Sweet emotions

The last few weeks have been really special around here. I have been hearing some wonderful heartfelt stories lately. A few weeks ago, I was tattooing on this woman, and she was upset because here Grandma was in the hospital with failing health and who knows how it will go...And then there has been all these memorial tattoos that we have been doing around here.  I did a really special one tonight actually, I did not know at the time that's what I was doing, but she confided that her Fiance died in December due to a freak accident. She told me the story and it was so sad! This woman is not even 30 years old. She got their birth flowers tattooed on her and told me that coincidently the flowers together meant eternal love. I totally felt for her. We touched on Death a little- which is not unfamiliar around here. It's amazing how Death comes up so often while tattooing. It's a deep subject, maybe that's why. Another gal came in tonight who I consulted with that I am doing a boat load of script on and it was this romantic kinda eerie poem, and she told me that she read that poem and her Grandfathers funeral! I can not wait to do cause I totally see it in my head and I can't wait to execute!

It is funny because through the designing of the tattoo process to actually doing the piece, I realize that I give so much of myself to these people, and at the same time while I am tattooing people they open up and tell me their stories. There is something truely magical about the tattoo chair. I am just honored.

So, I end my night with doing the clean up, put the machines to bed, which I dropped and it landed on my big toe, which hurt super bad, but at least it didn't land on the floor and get damaged, but god damn my toe hurts!

Oh yeah and another thing I heard today while working was " Don't slam Jesus down my throat " !
...awesome!

In progress...

Here is my station during the working process, it usually is messier looking!

I usually don't like posting in progress pictures, but sometimes it takes forever to get a photo since it takes so many months to finish large pieces. Here is two pieces I am currently working on that I really enjoy.This first picture of the flowers is taking quite sometime. I think we have had four sittings on it already. The last one was the green and the black. We might be half way there! Maybe!

This is the inside of the piece but it wraps all the way around and has a raven on the front mixed in with the sun flowers. We also have had four sittings on it and the last one was for three hours! This guy is tough. He sits like a rock and can really relax into getting worked on. My favorite kinda sitter!

Some new stuff

Here is some new pictures I took within the last couple of weeks. I did the lock design on a foot recently, but the horse I did awhile ago. I have been spending the last 4 weeks building a new website for the shop, that I am going to launch in the next 2 weeks that I am excited about. I hope to have new photos of recent work on it, but the pieces I have been working on recently are elaborate and require many sittings to complete. I am also working on a cover up that I will post asap.