Good bye to 2018....

I pretty much decided to not do any writing for the year of 2018-  kinda felt bad about it because there was so many awesome things that were happening at the shop, but in honor of staying focused on the clients and what was going on with Toni and the other crew, I just couldn't get to it. It is challenging being able to execute everything that you want to, especially when the creative ideas are brimming or dying to come to fruition.

I found myself repeatedly 'steadying' myself.  I had a mantra~ "easy woman, it will all happen, it will all get done."

And most definently, a lot of projects did get done indeed.

In the future I am planning on writing more, so I can use my Instagram page as a pictorial without having to write so much explanation for pieces. But it shows up, time and time again, that the people wanting to get tattoos need continued education, if you will.

My whole idea is how to enjoy the tattoo process for both people. The collector/the wearer and for the artist. Your artist needs to trust themselves with doing the tattoo not just the client trusting the artist.
More on that whole thing later...

2018 was one of the best years Valkyrie has experienced. The amount of tattoos we did this past year was so many- our Saturdays were jammed at the shop! It was such a magnificent year, full of love, creativity and inspiration. We picked up so much momentum at the shop, it was quite the buzz.
Toni, my apprentice started tattooing after spending over a year or more just being the intern.
Truly a very exciting time for the shop. The current crew is so happy to work with each other, it has been a easy going crew for sure.  I love it when the shop has that feeling of everyone gets along and is motivated to work hard and is inspired and inspiring each other and trusting each other- more trust, more bonding, for everyone who enters the space = better tattoos.

Here is some recent pics of Toni, working away- she's becoming a killer tattoo artist, very quickly in my opinion :)

This is a sister gardener named Jen who, raises these butterflies in her garden! She took those pics!

My viking brother Harry, I finally tattooed a "helm of awe" on him. He deserved it. He got clean and sober and had been hittin' the gym and exercising like the true badass warrior he is, so here is his (AEGLISHJALMUR)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Skal! Skal! Skal!

Best of 2018!!!!!!!

It's been way too long and I have a lot of time to think about this but I have wanted to lament on what a killer year it has been for Valkyrie!
It was such an honor to be named Sonoma County's best tattoo shop in our local paper~ the Bohemian for 2018!
That alone floored me a bit and was very exciting for us. We are feelin' the love. It was really nice going to the shin-dig they put on and we really enjoyed their appitizers and live band, in the fancy museum. Next time I will be sure to wear a dress. :) Anywho, that was in March...

We have been so productive and inspired this year- After wanting to tile our shop entrance for almost 5 years me and Toni put plans together and showed up at 7am on a sunday morning to do it! We have never done anything like that before and it was like we knew what we were doing! We are pleased with how it turned out: 

Color vs. black and grey tattoos

Here is all color- Lot's of mixing here- Black, blue, white, yellow and water to blend this the way it is. 

It occurred to me that I haven't written more about the differences between color tattoos and just black and grey tattoos- there is actually a big difference between the two, from the technique/application and healing process.
Some people know right away if they are a color person or black only-
I will get right to it.
Black ink on skin is way easier to work in and heal. The black ink is very watery and goes into the skin easily. Healing it is usually very easy going too. The skin processes it  within a few days to a couple of weeks and generally has a thinner 'scab' then color. Although the dry semi-crust on your tattoo during the healing is dead skin that falls off to reveal fresh rejuvenated skin. Black pigment is like tattooing water in the skin compared to color, which I refer to being like honey. When you put color pigment in the skin- the pigment is so full-bodied that it's like pushing honey into the skin, the skin has way more to take in, and process/heal which takes longer- a fully saturated colored tattoo can easily take two weeks to two months to heal and cure- as I call it.

Here is a client photo- I love these. This is a black and grey piece that is actually an opaque grey- adding white ink to the black thickens the pigment, thus this technique would be considered to be more on the color side. I also used mild white high lights in it for another dimension. 

This piece is done in all black ink with water.

 The colored ink needs to get adjusted and settled in the skin, which can take some time. Ink is pretty foreign to the skin but our bodies are used to a certain amount of toxins these days from pesticides to hair dyes (chemicals) to free radicals and pollution. So a healthy person with healthy skin can heal ink no problem. A lot of the times just straight water rinsing once or twice a day will ensure a good heal- moisturizing it when it dry once a day is a nice move too.
Anyway, lately these days there is a big call for just black tattoos, like line work only. That's a nice look and maintaining it, re-doing it, or touching up, is really straight forward and when they grey out in the future it looks kinda primitive and natural. Some people don't like how color tattoos 'fade'. But really over time they all do. However, if you have color and you have to get it re-done for normal preservation some don't want to go thru the process again.
At the end of the day it is all about personal preference and you should just choose to do whatever you'd like. If you have super sensitive skin, it may be easiest to go with black and grey...

Some black only pine needles. Very simple. Less is more often times.