In Valkyrie we trust...

As usual, I mean to write more often but I just don't make the time for it. I really do enjoy writing and it is nice to put pieces together for this blog but I also do keep journals, to let the thoughts flow from my mind and I do prefer writing with a pen on paper. Old school. I am definetly a low tech personality. That is what drew me to tattooing in the first place. An art form that is executed with raw materials- my hands and a live body. Doesn't get any more natural than that. With that being said, it leads me to what I think is a shift that is happening in the tattoo industry. I think the demand for tattooing is higher than what it has been in the past, there is no mistake about that but I am noticing that there are people that are being drawn to tattooing that are not "meant" to be tattooed. I know I have mentioned this before but what that means is the types of people that think they want one, get one after thinking about it for a certain amount of time whether it be short or long term, get the tattoo and then pick it to death and are unhappy by the way it turned out- the lines are not clean enough, the coloring/shading is not good enough, etc. I often explain to people that art on the skin changes over time, normally. That's part of the commitment. Not knowing what it may look like in the future. Even when you go to the best tattoo guy! I recently had someone come in and get a tattoo by one of us here and she was happy with how it healed, so I offered to go over it again and touch it up for her since she was comfortable working with me. So I made her an appointment which she never showed up for and then called a month later to do it again. I had her come in and consult about it, I set her another appointment to do the tattoo and what do you know, she doesn't show up to the second appointment! I do touch ups for free, no charge but this is a perfect example of standing by your work and being available and the client turns it, into something else...Oh well, you can only do so much and then let go...


Some of you may know our lovely manager, Anabell. Here is an action shot I took of her. She is English and has some cool lingo, but most importantly, we love and adore her so much and would be so lost with out her. She works as hard as the rest of us her and totally honors the world of tattooing and knows how to keep it Sacred. We love you Anabell!


We got some new shirts in stock, they are the Valkyrie head below with the epic, Icelandic Vegvisir symbol on helmet.

 Here is a piece of flash I did recently on my pal Tom. He is one of my oldest clients and is a dear friend of mine at this point. He sits like a rock and never complains and always compliments me on the work that we do together. I love being supported this way and I feel like my true artist self can come out unobstructed when I am so encouraged. Thank you Tom, it is always my pleasure.

My apron get's a lot of action and I think it looks like the cosmos!

Thank you everyone who trusts us at this shop and really supports us!

Keeping flash alive!

I recently have set the goal for myself to draw one page of flash a week. For those of you who do not know what flash is- flash is the art that is drawn by tattooers that decorate tattoo shops walls. Flash is set up so you can choose a pre drawn image and have it tattooed on you in a quickly enough manor. For many years this was the way people received tattoos. This was just the way it was. When I first started tattooing I did a lot of flash but then it quickly moved to a different approach in the way clients asked for the tattoos they wanted. As the word "custom tattoo" grew and became more desirable and the way-about-getting a tattoo- has changed the tattoo scene and industry a lot.
I try to draw as much flash as I can through out my career and have years where I don't even have a full set- which is usually 4-6 pages. 
Here is some samples through the years where I have experimented, taught myself techniques, and just hoped that someone would want to get one of my pieces.
Unfortunatly, some people think that getting a piece of flash means that you are not getting a unique piece. That many others may have that tattoo, down playing individualism. I believe that is on the contrary. Flash designs are awesome. They are specifically built to make a perfect tattoo on skin, that will hold up over time, keeping their shape better than some other "custom" designs. Flash is a huge part of tattoo history and should keep on being celebrated as a special part of the tattoo culture. At most shops the resident artists have flash that they have drawn themselves that you could choose from, thus supporting the artist even further more by getting one of their pieces. There is also flash that is drawn by artists from all over the world that the shop has collected over time. So, you really can't go wrong by picking a piece of flash off the wall.
Lastly, there is no difference from choosing an image off of google or pinterest. Hundreds of people are getting the same images of the internet. If you really want something one of a kind, you need to speak to your artist and get their opinion of what tattoo is best for you. Some images that are traditional, like roses will be done forever because they are simply tried and true. Don't be too quick to say "everyone else has that". Get what you want if you think it looks cool and leave it at that.

We talk about humanities so much at the shop. Either between us as co-workers or with our clients. I often say that part of my job is to talk down-to-earth with people all day long.
 It often feels like I'm in a bubble in the shop- like we have created a bubble there, a safe place. We're often having conversations about why we think people are the way they are- why are we/they struggling in life, why is communication so hard? What is social media doing to us as people, public figures? It's really quiet fascinating and beautiful. I leave these conversations often feeling happy that these people are on my team and I think they have such a good head on their shoulders and then I think of admiration. I think admiration is such a huge thing for us humans. If you don't have admiration for the closest people in your life, in your circle how does that benefit you or them? I wonder, if you do not admire your loved ones, how does that help you grow as a person or how do you have successful relationships if you do not have admiration? In tattooing, if you do not admire your artist that's easy- don't get tattooed by them. If you do not admire them as a person, don't get tattooed by them either. I have a saying that I adopted from my dojo for the shop. Spirit first, technique second. In the shop it says to me that if you admire your artist as a person in a friendly caring way you will always care for that tattoo since only good "vibes" have transferred to the tattoo. If you only care what the tattoo looks like even if  your artist treats you like shit, you will have those stinky "vibes" (memory) tattooed on you forever... So, what I think is that it is important to be an honorable person today in this world of personal confusion- so we can love ourselves and each other, be strong and motivated to reach goals and be awe inspired by the beauty of this world and the humans in it...just sayin'

Here is some of my favorite humans.