deeperthanwar

I've been out the shop for more than a month now.  It's been good to take a little break after everything that happened, and to take stock of where I'm at, and where my family is at.

This past week, I've done a couple of pieces for friends at home.  The sun room that I'm using isn't purpose built, but it is certainly doing the job for now.  It is bright, clean, and calm. I've not been advertising myself as an artist, but the work keeps coming in anyway.  It's that time of year again, I guess.  My classy new tattoo bed should arrive in the next few days, and that will make it easier.

This summer, we're transforming our spare room into an awesome, professional private studio.  We have done our research and you can expect it to be pretty cool.

In the meantime, I'm thinking about finishing off my sleeve.  The upper arm is in desperate need of more work, and I've just about done the drawing now.  My good friend, Kevin Smith is going to work on it, when he returns from some crazy extreme sports in Arizona.  I can't wait to see the finished product.

Maybe that's where I'm at with my career in tattooing at the moment.  I just can't wait to see the finished product.  I don't know exactly how everything's going to shape up yet down the road. I've enjoyed the last few weeks, taking a break from tattooing, because It's given me a chance to learn a little patience.  Everything is going to come together, but for now, I think I just need to let God work it out.

It's Easter Sunday today, a day to remember that Jesus is not dead, but that he rose again from the dead so that we can have eternal life.  Hindsight is a wonderful thing - we can look at what He did on the cross, and recognise it as the ultimate sacrifice.  Jesus died to defeat death.  But we only know that he was victorious, because he was resurrected.  To be one of his disciples, close friends, family, on the day he died would surely have been torture. 
I suspect that, in their position, even if I'd had faith that He would return from the dead, I would have really struggled through those couple of days having seen him publicly executed.  Watching all that I'd built my life around dying in front of me.  I would almost certainly have felt like I was in the pit of despair.

It's so much easier when we look back after the conclusion of an event to see that it was all going to work out in the end.  Right now, I'm waiting for the time when I can see how it all works out.  But the good thing is, I know that Jesus was raised from the dead.  The situation now is infinitely better than it was before He died; before it seemed there was no hope.  And that's what I'm looking forward to.

Peace.

I'm in a time of transition again.
I've been noticing for a while that the shop I was working in is a little slow on walk in business.  This is partly deliberate - the owners wanted the shop in a more residential area, with a different feel to many of the tattoo shops you see downtown. 

It's also become clear that there is a clash of values between myself and my boss.  I've mentioned on here before that I'm a Christian, and many of my clients are too.  As a result, we often talk our faith and political outlooks. 

While it's certainly not been my intention to offend anyone, some of these conversations seem to have had that effect.  It's important to me to provide a place for my clients to speak freely, regardless of what's going on in their lives.  So, now, I find myself making the decision to leave the environment I was in, where that wasn't possible.

Right now, I'm looking for potential shops to work in.  I had an interview on Monday at a successful studio that's just moved to Mississauga.  I'm waiting to hear back from them, and I have an interview on Friday at another Queen Street studio.

I'm not really sure where this is going to end up, but I know it's going to be good.  I have been holding off on appointments for the first couple weeks of March just so we can get a better idea of what's going on.  What's for sure is that by the end of the month I will be established

I'll keep you up to date.

So, winter is always a slow time for tattooing.  At Christmas, everyone's spending money on other people instead of themselves.  In January, everyone's spent their money.  Plus, no-one is really thinking of getting a tattoo when it's so cold out that they can't go show it off.
But winter is an excellent time to get a tattoo. You don't have to worry about the sun while it's healing.  Unless you're really into swimming, you can more easily avoid the pool during the cold winter months.

Maybe that's why February starts to speed up. 

While I've been in the shop one or two days a week over the last couple of months, this week I'm in four days, most of them with more than one appointment.  It's nice to be getting lots of work again.  I'll post pictures when I get a minute's break from actually tattooing.  In the meantime, check out the gallery.  I've added some pictures from the last couple months that I didn't put up yet. 

And don't forget to drop me a line if you want to get something yourself...

It's that time of year again.
I went to Yorkdale Mall the other day, and was horrified at the worsening crowds.  Walmart was even more hellish.  Nowhere to park, enormous lines at the cash.  And that's if you managed to figure out what to buy for that special someone.

It's always a problem for me, coming up with gifts that are really different, original and meaningful.  Beth has no problem with it.  She always gets me the right thing, but I just don't have the right kind of brain for that kind of thing.

I had an idea for people like me.  Why don't I do gift certificates for tattooing?  It's the perfect gift for the person who has almost everything.  Or the person that has nothing but wants a tattoo.

My philosophy for tattooing is that tattoos should be custom, unique creations designed especially for the person wearing them.  If you have a loved one that wants a tattoo like this, why not give them a gift certificate?  All certificates include a free consultation to make sure that the piece will be exactly what the recipient of the gift certificate wants.

I'm also doing some special deals on these certificates up until Christmas.  You can see the December certificate prices on the homepage.  Just drop me a line to let me know what you want.

Happy shopping!