Polynesian Tribal Turtle

Turtles are everywhere on Maui.  I make a lot of tribal turtle tattoos.

Mahalo

Beach Day

I took Carivaggio to the beach for half the day.

Love my dog, and he loves me...and he loves his ball.

Polynesian Cover-up

Some clients are just fantastic people.  They give you the freedom to simply do what works.  I really dig this tattoo.

Mahalo.

Polynesian Shark

I really had a good time working on this.

Mahalo

Formal Work for “The Peloponnesian War” Painting

I am ready.  I have taken several years to clear my mind in preparation for my oil paintings of “The Peloponnesian War” as a composition within a series.  I will begin with some basic composition sketches as I research the subject itself.

I am currently reading “The History of the Peloponnesian War” by Thucydides, and taking a class (through the net) from Donald Kagen a professor at Yale University.  The lectures are available to anyone on the net through several sources, however the source material is a bit hard to purchase as I am not a student at Yale.  I have also been reading Donald Lateiner’s work on Thucydides, and after a real look at the material, Kagen’s work and his source material is by far the better.  Or I simply enjoy Kagens work more as I can relate to his personal feelings on the subject.

As preparation for my own transformation into the character I will be working from this time, I have completed the works of Plutarch simply to get a feeling for multiple individuals of a like time.  Now “Plutarch’s Lives” is written several hundred years after the Peloponnesian war, however it is my only real source material into the daily lives of people back then.  Rome was considerably different than Greece. Regrettably Plutarch is the best I can do to find a state of being for daily behavior of a common individual.  I could go to the classics like Plato or Aristotle for my character study.  Those men were anything but common and where I have read all of their works, I find them both, in part, to be liars.  So while being familiar with their works will be beneficial to my character study, it will ultimately be self defeating in the clarity and integrity of my personality change.

This is always a challenging process.  To become something else entirely separate from one’s identity is a challenge to achieve and maintain.  I am not sure how long it will be until I am ready to take on the character.  Probably a few years.  

I do this because I want to express the subject of the Peloponnesian War as it directly relates to today.  I fell that it’s complete circumstances are a reflection of the underbelly of our current world.  Albeit, this is a subject that I must twist into a true work about now, as it relates to mankind’s immediate story.  That story is in my opinion extremely optimistic, and pessimistic.  As long as I can remember, America has been on the edge of total collapse or total prosperity.  I want to express that optimism of youth and that pessimistic old man.  I am sure to discover a great deal within this study.  I know that my immediate thoughts on what I want to do are going to change entirely as I slowly take on the complete character of my subject. 

I will start the work by several studies in oil on linen.  I will title them “Hawai’i” because well that’s where I am.  Each of these works will not be planned in any way, and the will be simply expressions of my environment.  I am really going to take my time with this.  We are buying the studio now, so my time will be split into running this store and working tattoos, and oil painting.  I am also not in anyway in a hurry to complete this work as I want to be completely prepared to paint this as I maintain my work as a tattooer.  When I am ready I will hire an employee to do most of the tattoo work as I focus on my compositions.  I may have to train someone for this as I will need someone who can work as hard as I do with a similar philosophy on life and works, and being an artist.

Mahalo, this is going to take some time to make happen.

Divinity School

Divinity school

The misconception that abstraction is checked for its quality as it comes from the value system of the modern art market is simply inaccurate.  Distraction is not subjective and subjectivity is constantly taken advantage of casually.  There is nothing wrong with making a profit from an artist, albeit that artists labor ideally should be his gain.  That contradiction is a calculated decision on the speculative effect a living artists work will have on mankind in years to come.  More times than not that prediction is accurate when placed against a larger pool of the population.  That same process for accessing value is completely inaccurate when looked at through a smaller lens.  I adore abstract works of art, and if compositionally sound I find myself at ease in their presence.  There was a time where I followed everything happening.  I no longer understand the current trends, and I no longer seek to know them.  I enjoy the isolation of my current home, just as I enjoy the works that I am creating in that isolation.

As soon as one outgrows, or simply decides to ignore the vanity and pride of being different, the individualism of our era, then the ability to see a truth as in the nature of reality grants mankind with the ability to see the truth in daily life.  Seeing that, understanding that, and knowing how powerless one is to that gate is at first for some painful.  As those types morn their loss, the few others celebrate their liberty.  Inevitably that suffering or joy becomes wisdom if the artist is honest with their insight.  Very few are honest with themselves or their motivations.

I also enjoy rambling about ideas that more then likely are complete nonsense.  Possibly that is related to my love of abstraction.  I met an artist here on Maui this week, and witnessed first hand their delusion of self and motive.  Mostly I can just call them youthful, but really I will call them lost in aggrandizement.  However it has been on my mind, the circle of influence we all project regardless of its actuality.  Within that I applaud youth and ask myself; how is it that I am seeing myself as old being as young as I am?  Then I recall what I just wrote while looking for the next sentence.  How pleasurable this game is to me.

Aloha.

Maui

Athena and I spent the day in the ocean, we went out to Honu for dinner, watched a sunset and had a perfect day.  I have been so busy at the studio that I have forgotten to take a day and relax.  The last three days have been nothing but family, ocean, and really good food.  I absolutely love being on Maui, and I forget to enjoy it.  I am booked out for a while, and I have commissions to finish so finding time to just surf and snorkel is hard.  Thankfully I have Athena, and she takes care of me completely.  I Love this woman with all of my heart.

3 days without doing a single tattoo, all ocean and family.

Perfect.

A night out

Love our time.  We go to Honu on special nights.

I love this woman.

New Flash Paitings

I made some fun flash paintings this week.

Mahalo.

Mustache

I grew a mustache...crazy funny.

I shaved it off 1 min after this.

Hibiscus

This is a pretty weird hibiscus tattooing I fucking love it.

Mahalo

Polynesian Tribal Shark

I really like working with Polynesian tattoo.  This was a fun tattoo to work on.

Mahalo

Polynesian Tribal

This was a lot of fun.

Mahalo

Viking Cross

I made a pretty cool Viking Cross based on wood carvings.

Mahalo

Polynesian (tribal) Tattoo.

I made this tattoo today.  Polynesian tattoo is language, and well I use it.  Arm bands are always a lot fo work and a lot of fun.

Mahalo

Hibiscus and Plumeria Tattoos

I added a few hibiscus and plumeria tattoos to an existing patchwork arm.  It was really fun.

Mahalo

Puzzle Heart Tattoo

Quick draw-on with a sharpie walk-in today.

Mahalo

The "Bug"

There is a tattoo that I have wanted since I first saw it.  Its the Bug, or the "stink Bug" and it is a Minneapolis tradition.  It is passed between people I know in Minneapolis and those traditions normally involve drinking.   You have to be absolutely drunk.  The person giving you the tattoo has to be beyond drunk, and anyone involved needs to be wasted as well.  You don't have to be a tattooer to give this to someone, you just need to have been given one, and be wasted when you tattoo it.

So we got Trevor wasted on Jameson and beer and had him tattoo us all with the bug.  He originally got his from an Aprentice piercer. 

I think we drank three bottles of Jameson.

 Our friend Gak was visiting from Japan and he doesn't drink very much.  I kept filling his cup with whiskey and he kept drinking.

That's a tender spot. 

 Athena and Trevor triumphantly showing off her new ink.

happy drunk

I bet it didn't hurt at all. 

I absolutely love my "Stink Bug" tattoo. Thanks Trevor.

Monica getting hers, happy drunk and happy getting tattooed.

Here we all are dreading the hangover and loving our current tattoos.

Fuck that was fun.

Mahalo

Koi tattoo

I made a Koi for my friend, and it was pretty fun.  I really enjoy working on Koi tattoos.  I would like do a Koi tattoo a month.  This tattoo was a lot of fun.

Mahalo