Tattoo Inspirations (black and gold themed)

Me encanta black and gold:

Abstraction that I actually love.... from a site I stumbled upon today. Reminds me of Hundertwasser a bit.














http://www.carolinachaves.com/gold.black.php

As always (do you ever have an artist who when you see their work you feel like you could just die, becasue they've already achieved the quality of work you want to do...using the same inspirations as you?! It's a terrible feeling. It's what i get with a few illustrators, but mostly:)
Aya Kato:


























































Aya Kato just illustrated Poe's "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", which makes perfect sense, since Kato is today's Harry Clarke (and I'm not *weep*)




and amazing Brazilian graffitti artist/illustrator Herbert Baglione, whose work I stumbled upon when I lived next to Upper Playground in San Francisco. His show there was sold out. It should have been, dammit, it was AMAZING.:

Less Ordinary

This is the one that I thought I would run out of ink on. Look a the sheer width of Matt's back! Turns out, it only took three hours (which is fast...for me) and one capfull of ink. Richard's tattoo took more ink than this, I think.
Matt's tatto was challenging and in the end a educational experience in more ways than just practice. The challenge involved lining up the curve of the words so they would fit perfectly on his back, then getting the stencil on straight and dark, and not smeared. The stencil is all-important. I have a pretty good spacial-orientation (which makes me really good at driving a forklift!), but it was still nerve-wracking. I have picked up Jess's technique of drawing lines on people with a sharpie- (in fact using a sharpie for touching up wiped-off stencils and a multitude of other things too) to make eblieve there are actually verticals and horizontals on the curved and constantly changing human form.
The educational part of tattooing Matt came with HIS education. He's pre-med, and taught me the completely sterile way of taking off my latex gloves, a skill which I will share with anyone who doesn't know it. We also chatted about blood-born pathogens and other delightful things.

He's another person whose skin flushes bright red and then fades really fast. This was taken after I had done the whole outline, his skin had returned to normal, and THEN I went back and touched up a few place- hence the red flush in certain gaps.
















This is Matt's first tattoo. He's going for the gusto, obviously. We also have another appointment lined up already, a commemorative piece that he is going to get at roughly the same time as his brother in the United States. It's for their Mom, who passed away last year. I feel honored to be able to do this for Matt, you know?
I know that as a tattoo artist this will someday be natural for me, since commemorative tattoos make up the bulk of designs you'll do. That's important. That's providing a spiritual service, in a way. It's one of the many things that make tattooing so special for me.

(The supplies in the first Aide kit at work are rather dated! Check out this box for a gauze bandage... the picture of the mustache man cracks me up!)

Ladies and Gentlemen......

We have....OPEN WATER!!

The icebreaker cut a channel into the dock (made out of ice...of course), and the winds lately have blown the ice chunks apart to reveal THE OCEAN!! There are reports of whales (orcas) surfacing there!

Now there are boats and whales where a couple months ago my plane touched down....

All the electrical workers inventorying decaying chunks of urethane pipe-insulator in giant wooden boxes say YAY!!

(we have a nice view from our boxes though..)

Linx baby, and bizarre celebrations

I have some pictures that I don't post on the internet, you know, (as I reach the 1500th picture posted on Flickr). That's a selection of them there below. I was inspired by the "Of Montreal" song entitled "Wraith pinned to the Mist", which is a great song, very strange and seemingly about the action of BEING in Antarctica. it gets played a lot here. It's about (I think) a feeling of being insubstantial, or impossible. Look in most atlases- Ross Island isn't even included in the map of the world. And what are humans doing here anyway? I am a tattoo apprentice plying her trade in a dorm room in Antarctica....on my one day off I watch penguins or dress up and go to parties and draw on people with Sharpies (I am so serious that Sharpie should sponsor me or give me a prodeal or something. I do so much for them. You don't even know how many fake tattoos I've given here. A lot of parties are spent just drawing on folks...I finish one and start another one immediatley. It's made me very graphically-witty-on-the-fly, if i do say so myself. I like it.)

in other words, we have bizarre celebrations.

I guess it is like summer camp, which is what I scornfully thought before I came here. Tomorrow is the karaoke contest, Friday is the Dolly Parton Party, now in it's second year. We have a tuba-based band, Korean sword-fighting classes, we drive pickles and use "Skua" as a verb.

Let's forget who let forget when lets forget how.

I'm trying to start tattooing one soul a week. Probably on Mondays or Tuesdays. Last week it was Richard, who is a dear friend, with the first design of my own I've tattooed (haha it was my 3rd tattoo ever!) He wanted birds on a wire, and gave me many good pictures and suggestions. The power-pole hides on the back of his arm, and the power lines stretch around and would be abstract if the little outlined birds were not perching on them.

It took about 4 hours. Daaaaamn. He sat very well and we talked about and listened to music. he's an obsessive mix-maker, and had made two "tattoo mixes" in celebration (of being the second person properly tattooed in Antarctica, and - as he pointed out - the first gay person tattooed in Antarctica).



I set up the desk in our room like a tattoo station- covering everything in saran wrap and spraying everything with disinfectant. I go through about 7 pairs of latex gloves every session. I'm a bit of a germ-a phobe. Haha. It's because of the intense awareness of my teacher Jess, and I know I'll thank her for that as I continue to tattoo.

Time bends when I tattoo. My hands don't cramp really, but my legs totally fall asleep.
Does everyone realize that this is my dreamcometrue?

Hey don't you want to see the extraordinary paintings of Tiffany Bozic:



and the incredible "stony-traveller" photos of Mike Brodie (click on picture for link. The photographer is only 20 years old! I also feel like I'm gonna know one of the kids when I look at the pictures, from Rigg St. or just SC. ):



"Some Men are searching for the Holy grail/
But there ain't nothin' sweeter than ridin' the rails/


I thought so.

Love,
Kai

Let's pretend we don't exist, Let's pretend we're in Antarctica

Let's have bizarre celebrations......

Let's forget who forget when forget how......

We'll have bizarre celebrations...
I'll play the Satyr in Cyprus you the bride being stripped bare........

"Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)"19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned "A Wraith in the Mist." The wordplay is a take on the game "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" -- pin the wraith (ghost) to the mist. Pinning one ethereal object to another is fancifully bizarre akin to "Let's pretend we don't exist."

Vessel and Mix Tapes

The wind is up to 60 MPH today. There is no more snow here, only stinging volcanic dust. Hungover today from too much karaoke fun last night. I sang "Brand New Key" by Melanie, and dueted with Mykle on "Papa don't preach" (a tragic song).
Word is I'm leaving around the 16th of February.
Before that, though, is Vessel. "Vessel" is a time of the year, an event, and an actual ship.
Examples:
1."After Vessel, your pretty much home-free until your contract is up!"

2."I'm going to go crazy at Vessel, especially with my drinking habits.."

3."Is that going to get here on Vessel?"

The ship sails here and docks, bring supplies for the the station for winter. It's really big. We in Supply get to unload it, and so have a couple weeks of 12 hour days. Some of us go to night work, some stay on days (I'm staying with days). I am Not Looking Forward to this, as I already have No Time.

I was having a conversation with Sean last night about mix tapes (one of my favorite subjects), and that one perfect mix tape that you lose and regret losing forever. I have one of those, and I tried looking for it before I left, to no avail. It's the first mix tape that Cassidy (my first love) ever made for me.
The case was covered in wax from a candle, with a gold star pressed into the wax. On one side of the tape were the numbers "42" and on the other "69".

I am reminded of this because I hear a song from that tape being played in the fuels barn right now; "Heroin" by The Velvet Underground.
I have considered trying to remember the songs on the tape and recreating it.
1. "Because the Night" by Patti Smith
2. "Heroin" by the Velvet Underground
3. some song by the Cocteau Twins, I think.
4. "All the Candles in the World" by some girl singer...
5. ....
More to be added with a clearer mind.

Fin

love,
Kai