I love it when tattoo shops offer special deals as a result of some particular charity, event or anniversary.  Sometimes the deals are so good that it makes me want to jump in a car and drive to wherever the deals are (the deals are never anywhere near where I live).  After some internet research, you’ll be happy to know that I have uncovered yet another tattoo deal.

Before I tell you what the deal is however, I just want to give a little bit of a warning: it’s not exactly up everyone’s alley.  See, the infamous Hello Kitty turns 35 this Wednesday, October 21st.  This is most likely good news for more women than men – not to be sexist, but come on, I’ve never once in my life met a guy who liked Hello Kitty.  That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of ladies out there who can’t stand the sight of the cutesy Kitty with the little pink bow.  But hey, to each his or her own, right?

Anyway, as I was saying, Hello Kitty turns 35 this Wednesday.  The fact alone that Hello Kitty has been around for 35 years blows me away.  That’s some serious staying power.  So, if you’re one of those people who wants Hello Kitty to stick around for even longer, and if you happen to live in or near Las Vegas, then you are in luck.  From noon until 10pm at Las Vegas’ Last Chance Tattoo, you will be able to choose a Hello Kitty tattoo from five sheets of Hello Kitty images, for only $35.  In fact, if you happen to have something in mind instead of what’s being offered on the five sheets of Hello Kitty images, you can also have that done.  The artists ask that your image is within reason, however, meaning nothing too massive and time consuming.

I guess if you really aren’t a Hello Kitty fan, you could still go and get an anti-Hello Kitty tattoo, right?  Something like this perhaps?  Hey, they said Hello Kitty tattoos and that is indeed a Hello Kitty tattoo. Man, I’ve said Hello Kitty a lot in this post.  I feel weird.  I need to go lie down…

At this time of year, I am thinking about winter a lot.  I’m not thinking about winter in a good way, either.  I hate winter.  So even though it may technically be Fall right now, all I’m really thinking about is that winter is pretty much right around the corner.  I get cold a lot.  It’s always raining and then soon enough, the rain turns to snow and man, snow really bums me out.

So, with all that in mind, today I am going to try and focus on warm thoughts, thoughts about beautiful tropical locations, the beach, the sea and surfing.  What better way to do all that than to dedicate today’s blog to all things tropical and tattooed?  After all, isn’t the beach the best place to check out people’s tattoos?  (Among other things).

Surf related tattoos however, are not that easy to come by.  First of all it’s difficult to pin down what exactly qualifies as a “surfing” tattoo.  Sure, there are tattoos of dudes surfing and what not, but these tend to end up looking rather lame.  In fact, it was a lot easier to find lame surfing tattoos than it was to find cool surfing tattoos.  Legendary surfing magazine Transworld Surf even has a list (with snarky captions) of “15 Surf Tattoos from Hell” at their website. Surf Shop also has a collection of 8 surfing tattoos.

Anyway, first off, there’s the Polynesian tattoos.  Any time I see one of these, I automatically think of warm and sunny places.  Love ’em.  Then there’s the odd tattoo of the beach here and there, like this one, or this one or a tattoo of underwater sea life.  Lastly, I can’t forget about palm trees.  There’s something about palm trees that I love.  Just seeing them makes me happy.  On that note, I give you this tattoo, which I love.  Very cool.

Oh yeah, one last thing regarding surfing tattoos: for any of you surfers out there who are looking for a free magazine subscription, the aforementioned Transworld Surf is offering free magazine subscriptions to anyone who gets the Transworld Surf logo tattooed on them.  I’m not sure how long of a subscription they offer in exchange for tattooing yourself with their logo, but if you’re interested, you can contact them here.

While looking around the internet at various tattoo artists, I found a couple of websites that listed tattoo artist Andrea Ottlewski as one of the greatest female tattoo artists currently working.  There’s no doubt that Ottlewski’s tattoo work is gorgeous: vibrant, clean, sharp – everything that you want in a tattoo as well as from a tattoo artist.  The thing is, listing Ottlewski as a great female tattoo artist is too limited.  Andrea Ottlewski is simply a great tattoo artist, period.  Gender has nothing to do with it.  Ottlewski’s abilities put her on par with all of the really special tattoo work that I have seen and when all is said and done, it’s about the art and the artist, not whether they are a male or a female.

Still, I do recognize the benefits of Andrea “representing” so to speak, and being a role model for other women out there who are working on their own tattoo careers.  That’s great too, but I think there’s more than enough room here for Ottlewski to be an inspiration to anyone who values superb tattoo work.

Andrea Ottlewski grew up in what is in my opinion, one of the greatest cities in the world: Berlin, Germany. Berlin is a city brimming with talented, original and unique artists in numerous mediums.  Growing up there undoubtedly had an effect on Andrea’s work, if not her artistic mentality.  Soon enough however, the United States called.  Andrea had a dream to work in San Francisco, California, and so in 1994 she left Germany for San Francisco, where she found work at a tattoo shop called Erno Tattoo.

In 2000, after a move to San Rafael, California, Ottlewski took over ownership of her very own tattoo studio, called Area 51.  The extra work and pressure of owning a tattoo studio soon began to take its toll, and Ottlewski eventually decided that she didn’t want the management aspects of a tattoo studio taking away from her time to draw, paint and create.  She ended up selling the shop and later settling down in Seattle, Washington, with a full time gig tattooing at Seattle’s Slave to the Needle.

Ottlewski’s work goes from Bettie Page to the Buddha to Super Mario, and no matter what it is that she’s tattooing, quality remains a constant.  I’m very glad that Andrea works in Seattle because that’s not too far away from where I am.  I’ll definitely be stopping by Slave to the Needle in the near future.  If you’re also interested in getting work done by Andrea Ottlewski, you can get in touch with her at: 206.789.2618 or, you can email at slavetotheneedle@comcast.net.

A few months ago I was on Craigslist looking for a job. I came across a job opening for a tax preparer position at Liberty Tax Service. I was not interested in being a tax preparer for them but maybe I could advertise for them, I thought to myself. I have driven past Liberty Tax service locations several times, and I have seen wavers that wave signs for their company near the road to advertise their company. I thought maybe they would be interested in my unique advertising method. I emailed the post on craigslist. I got an email back a few days later from the owner of 3 of the Liberty Tax Service locations here in Anchorage, Alaska. The owner was very interested in advertising on me. He asked that I come down and talk to him. I met the owner in person, he is an awesome person. We worked something out and as you can see I have a new tattoo advertisement for Liberty Tax Service. I will now be getting my taxes done at Liberty Tax Service, and because I advertise for them I get my taxes done for free for life!

Those of you who out there who own/run your own tattoo studio:  imagine someone driving their car and accidentally pressing the accelerator instead of the brake and subsequently smashing into your tattoo studio.  Chances are you’d be pretty upset.  Chances are you’d call the driver, who survives with no injuries and refuses to pay for the damages to your shop, a bit of a jerk.  Or perhaps you’d even call him a moron.  It’s okay, you’re allowed to be angry.

Sadly, that’s exactly what happened to Pierre Bullot, of Auckland, New Zealand.  According to Bullot, couches, a television, computers, carvings and tattoo equipment were destroyed when a cop drove his squad car into Bullot’s Talisman TAT2 tattoo studio.  The cop walked away uninjured, and the Auckland police department then proceeded to completely disrespect Pierre Bullot.

Bullot, who has no insurance on his tattoo studio, will lose a week’s salary as a result of the accident.  He also believes that he might have to shut the business for good.  For their part, the Auckland police department have told Bullot that he can send them a bill for reimbursement of the cost of the damages, but that there is no guarantee that they’ll actually pay it.  Judging by the way in which Bullot claims the police have actually driven by his destroyed shop, slowed down and laughed, that reimbursement check will arrive somewhere around never and even longer than that.

That’s nice.  It’s not bad enough that the APD ruin the guy’s living, but the fact that they’re petty enough to laugh at someone else’s business being destroyed is more than a little depraved.  What nice people.

Good luck to you, Pierre.  Hopefully you’ll throw some sort of fundraiser, or end up with some cash through the kindness of other tattoo artists who have a soft spot for guys who get fucked over by the police.  I’d send you money if I had any.  Sorry about that.

For those of you who may remember I did a blog about Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt’s numerous tattoos a little while back. Well it seems that Sanjay has started a bit of a fad in the world if India’s films, much like our celebrities started one here in the good ‘ol U.S.of A.

Joining the ranks of tattooed celebs is another India star, Ajay Devgn, who is also a co-star in their latest film “All the Best.”

The actor who has also changed his surname from ‘Devgan’ to ‘Devgn’, has joined the ranks of India’s tattooed actors along with the likes of Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan, as well as the afore mentioned Sanjay.

Now, for me, it is not only nice to see India gaining acceptance in the art of film making, but to see their celebrities come out in favor of tattooing as well. If this isn’t proof of a growing, world wide acceptance to the sacred art of tattooing I don’t know what is.

The tattoo is one of the Indian God Shiva on his chest, and Ajay jokingly says that Sanjay forced him to get it while they were working on “All the Best” an upcoming comedy that they are promoting throughout India quite heavily.

Regardless of the reasons, I’d be willing to bet that just like his friend Sanjay, Ajay has now caught the bug and will soon be sporting more ink than just Shiva.

Peace out, Gang! 😉

Looking for that perfect work of art for your home or maybe your studio?  Love tattoos?  How about a Kim Saigh portrait?  No?  How about one of Jeff Raissier?  A naked Jo Harrison?  Or how about Tim Kern’s hands?

Well, if you are interested in oil paintings done of tattoo masters and the tattoo world itself, then look no further than the art of Shawn Barber.  Barber is responsible for an extensive array of tattoo inspired art – correction, an extensive array of very good tattoo inspired art.

Most likely, if you’ve ever watched Kat Von D’s LA Ink program (and I know you have, so don’t try to pretend like you haven’t…we’re all guilty), then most likely you’ve noticed a large portrait of Kat hanging in the High Voltage studio.  That’s a Shawn Barber.

Barber’s work seems to also be showing at various galleries on quite a regular basis.  The tattoo portraits have been something of a passion of Shawn’s since 2005, with his most recent exhibitions being in Montreal, Canada this past September at the Yves Laroche Gallery, and a solo show at San Francisco’s Shooting Gallery this past August.  In April of 2010, Barber will have another solo exhibit of his tattoo portraits at New York City’s Joshua Liner Gallery.

Take a look at Shawn’s very cool work here and there’s also his book of portraits from 2006, called Tattooed Portraits: New Paintings by Shawn Barber, though it is hard to find. If you feel like paying $240 for what is a $30 book, you can always go over to Amazon and pick it up. Otherwise, you might have to search a little.

Not long ago I reported on the case of Casey Anthony, the mother who took a month to report her toddler’s, Caylee Anthony, disappearance. At that time it was known that the DA’s office was taking photographs of a tattoo that Anthony had done about a week before reporting the incident to the police, and about two weeks after the child went missing.

Now we all know that a tattoo can, and often is, used by law enforcement to identify a criminal, or a victim. However this may be the first case where getting a tattoo after the crime is used as evidence to prove a crime in and of itself.

At the moment it is unclear as to just how the tattoo, Italian script for “A Beautiful Life” is going to figure into the prosecutor’s case, but the picture has been released to the press as part of the 1,400 pages of evidence released. So, I’d say it is a good bet that they have some use for it in their case.

Remember Anthony did not have the tattoo at the time the alleged crime was committed, she got it afterward. Personally I don’t see where it comes into play, other than just speculation as to why she got the tattoo, and the reasons could be as varied as anyone else’s reason.

Now, I’m not saying that Casey Anthony is, or is not guilty. That is, honestly, something for the court to decide. What I am saying is be careful what you have tattooed on you, it seems that now days it can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Some people, it seems, never learn. Forget about the old saw that age imparts wisdom, because in some cases it just isn’t true. One such example is the case of Richard Wayne Stanford, 65, who, apparently, was born an asshole and just grew bigger.

Stanford was arrested Wednesday, Sept. 30, on charges of running an illegal tattoo operation out of his basement, and tattooing a 14 year old girl.

Now as most of us who are, or have been tattoo artists will tell you, a basement is probably not a prime location for a tattoo studio. For one they tend to be a bit cool and damp, which is perfect breeding ground for mold, mildew, and fungus. Now while disinfectants can take care of most viruses and mold in itself, it will not kill spores. Spores are the way molds and other fungi spread, and short of extreme heat and pressure, (like in a hospital autoclave, kiddies), nothing can destroy them.

“Gee, look ma, my tattoo is growing mushrooms!”

I’ve a pretty good idea where Stanford apprenticed at as well, considering he was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. Yep. Yet another graduate of the toothpaste ink, and guitar string school of tattooing. You just know that they spend months teaching these guys about blood born pathogens and sterile technique.

The police were tipped off by the girl’s parents after she came home with the tattoo in August, which makes me wonder why it took them nearly two months to arrest this idiot. He had been operating a word of mouth tattoo studio for God knows how long, and the authorities are unsure just how many victims, excuse me, clients, he has actually tattooed.

Currently it is illegal for someone to operate a tattoo studio without a permit from the Iowa State Board of Health, there are no medical or educational qualifications to become a permitted tattoo artist in Iowa. (Sounds alot like trying to put out a fire after the damn house has burned down to me.) Neither is there such a thing as parental consent. If you are not 18 years old, tough titty, kitty. No tattoo for you.

If convicted of his crimes Stanford will receive up to a year in county jail and an $1,875 fine for the tattoo offences, and up to five years in prison and a $7,500 fine for the firearm possession charge, which is a Class D felony.

To be honest, gang, things like this should be a no-brainer. Even if the tattoo artist is not required to be licensed by the state, you should at least do your best to make certain they know what in hell they are doing. In today’s world this is not a joke, it is deadly serious. And a tattoo “artist” who is working out of his basement with nothing more than word of mouth advertising should be enough to make you more than a little suspicious.

Ask to see his auto clave, sterilized single use needles, how he sterilizes the work station between each and every tattoo. It’s your ass we’re talking about here and I’m pretty sure a discount tattoo is not worth losing a limb to gangrene, or a slow painful death in an AIDS clinic. In short: Go to a Pro.

Take it easy, and be careful out there. 😉

Again… whew, this is a lot of work.

Next weekend we will be putting a Miss Tattoo Pageant on at Rock the Ink, at the ABQ convention center, October 16-18! Come on down say hi! And enjoy the show!

See ya in New Mexico,

Jen