and multiple flat tire bike rides,
we were able to get a few more hours in on his goonies chestpiece.

I also got lasered this week.
I had a couple joke tattoos on my leg,
and then some a-hole in CT said he could do a cover up
but only ended up making it WAY worse.
"I gotch you"
oh, you got me all right.
Got me good.
So now I'm trying to lighten everything from the knee to ankle.
And you know what?
It hurts.
And it's all swollen.
yuck.
Check this out:

But really, that doesn't look too bad, right?
How about this lovely view?
That's my f'n heal,
being swallowed by what can only be described as what should be my ankle.

Putting serious miles on the rental car

2011-05-25T23:17:00.009-05:00

Just as predicted in the previous post,

the trip to Maynard House in MA,

and then the Folk Life and Liberty Fortress in NH,

were both super crucial stops on our East Coast non-stop visiting trip.

4 states, 5 friends, 6 vegan meals, and 9 hours of driving,

all in barely over 24 hours.

Here's a photo of Meryl, Jess, Albie and the Cucch

enjoying the nicest summer day.

We might have all forgotten to bring along our cameras,

but that doesn't mean there aren't any photos.

I figured out the secret to driving to Conway, NH.

Vermont.

Yup.

Drive up I-91,

then east on 302,

and it's the most beautiful roadtrip around.

Thanks to both houses for the hospitality and the good times.

We're back in CT now, but we'll try to keep our spirits up.

ha.

Eastcoast Travels, part 1

2011-05-23T12:30:00.009-05:00

Oh man.

I planned the heck out of this east coast trip we're on right now.

Down to the minute, almost.

We flew into Baltimore and did some family time there,

including meeting my brother's super rad girlfriend, Halana.

And my mom spotted TWO dead birds in Baltimore,

which you can see here.

On our way north,

we dropped off my mom in Havre de Grace,

but not before visiting Concord Point Lighthouse.

Meryl and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary in Spring Lake, New Jersey,

and it was pretty nice.

A bed and breakfast,

the Atlantic Ocean

another lighthouse,

some more dead birds.

You know, super romantic.

From there we went to Long Island,

visited my grandparents,

(and ate some REAL pizza, not that terrible MN stuff)

and then headed to the new Mets stadium (for a wedding!).

I've been friends with Jes since I was 13 years old.

Bike camp, kids.

That's a long time to be friends with me,

let me tell you.

There's not too many people who can make that claim.

She and Rob were tying the knot, finally,

and we were so happy to be there.

Even in the rain.

But do you see the rainbow?

That's not the worst way to kick things off.

And even though there were 250 guests in attendence,

we got the special vegan treatment.

That's some friendship.

Now we're headed to Maynard House,

then north to NH.

Should be so rad.

Off for a bit.

2011-05-13T13:49:00.008-05:00

This week has been crazy,

trying to fit in a bit too much before and after work each day.

First, here's something I did while at work.

Ryan and I met up one morning to do some wildlife photography.

Here's some of the finished alligoose photos in it's natural habitat.

Now not only is it my weekend now,

but it's also the start of some serious time off.

We head east this Tuesday for a little while.

We'll be hitting baltimore, new jersey, queens,

connecticut, northampton, and new hampshire.

Handsome Adam will be the temporary innkeeper at Louderhorn,

and since he's also full time at Identity Tattoo these days,

he's the one to talk to if you want to book an appointment for when I return.

Stop by the shop to see him,

he'll take care of you.

black and grey and red all over.

2011-05-11T09:24:00.005-05:00

I tattooed poor Spencer for 7 hours yesterday.

He only has one other tattoo,

and that one took less than 2 hours,

so this was a whole new kind of fun.

A creepy skull tree sitting on a ravine tattoo.

(con mushrooms)

Immediately following his tattoo,

tornado sirens started going off,

and the sky was so apocalyptic looking.

I didn't get a good photo of the weird greenish clouds happening

since I was trying to avoid hail stone marks on my camera (and face),

but by the time I got to MCBA,

things were looking pretty different.

I then helped Meryl finish up our latest mail art,

which you'll either receive in your mailbox,

or be able to check out here in a week or so.

This is also the very last photo ever taken of Meryl in her 20's.

She's officially 30 years old today!

May (Winter Please End Soon) Day

2011-05-01T20:28:00.002-05:00

There's certain things you expect at Minneapolis' May Day Parade.

Lots of tall bikes, stilt walkers,

drums, costumes, puppets,

and loosely tied together animal metaphors.

But snowflakes and freezing temperatures?

C'mon.....

It was 34º out today when the parade came down my street.

It was still dope,

but this winter thing needs to end.

Good days, Short nights.

2011-04-29T01:33:00.004-05:00

I think today was one of my favorite work days ever.

First, I got to hang out with Robyn from MA,

and tattoo these raspberries on the back of her neck.

I met her a few years ago at Off the Map,

and then she moved out here for a boy.

It's a small world, after all, kids.

And t's good to have some East Coasters around at all times,

otherwise you might get soft and midwesterny.

Next, Hannah finally came in to get her lady statue backpiece thing worked on.

It's been like 8 or more months since we did the first session.

Really.

And that's just not acceptable.

But I got to work on it for a solid 4 hours tonight,

and it's moving right along.

But no photos till it's done.

I'm pretty sure it's going to be one of my most favorite pieces.

Shop Adam is here at Louderhorn Inn tonight.

We're having a sleepover.

(I even brought out the old photo albums)

In less than 5 hours we are meeting up again for breakfast,

and then I'm dropping him off at the airport.

We'll miss him at the shop Friday and Saturday,

but next week he starts his full time routine at Identity Tattoo.

What?!?

I know!

So rad.

We needed more Adam at the shop,

and he had room for more of us, apparently.

Luckily I don't have to suffer too long in an Adamless shop tomorrow,

I'll be leaving early to attend a poetry reading Meryl is in.

And since it's Friday,

I'll already be dressed up.

Tired and ugly, perhaps,

but at least I'll have a tie on.

Dead and Gone

2011-04-27T22:31:00.003-05:00

Here's Jak's tattoo from yesterday.

A continuation of the black and (opaque) grey extinct animal sleeve,

we added Eugene the Thylacine.

It's most likely extinct,

though there's occasionally the unproven sighting.

And you know what?

It's a marsupial!

Even the boys had pouches,

to securely tuck away their privates.

No kidding.

(and if that sounds appetizing,

you're probably an a-hole)

You know what never dies here in Minnesota?

Winter.

There's snowflakes hitting the ground outside right now.

Spring just got moved from "Vulnerable" to "Critically Endangered".

Uggh.

Skin to Paper

2011-04-27T02:31:00.000-05:00

I had a super busy, fun day at the shop today,
and took lots of photos of everything,
but I left immediately after to meet up with Meryl at MCBA,
and didn't upload the pictures off of the camera.
But we worked on our new mail art project till 11:20pm,
and I'm super stoked on how it's coming out.
Here's a shot of Meryl getting it done.
Long days, kids.
I'll post some tattoo photos tomorrow.
It's well after 2am,
I just finished some tea,
and I'm headed to bed.

Puppets.

2011-04-25T23:25:00.004-05:00

It's not easy being friends with a tattoo artist.
You'd think they'd be able to get tattooed all the time,
whenever they wanted.
You know where they rank on the priority scale?
At the bottom.
I live 10 blocks from Adam W.
I see him all the time.
I use his house like it's mine,
and put up people he doesn't even know at his place when mine's over-booked.
And the poor bastard can't even get his started tattoos finished.
I knew this tattoo needed to be worked on,
and I assumed we'd get to it eventually.
But 6 months?
That's cruel.
And guess what?
It's STILL not done.
But it's at least further along than this.
Egads.

Puppets are so dope.
You know where there's going to be a full puppet parade this Sunday?
Right outside my house.
Heart of the Beast's Mayday Parade runs down Bloomington Ave,
then takes a right hand turn into Powderhorn Park.
If you're in town,
and you miss it,
you're probably an a-hole.
(just so you know)

Skunk Apes and Alligeese.

2011-04-21T00:47:00.005-05:00

I got canceled on BIG TIME for the first half of my day, today.
Luckily Ryan was down to hang out,
and we got to finish his skunk ape tattoo.
It's in that dreaded half-healed/half-fresh stage,
but what are you going to do?
It's a photo for my blog.
Actually, it's three photos of his ankle for my blog,
(i should have gotten four)
and I just shoved them together in Photoshop so that you could see the multiple sides of it in one big panorama.
(i hear that sometimes these stitched together images are misleading)
The teddy bear is from a different tattoo of his,
but eventually they all go together, anyway.

When Ryan came to the shop he brought the Alligoose, too.
It's no longer standing on driftwood,
but instead a 1930's hubcap.
(more swamp creature, less 80's vacation home)
I'll be repainting it's legs,
and then it'll be time for it's big photoshoot.

But the most absurd part of my day wasn't skunk apes or alligeese.
It was waking up to snow.
In late April.
I didn't like it.
And I'm pretty sure these tulips didn't appreciate it either:

Due to inclement weather,
Easter has been delayed until further notice.

Forever.

2011-04-18T17:09:00.006-05:00

Tim (from SuchLuck and Parking Block Publishing)
visited MPLS this weekend,
and I gave him a little mail/mail-art inspired tattoo.
We tucked it around a few other tattoos on his wrist,
and I think that pretty much finished off that sleeve.
We've been internet friend for 6 years or so,
so it was cool to have brunch and hang out irl finally.

Speaking of mail-art,
after 10 years of sending art through the mail,
Meryl and I finally committed to a name for what we do,
and even set up a little blog.
We'll only post after we assume that everyone has received it,
as to not spoil the surprise of getting mail in the first place.
Four-Letter Press.
(or, Four-Letter Qress if you're rushing)

Meryl's Mom and Jim are also in town this week,
and they brought with them raspberry bushes from the farm.
We planted a whole row of them in the backyard,
and look forward to them producing some fruit in the next year or so.

It's kind of Spring here now,
but it snowed on Friday,
and there's plans for more snow tonight and tomorrow.
Not my plans, of course,
but it's happening all the same.
So we're having a little fire in the backyard tonight,
(a la albie rock)
and hopefully that will deter the snow gods from spiting us again.
I mean, it's late April.
Enough already.

Lumberjack

2011-04-15T00:02:00.002-05:00

I'm still tattooing,
even though I've only posted one other finished piece in the last month.
The shop has been super busy lately,
and I'm behind in every possible thing one can be behind in.
So here is this.
More soon.
xxoo.
s

30 and a day.

2011-04-11T16:35:00.005-05:00

The Cucch stayed at the Louderhorn Inn all week.
Monday to Monday.
Vegan Pizza Day (at Mayday Cafe) to VPD.
Scones and coffee started our morning every day in between.

Having Albie Rock as a mutual long time friend,
and both being from CT,
we got some stuff in common.
For sure.
But matching toothless green japanese dragons?
"We GOT they".

The day after my big birthday celebrations a bunch of us went out on bikes and enjoyed spring.

Adam doesn't even notice if you lend him a bike that doesn't have brakes.
(he wouldn't have used them, anyway)
He just sails along sipping his Pamplemousse.

This side of Powderhorn Lake is so pretty and nice and full of Spring.
If you go to the west side of the lake,
there's all the dead stuff from Winter washed up on the banks.
So if you like dead birds,
your birthday weekend is that much more complete.

Back to work tomorrow,
and the party is over.
It sure was a weekend, though.
Thanks to everyone who made it so special.

Dirty Thirty.

2011-04-10T08:37:00.004-05:00

I turned the big Thirty yesterday,
and to celebrate a very adult-sounding milestone,
my friends and I brought the thunder.
The most immature,
embarrassing,
and self-destructive thunder there is.

First I got busy doing a "Goonies" chestpiece for the Cucch,
who came back to town for this week of bikeriding vacation time.
While that was happening,
Meryl and Rebecca and Adam M crowned me the Birthday Princess (again),
and decorated the shop,
and even my car.
They had made vegan cake the day before,
and it was a super nice birthday workday.

After work,
12 of us headed to T's Place for a birthday dinner for some,
and a terrible idea eating challenge for the rest of us.
The competition was to see who could eat an entire 2-person veggie combo plate by themselves,
(never before attempted)
and under 30 minutes.
You weren't required to eat the extra basket of injera,
but you had to wear the pink birthday bib.

Adam M did that first in under 11 minutes,
but he soon realized that the Cucch and I were upping the stakes silently (and disgustingly) as we went.
So he took the initial win,
but then threw in the towel while we attacked everything in sight.
The Cucch finished everything,
including the entire extra injera basket,
all within 16 minutes of starting.
I followed a stomach-busting minute later.

We then found out that I was to be given a free birthday mango juice,
so the Cucch and Adam also ordered some,
and we raced those down, too.
And since it was only 10:15pm at that point,
and we hadn't had vegan ice cream since the day before,
(and were not yet vomiting)
everyone drove to St Paul for Izzy's.

Thanks to everyone who rocked out so hard.
I have the best friends around.

Winning.

2011-04-07T09:06:00.003-05:00

The Poke-Off War has expanded past it's original Facebook borders.
Off the Map Tattoo has received some pokings from real life people in the real life mail this week,
and they'll continue pouring in.
C'mon.
Stamped and delivered.

And better than that even:
having friends who aren't afraid to get all guerilla style for you.
Just give Amy and Jaime a little hint of what you'd like,
and they know how far to take it.
A little tiny paper "poke" sticker wasn't enough style for Jaime,
so she turned to sheet metal instead.
(obviously)
And then smuggled that shit in behind enemy lines.
Here's a little photo of it,
taken by the always amazing
(even when she's losing)
Mary Bowen.

You know what happens this weekend, kids?
I turn 30.
Years old.
yup.
You know what I want for my birthday?
Victory.
That's it, and you can help deliver it.
Click this Mary link,
go to her page,
and poke her, please.
You might have to friend her first,
you might not.
But that's the easiest birthday gift ever.

Poke-Off 2011

2011-04-04T13:33:00.006-05:00

So, it's a long, silly story,
but it comes down to this:
I'm involved in a Facebook Poke War with Off the Map Tattoo's Mary Bowen,
and I need your help.

If you go to her page and poke her,
and then use one of the buttons at the bottom of this post to reblog,
retweet, share it on facebook, etc,
you'll be in the running to win this antlered birdhouse.
You might not even need to add her as a friend to poke her,
but you probably should,
she's pretty awesome.
The person will be chosen randomly at the end of the war,
(from the pokes she has on her page)
even if we're on the losing side.
If we win, I'll add some more prizes.

I'll ship in anywhere for free, even overseas.
Thanks, kids.