Plumeria

I love tattooing the plumeria.  I gave this one an American Traditional twist.

Mahalo.

Three Pineapples

I made these for a for a family of friends.  Fun and quick memories of Maui for these cats.

Mahalo.

Charles Darwin Tree Of Life

I read Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species” years ago.  I thought of it as required reading for an artist.  Today I had a client want me to reproduce his sketch of the tree of life.  It was really fun talking to this guy, he is on his way toward a rewarding life of thought.

This is a picture of Darwins original work.

Mahalo.

Plumeria Band

I like working on plumeria flowers.

Mahalo.

Tiki Warrior

Well this was fun...

...straight from my flash.

Mahalo.

Popular Maui Tattoo

I get asked to do tattoos that people find on the net a lot.  I do not in any way want to work on something that is done 1000 times a day.  What I do is take the idea and make my own version of that popular tattoo.  I do my own versions over and over like old school flash run out of a street shop.  This is not a street shop, but I like tattooing, and most of the time these small introductory tattoos end up building a relationship with a new client.  It’s always a good thing to earn a new client's trust.

This is my version of a very popular Maui tattoo. 

Mahalo.

Old School Tribal

I like doing old tribal from the 1980’s and 90’s.  Leo Zulueta brough tribal tattooing to the western world. He is truly the father of tribal tattoo in America.  It’s a treat to work in his style, and it’s always cowboys or old guys that want it! Awesome.

Mahalo, it is an honor to walk behind those shoes of influence.

Polynesian Plumeria and Bird of Paradise

This was pretty cool to work on.  The client wanted these two flowers in Polynesian tribal.  It was fun, and I have decided how I would do this type of thing again.  It’s always good to go out and see new ideas.

Mahalo.

Polynesian Fishhook

This was my favorite of the day.

Mahalo.

Polynesian Scorpion

I make Polynesian tattoos in a variety of forms.  I feel that the external for the subject doesn’t matter, in that it does not have to be a traditional Polynesian subject.  If the main subject relates to the individual getting the tattoo then all the better for them.  I like it when everything is about the client, not just the look they want, but the total work expresses a portion of their personality and current circumstances in life.  I made a Polynesian scorpion tattoo for a client who really wanted something different.  

Mahalo.

Polynesian Turtle

This was a quick walk-in today.  

Mahalo.

New work Hawaii #1 "Between Interruptions"

I have been living in Maui Hawaii for 5 years now.  The majority of my time has been spent tattooing, spearfishing, surfing, and enjoying my life with Athena and our dogs. I have been clearing my mind in preparation for a major compositional oil painting.  This is the first study for the work.

This winter I started a new oil paining.  Nothing too serious, I simply had an idea to work out.  I worked on the painting when I was not tattooing; which is mostly never being that I have been almost booked solid for a few years now.

My life here on Maui is so very different than what it was in Minneapolis.  I have found that the ocean is everything to me.  All I want to do is play in it as often as I can.  With this new painting I decided not put too much academic thought into painting it, and simply paint. I work on it as I have time and at my leasure.  Everything is improvisational as I am only reacting to the work as I do it.

"Between interruptions" 2017

More to come as I finish them. 

Aloha...