deeperthanwar

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...

See this picture of Jesus?  That's what my new tattoo looks like.  Some of you might have seen it.  It's on the inside of my upper left arm.
It doesn't quite look like this yet, because it's only outlined right now.  I'm getting it coloured tomorrow night and I'm rather excited.

Above that tattoo, right at the top of my arm, I have a big sacred heart, a mix of old and new school styles, with a banner that says deeper than war.  I'm wanting to build up a sleeve eventually, filled with Catholic style imagery.  I think I want to finish it off at the wrist with a realistic looking rosary wrapped around my arm, but I'm not sure yet.

My question is: what do you think should find its way onto that arm?  I don't think I want Mary on there, but I'm open to reasons that I should get that.  There's loads of stuff, but I want to keep it on a fairly classic theme, lots of colour, pretty old school in style.  A bit kitsch, but not too tacky.
I think once it's done, the background spaces will be filled with rays of light and bits of stained glass.  The elbow will probably be very little work, more gaps in the background.

I need lots of good ideas for this arm.  You can write your suggestions below.  Have fun!

Well, I'm glad this one's resolved.
I know I seem a little late on this one, but I figured I'd like to write something about it anyway, and it's better late than never, right?

Most of you probably heard about this.  To sum up: a Belgian girl claimed she had gone to a tattoo parlour, asked for three stars on her face, and then fallen asleep.  When she woke up, she had FIFTY SIX stars.  Despite the fact that she thought that she looked "like a freak", for some reason she still paid for the tattoo.  And why would the artist do something like this?
Doesn't quite add up, does it? 

Well, that's because she was lying. 

Apparently, she loved the tattoo, until her dad saw it and flew off the handle.  She made up the sleeping story to appease his wrath.  Not very fair on the artist, though, eh?
She has now admitted that she asked for the tattoo, confirming most peoples' suspicions.  I feel a little sorry for her, but it does raise some interesting (and some obvious) points.

1. That was a stupid idea.  If you're going to get a tattoo, think about it carefully first.  It's not going to come off easily, you know?

2. I'm not sure that the artist should have agreed to the tattoo.  Let's look at the facts: She is eighteen.  Very young and at an age where she might make decisions that she regrets.
She doesn't seem to have any other tattoos at all.  Had I been the artist, I don't think I'd have agreed to do her first tattoo covering one half of her face.

When she was first interviewed by the press after her father had gone to the police, she said "I cannot go out on to the street, I am so embarrassed."
I suspect that she might be a little more embarrassed now.

Lessons to be learned by all, methinks.

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!

You've probably seen the video on my gallery page of a high speed tattoo.  When I saw this video that Stephen Fry had posted to Twitter, I thought it complimented my own very nicely.  I'm not sure exactly how much they've slowed it down, but it's very interesting to watch.  Check it out:

So, this week, I got on the bus to work, and picked up a copy of the Toronto Metro to read.  I found an interesting article about a tattoo studio in Mississauga (the city next to Toronto) that had recently been inspected by Peel Public Health.  The article I read is here.
There were two problems with the inspection.  The first is that the inspection itself was WAY over due.  It was the first one in four years - the law requires an inspection every year for tattoo and piercing businesses.
The second issue was even more of a problem.  The studio had been keeping few records of the maintenance of their sterilization equipment. 
The article in The Toronto Star (which is far more sensationalist than I would have expected of that paper) points out that these records should be updated monthly and only 11 tests had been carried out in the last four years.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am ALL about keeping it clean.  I only use disposable tubes, because it removes any issues with sterilization.  All my needles come pre-sterilized on bars, and are disposed of in a proper sharps container after use.  I cover everything, and all coverings are disposed of after each tattoo.  If the law says do the tests, you gotta do the tests, you know?

Having said this, I was frustrated with the ignorance shown in the articles.  The Toronto Star article's headline was as follows:

3,000 WARNED OF HIV RISK AT TATTOO SHOP

Let's be clear - Nobody said that they found any problem with the equipment.  Peel Public Health has issued a warning to anyone tattooed between March 2005 and February 2009 to go and get tested for HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.  Sure, go and get tested.  But it's a very low risk.  To be fair to them, Peel Public Health did say that it was a very low risk, and that the warning was just a precautionary measure.  And that's all fine.  But I'm saddened by the media response, reinforcing old, worn out stereotypes.

The tattoo industry is growing, and now more than ever, it has a responsibility to provide clean, sanitary conditions for its clients.  I'm not going to get tattooed anywhere where I'm not 100% sure it's clean, and I wouldn't expect anyone else to.
Moonshin Tattoo needs to clean up its act, and it is totally responsible for getting its equipment tested. 
But we could do without papers like the Toronto Star taking a story like this and turning it into something that spreads fear.
The facts are rather surprising.  The CDC (Center for Disease Control) in the United States reports "no cases of HIV transmission through tattooing" anywhere in the country since it began tracking such data in 1985! There have, however, been at least 7 cases of HIV infection transmitted through dentistry.  I'm not saying that to spread fear about dentists, just that it's interesting that tattoo studios get the bad rep for this even though there is little ground for that.

As for Hepatitis, there is some history of infections from tattoo studios.  www.tattooartist.com had this to say of their research into the CDC statistics:
"Of the 13,387 annual cases of hepatitis detailed in the most recent CDC report, 12 are associated with tattoo studios. By comparison, 43 cases...are associated with dental offices"

Nobody is ruling out the risk of infection.  If equipment is not sterilized, if pigments are not disposed of after each client, if surfaces are not protected and the covering disposed of, surfaces sterilized, hands gloved and washed and gloved and washed; all precautions taken, then it is possible that HIV and Hepatitis can be spread through the practice of tattooing.

I'll be honest.  I just wish that people wouldn't assume things.  All else aside, it makes them look stupid.
Moonshin Tattoo is considering legal action against Peel Public Health for defamation.  I'm not sure that this is a good idea, since it is their fault they didn't keep the records.  Let's just hope some people have learned some lessons from all of this.

Also, the next person that shows me a copy of that article (and a lot of people did last week) will get the entire CDC HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: Estimated incidence of AIDS and deaths of persons with AIDS, adjusted for delays in reporting, by quarter-year of diagnosis/death, United States, January 1985 through June 2007 tattooed on their arm so they can read the actual statistics whenever the need arises.

I'm going to bed now.  Goodnight.

I love this picture.  The young chap looks very casual, and is clearly enjoying himself.  And why shouldn’t he be?  He is, after all, The Duke of York, later to become King George V of England.  “And what is the future monarch doing?” I hear you ask.  He is, of course getting a tattoo. 
George, and his brother were on a 3 year tour of duty around the world with the Navy.  During a stop in Yokohama, Japan in 1882, they took the opportunity of visiting the great tattoo master, Hori Chyo.  George had a dragon expertly inked onto his arm, and sparked a fashion for tattoos amongst the European aristocracy.
His mother was supposedly not altogether impressed at the modification of her son’s body, but others were very taken with the idea, and  a wave of noblemen started heading for the tattoo parlours.

At the time, in London, there were approximately 20 tattoo artists working.  According to the Times, these artists were at various levels of competency, and some of the best started to get visits from well known nobles.  Other, wealthier members of the aristocracy (including Tsar Nicholas II) were so impressed with the work that Hori Chyo had performed on George, that they went straight to Japan.

For a long time, tattoos had, at least in Europe, been largely only worn by sailors, but now there was a trend towards the wealthy, too.  Tattooing was becoming more mainstream.

I’ll be coming back to this topic, looking at some more famous tattooed people, and how they helped make tattooing less taboo.

Beth and I went to Montreal at the weekend.  We weren't there for long, but we managed to get a bit of shopping in (despite Montreal's habit of closing stores at 5pm on a Saturday), as well as heading to our favourite Tex-Mex restaurant for some delicious food and cocktails before a trip to a shisha (hookah) lounge. 
But none of that before we paid a visit to Jean-Pierre Rioux of Studio  Tattoo Art.
Jean Pierre is a friend of a friend that just happens to be one of the greatest artists in the world to my mind. 
We were a little short on time, so we only got some outlining done, but he's going to be in town in April, so he's coming over to finish it off.

Seriously, the guy's a legend.  Good times.

My wife, Bethany, has been reading Rob Bell's book, Velvet Elvis.  I'd like to read it too, but haven't got round to it yet.  She did hand it to me at one point, though, and had me read a passage from it.
Here is an extract from what I read:

“Christian is a great noun and a poor adjective. There is some Christian music, art, speaking etc. which is truly terrible, and doesn’t honour God. If we label stuff ‘Christian’ we end up turning off the radar of discernment. And we miss where God is outside Christendom.“It is impossible for a Christian to have a secular job. If you follow Jesus and you are doing what you do in his name, then it is no longer secular work; it’s sacred. You are there, God is there. The difference is our awareness."

I've recently been discussing this with Dave Quiggle, who agrees with Rob Bell.  The moment that you start using the word Christian as an adjective, you also start to exclude people.  It's not that I myself am exclusive, but if I attach the word Christian to something I produce, then in the eyes of many people, I become something that they don't want to associate with, and so they become excluded.
Dave references a book by Frank Schaeffer - Addicted to Mediocrity - which makes similar statements.  I'm not sure that Schaeffer's position always entirely lines up with my own, but I think I agree with him here.

So, here's the question: do I label myself a Christian tattoo artist?  I know that a lot of people want to come to a tattoo artist that's a Christian for lots of reasons.  There is a great spiritual attachment that comes with a tattoo, and people want to be sure that they are not aligning themselves spiritually with something ungodly.  I'm more than happy to tattoo these people.  But should I sacrifice my opinion of the use of the word Christian as an adjective for the sake of marketing myself?  Am I even sacrificing anything?

Any thoughts?

OK, I know that I promised a post full of my recent musings on a certain subject.  Sorry to disappoint, but this isn't it.  It's coming, for sure, but I saw this picture, and felt like I should post it.

If this isn't one of the most inspired ideas for a tattoo that has ever been, then I don't know what is.  It's unique, it looks pretty cool in its own right... It's even interactive.  You'd never be bored on a long train/plane journey/in a doctor's office/anywhere else you might ordinarily become bored again!
Brilliant.

Hard to believe, then, that I found this on a 'worst tattoos ever' page.  I know.  Some people have no sense of style.
 
If anyone wants a join the dots tattoo, come see me, ok?