We have now officially opened the Deeper Than War studio.  This space is dedicated to the design and creation of excellent tattoos and artwork.

Deeper Than War is a registered with the government of Ontario.
The studio meets all health requirements: non-porous floor, all washable surfaces (for tuberculocidal cleansing).  We only use disposable, pre-sterilized single-use needles and tubes.
We also proudly follow all waste-management guidelines.

Welcome to the DEEPER THAN WAR STUDIO. It has a calm, friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Consultations and tattoos are by appointment only.  Drop me a line to set up an appointment.

Thanks to everyone who has supported this venture, be it financially, spiritually, relationally, by getting their hands dirty, or cheering us on during the renovation.  We love you all a lot.  Glory to God!
 
 
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“Aiden” in sign language; work by Deanna of Katalyst Konsepts
For the last year or so, Beth and I have become more and more involved with the deaf community here in Toronto.  We both work with a boy who is profoundly deaf, and recently, Beth has started working with another boy with a severe hearing impairment.
Not to mention that for the last eight months or so, we have lived with our friend Sallyanne.  Sallyanne has a slight hearing impairment, but both of her parents are profoundly deaf, so her first language is, in fact, American Sign Language (ASL).

I learned a short while ago that names in ASL are usually assigned to a person by another signing person.  Often, the name assigned is the first letter of the person's first name.  This letter is then signed in a particular place, to distinguish that person from any other people with the same name.  When Beth and I learned this, we decided to ask Sallyanne's mom to give us sign names.
Having taken a few days to think about it, she got back to us.  She had decided that my name should be signed by tapping the letter M twice on the inside of my forearm, because I am a tattoo artist.  Beth and Addie have their initials signed in the same place, as that is standard practice for people of the same family.

I'd planned to blog about this a while ago, when we were given our names, but it works out well that I waited, because I had my first deaf client yesterday.  She brought two friends with her, who were also deaf. 
My knowledge of ASL is still very limited, so I wasn't able to communicate as effectively as I had wanted.  The experience has encouraged me to work harder at signing, as I think it will be an invaluable resource, particularly in my line of work.

On another related note, Beth and I have been thinking of getting sign tattoos.  We're not sure exactly what form they would take, but would almost certainly be a series of pictograms of signs, either spelling out a word, or using the signs for words that make up a phrase.  The jury is still out as to what they would say.  I'll post more on this when we have a better idea.

Do you know of any deaf people with tattoos?  Do you know anyone with an ASL tattoo?  Drop me a line and let me know!
 
Tattoo Tales... 07/19/2009
 
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I found this on the Reuters website.  An interview with a tattoo artist from Portland, Oregon.  it's a pretty interesting article.  Most of what the guy says is fairly obvious, I think, but it's always good to hear insights from people that have been in the business a long time.
A couple of things stand out to me from it:

How do some of these artists get such great media coverage?  What Reuters shows of his work is pretty good, but I know artists FAR better than this.  What makes him so suitable for fame?  So primed for international glory?  Answer: writing a book.  It seems that Jeff Johnson of the superbly named Sea Tramp Tattoo Company has written a book about some of his experiences in the tattoo industry.  It seems to have been inspired by the fact that you hear a lot of interesting things from people of all walks of life when you are tattooing. 
I've touched on this a bit before, in terms of enjoying tattooing friends because the conversation is usually so easy.  But there is a huge advantage to tattooing people you don't know - you don't know them.  They might be interested in some weird martial art that you've never heard of, or be a concert flautist.  Perhaps the girl that you expected to be a skateboarder is actually the head of a Masonic Lodge who teaches Irish dancing in her spare time.  Tattooing puts you in the company of a huge variety of people from all walks of life.  And not only that, you're sat down with them for large chunks of time. 
I think that often the process of talking to someone that you don't know about what's going on in your life can be very therapeutic too.  Perhaps that's sometimes the reason that people get tattoos - it gives them someone to talk to.
If you've got the wherewithal to write a book, then you're probably going to have a lot to say after 19 years in the tattooing business.  The book, by the way, is supposed to be excellent.  If anyone fancies buying me a copy...

The other thing that I noted in the article was Jeff's final comment about tattooing more intimate places on a woman's body.  His take on it is that it's like being "a bouncer at a strip club - you just don't see anything anymore".
I'm not entirely sure about that, although I have heard the suggestion from an artist I know that it's like being a doctor - that there's a professionalism about it that removes the sexual from the situation.

I don't really know, and I'm resolved not to tattoo certain areas of the body.  I took good advice from my good friend, Jean-Pierre Rioux, who said that you shouldn't do anything that you feel uncomfortable doing, certainly don't do anything that your wife wouldn't feel comfortable with you doing, and always make sure that you have someone else around if the area is a little questionable. 

But more on that another time - I'm off to write down some stories of people I've tattooed...

 
 

I tattooed my wife's name on another man today.  Her dad.

We spent some time retouching an older tattoo he has, and then I tattooed the names of all his kids on his left arm.  He wanted them in order of birth, each slightly shifted to the left to give them all an 'equal billing'.  Ha ha ha ha.

Good times. It's such a bonding experience, tattooing someone.  While I love tattooing anyone, it's quite special when it is someone I already have a unique connection with.  Like some of the tattoos I did when we were in the UK.  Just getting the time to spend with good friends and family in that one-on-one situation is pleasurable enough, but to leave them with a permanent mark; a piece of art that not only really means something to them, but also marked the time we spent together - that's something I really enjoy. 

We had a great time, and Beth's dad has a great new tattoo.  I love it!