If you didn't catch it, the opening of our St. Annes studio, Victory Tattoos, made the Blackpool Gazette last Friday.  We were the top news in the business section, which is pretty cool.  

The article mentions the opening on Saturday, which was very successful.  More on that in the next couple of days.  

Click here to view the article on the Gazette website, where you can comment, tweet it, and, of course, download the picture of our lovely faces.  

Right then! I can finally reveal Deeper Than War's big news.
With our trip to Canada tomorrow, I'm going to be away from Primal Ink too long to keep it open.  Sadly, Neil has had to take the decision to close it down.

After a lot of decision making and planning, we have decided to take the studio on for ourselves.  I will be flying back in as soon as possible after Christmas to take care of some business, and to begin renovating what was Primal Ink.

We are aiming to give the studio more of a boutique feel, as we think it really fits the ethos of Deeper Than War: more custom work, and a more relaxing approach to the tattoo process.
I'll be posting pictures in January as we revamp the space, so keep an eye on this blog to find out more.

We are still planning to move back to Canada within the next year, so this is just a temporary project, but we are very excited to launch Victory Tattoos under the banner of Deeper Than War.  I think it's going to add a fresh element to the tattoo scene in the area around Blackpool, and it's going to be a great place to work out of.  I have an existing client base at the shop who are all excited to stay with me through the changes, and who I am excited to have the chance to continue working on.

Keep an eye on www.victorytattoos.com as that takes shape too.  At the moment it simply re-directs to this website, but it will become the shop's own space on the internet so that www.deeperthanwar.com can continue to focus on all of the projects we have going on.

Thanks to everyone who has been and continues to be a part of our journey.  We're having a blast!

I think it's a great idea, so I'm stoked to say that I have a guest spot there from November 22 - January 6 when we're in town.  The owner of Octopus Ink, Joss, is a great artist, and I'm very happy to work with her again.  Go check out some of her work on the Facebook page, and get in touch with me if you want to book some ink time while I'm there.  

I started work on Justin's chest over a year and a half ago. He had contacted me because I'd tattooed a friend of his, and he was interested in getting some work done. He gave me a vague idea of what he wanted, and we spent a good few weeks talking about it, and changing concepts around. We knew that we would be taking a while to complete the tattoo – giving the tattoo time to heal between sessions, and allowing the cost to be spread a little. Because of this, we decided to do the tattoo in pieces, so that it never looked incomplete between sessions.

We started with the outlines of the birds, and came back a few weeks later to colour the owl. We did the Phoenix shortly after that, followed by the heart.

After we had finished the heart, Justin moved out of the city, and got a new job. It was hard for him to get back in to my studio to do more work, but we stayed in touch the whole time. I had spent more time with this client than I often get to spend with my best friends (especially since most of them are now scattered around Europe and North America).

When, several months later, Justin found time to get back into Toronto, it was like meeting an old friend. I was excited to get back to work on the tattoo, and start to see it come to completion, but I was equally looking forward to spending time with someone who I had come to like a lot.

When he came a little while ago to put the colour into the phoenix side of his chest, I was a little sad that our chances to hang out were coming to an end along with the tattoo. During the last 18 months or so, I had come to know Justin's favourite bands and artistic inspirations. I knew about his work and colleagues. I knew what his passions were; about his relationships and his family. 

We're talking about starting work on a sleeve now, so I don't think the tattoo side of our relationship is over, which is good to know – I like his ideas, and he usually sits pretty well. But I'm pretty sure that we've forged a friendship that would last, tattoos or no.

I've been back in a shop for the last 2 1/2 months or so.  I felt the need to be around other artists, and, to be honest, I wanted the walk-ins.  
I joined the team at Tickle Me Ink - a local shop to me, with a fairly solid walk-in trade and a fun, friendly atmosphere.

It's been an interesting ride so far - due to some issues with the location we were at, we've moved to a new shop.  It's good, because we've had the chance to re-build our image, and to improve our workspace (something I mostly got out of by being on vacation in Florida...)
The shop is spacious, light, and pretty flipping cool.  I'm there Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so drop by and pay me a visit.

We're at 964 St. Clair Avenue W (St. Clair and Oakwood).  The basement still needs a little work, so if you want to give us a hand with that, just let me know!  Hope to see you there soon...