Home Alone.

Meryl left for her month long artist residency today,

leaving Shamira and I to fend for ourselves.

For thirty days!

oh man. 

Luckily, I got friends who like to visit, 

and the Louderhorn Inn was back to "No Vacancy" only 7 hours later. 

Jen and 2 friends came from Wisconsin, 

and are staying the night. 

That means all the bed-like pieces of furniture are full tonight, 

for maybe the first time ever. 

And since Jen was the first ever Juniper model,

(back when it was pomme de terre, even)

we snuck in a little photoshoot after Thai food 

and a group walk around Powderhorn Lake. 

Paper boats in bathtubs

(cause city lakes are foul).

Thanks, Jen. 

I plan to use this month alone in Minneapolis 

to be the most productive I possibly can.

It starts today, kids. 

I made the biggest to-do list ever seen.

I cleaned the whole house.

I did a pile of drawings.

I took photos of my Juniper line. 

I started a blog post at 3am. 

Tomorrow I tattoo Jen on my weekend. 

I'm off to a good start. 

C'est fini!

Heidi recently came to me for matching thigh tattoos;

one of Smokey the Bear/Alaska Pride, 

and one of a French pigeon. 

Today we started AND finished the pigeon one. 

It's not a small tattoo, 

and it took us over 6 hours. 

But let me tell you, 

she didn't move, complain, or ask for a break even once. 

One of the toughest

(and most amusing!)

clients I've ever had the pleasure of tattooing. 

And in case you were wondering, 

the baguette was my favorite part to work on. 

Dead birds are sexy, 

but French pigeons aren't too bad, either. 

To all the tattooed ladies.....

Meryl and I had a late night letterpressing at MCBA this evening. 

After I tattooed all day, 

we went and made these sexy little bookmarks. 

They are part of a larger book arts project we're making 

with Meryl's tattooed lady poem and my illustrations.  

I really enjoy doing letterpress,

which is good,

because it's going to take a million years and a million dollars, 

but I'm super excited about it all. 

The bookmark paper (and the book's actual pages)

are a soft pink, but it's hard to see that here. 

More soon. 

Hell City!

Man, kids.
That convention certainly lived up to it's name.
At least for me.
I was super sick and beat up the whole weekend,
with no voice and way less energy.
Somehow, though, my clients were the best ever,
and I made it through all three days of serious tattooing.
Ryan Smith also accompanied me to Columbus, Ohio,
(13 hours driving there, and 14.5 home!)
and was a huge help.
He kept our side of the Off the Map booth looking good,
and socialized with all the convention attendees.
He was also my main form of communication.
He just read my mind,
and then said my thoughts aloud for me.
But, really, though.
He did.

Thanks to Off the Map for letting me share their booth.
And thanks to Canyon Webb for working next to me,
and even sharing a hotel room with Ryan and I.
And thanks even more to my amazing three clients.
I did so much tattooing, kids.

Here's my piece from Saturday,
I'm hoping for better photos soon.
Elizabeth sat 9.5 hours, and I was blown away.

For Those About to Rot....

I don't know either, kids. 

I got a request for a 'rot and ribbon' piece, 

panda-style. 

But those guys don't even look real when they are alive,

and look even more stuffed animal-ish when they are dead. 

So I did a panda with some 'lucky bamboo' head growths. 

(still with a ribbon, of course).

Turns out, 'lucky bamboo' isn't even bamboo at all;

they aren't even related,

and it's not even native to Asia. 

Early morning Albie Rock texts are either about butts, guns,

or scientific classifications of biology. 

Anyway, this panda has some Pier 1 houseplants 

growing out of it's head, 

and I'm sure it'll be dead soon. 

Additions.

Erica got this half sleeve in two sessions a few months ago, 

but I hadn't seen it healed until she came in to get more. 

I took these photos, 

and then did a few touch ups, 

and then took out some markers. 

A whole bunch of scribbles:

And then the outline and shading. 

 

I'm excited to get back into it, 

and get some healed, finished photos. 

Thanks to Erica for the trust,

not many people could have faith in that mess of Sharpies. 

Always more.

The other day when Jen came to get tattooed, 

she was kind enough to model the newest Juniper shirts. 

The hand and egg and arrow should be familiar, 

but the drippy skull is new. 

(there's also some new springtime scarves)

If I'm not tattooing, 

or doing art for tattoos, 

or letterpress projects with Meryl, 

then I'm probably making stuff for Juniper.  

I made this big birdhouse for their front window,

and this postcard for their monthly mailing.

(which is free, so you should sign up)

I sure make some pretty looking things, sometimes. 

Thanks to Juniper for giving me an outlet for all this ribbon and lace (and skulls) that I have inside of me.