I have been wanting to do a price inspired by mandalas, Indian henna designs and some of the more current trends of stripling shading. Jennifer a repeat customer of mine brought in such a request. Today we did the first session on her arm. I am really looking forward to finishing it for her in a few weeks. :) pretty happy with my line work as well.

Catching up

Well so much for once a week. Haha we'll have to see if I can get better about it as the yet progresses. It is important to me to keep you guys up to date as much as possible. :)

A lot has happened this month already. I attended the 3rd annual tattoo convention in Washington D.C. with Ricky Cavaness, Cavan Infante, and Kris Roberts. Had a great time seeing old friends, making new ones, learning some new things and all in all realizing just how far I have not only come but how far I have to go.

Hit home running really. It's been a busy which is nice because I can try to implement all that I learns while its fresh. I'll share some of my favorites from the month so far.

Lots of changes at the shop as well. First art gallery showing of the year went well. They'll just get better and better from here on out. :)

Jay-Mean left us to work with one of his good friends who has just opened his own shop here in town.

I am moving into a new booth with our new artist Kim. Plus we have two new apprentices starting one for tattooing and one for piercing.

Goals for 2013

It's a new year and a great time to focus on what I want to get done or ahead on at work. 

I try to set goals for myself regularly, finding that it helps me kick my butt in gear. :) Lists drive me because I like crossing them off so I usually write them down and then loose them in the piles of papers and things life likes to accumulate. Which is also why I  like to write my goals down on some peice of nice stationary I was saving and then seal them in an envelope labeled Goals (the year) , do not open until next year. 

This is 2013's Goal List

*Get my own work Furniture. (Table, arm rest, standing light)

I have been borrowing or sharing these items from fellow shop mates and feel like it is time for me to become my own self sufficient artist. 

*Purchase new higher quality machines

In the beginning I bought or traded for the best machines that I could afford. This got me started and has been working out fine but I think its time to become a big kid artist and up my game. Newer higher quality machines are a step in that direction. 

*Finish getting my Personal Website up

Last year in March I bought a domain name and thought I'd gotten the ball rolling in regards to getting a site up. Unfortunately its 2 months shy of being a year since I started that project and two web designers later I have nothing but a picture up saying site in progress. Time to fix that. I probably need to update my work on the shops page as well so we'll add that on to this goal. 

*Post at least Weekly on this blog

This blog is a lot like the lists that I like to make. Its a personal motivator to not only help me get things done but to really evaluate what I am doing. I mean if I don't think anything is worth posting that is probably a sign that I need to work harder on my designs, techniques etc. Plus I like keeping you guys in the loop of what I am doing. ;)

*Quarterly Mail out to Friends, Family and Coworkers

I was already doing this in a kind of willie-nilly fashion as I thought of it or of people I wanted to keep get in touch with. However I noticed I could never seem to keep track of who I'd sent things to or what I had sent which lead to confusion on my end a few times. I don't want to mail the same card over and over again as I want to let people enjoy my progression as well a nice surprise. 

*Attend a convention as a Working Artist

I love going to conventions. Its a great place where people are everywhere, artists are put to the limits of their abilities, and art and ideas abound. In the past few years I have been to many conventions and always left exhausted but inspired and ready to attempt new things. I have yet to get to work at a convention as an artist though and this has made me very sad because I feel like its a wonderful proving ground. I can test myself to see how I hold up against the greats in the industry, to the stress of being under casual surveillance through every process of the tattoo, and having a very limited amount of time to finish a great amount of work. I think while I am still in the fledgling stages of my career that it is important to cultivate my skill in a public arena as well as a private one. 

*Update my Passport

This industry more than almost any other allows you to travel and work easily. I love traveling and have put it off more and more over the past decade due to school, my apprenticeship, family, boyfriends etc etc. Its easy to make excuses to not travel. Not enough money, not enough time, no place to stay, the list goes on. I've decided this needs to stop. There have been small trips here or there and several moves around the country but my real travel dream lies in going out of the country. Conventions and guest spots could be the key to my travel dreams but I can't do this with out a passport and so I decided it needed to be on my list. 

Well that concludes my goals for 2013. Not to terribly long but more than enough I think to get me started in the right direction. Hope you all have your goals set and are as excited as I am to go after them.  Maybe you'll even share some of your goals with me. 

Holiday Wishes

 

Merry Christmas from the No Egrets Crew and I. I'm a bit behind but I was thinking about you guys and they say its the thought that counts. :) Now lets all enjoy our presents and get ready for the New Year!

What a hoot

Birds are always in demand as a tattoo item. All of the images walk ins who wanted to get bird related tattoos this month. Even the painting was done based on a drawing for a walk in (we did something slightly different and I unfortunately didn't have get a photo of the tattoo to compare).

The feather and the owl with the moon are both cover ups. I have been terrible this month at not remembering to take before pictures so I apologize for the lack of comparison again. The feather is covering small foot prints and the owl initials.

The love birds represent the parents of the client. They apparently love birds and act like a couple still very much on love. :)

The other owl was for a long time customer of No Egrets. She and her sister have been coming to get work done by the artists here since we opened. This was my first time tattooing one of them and it was a great honor. Especially since this peice is for both of her grandmothers who loves owls. I love this owl. It reminds me of old tea coozies for some reason. I think it's the flowers.

The End is Near

 I don't actually believe we're all going to die in a fireball of global doom but I am surprised at how accurate the Maya were at predicting major social change. Each of their Dynasties prior to their loss of power was marked by a huge social change that effected the culture. In some cases it was marked by violence but in others it was more of a shift of perspectives and cultural understanding. If the Maya were still around I feel they wouldn't be surprised at all to note the major changes in our society since the many wars and ages, particularly the industrial revolution, that have lead way to us as a whole now being forced to realize our effects and responsibilities to our planets natural resources and humanity as a whole. If I had to say anything the end of this Maya dynasty marks one of the most important cross roads that we as humanity face as a whole in our combined history. Namely how we intend to handle the major issues of health, rights, economics, and our effects on the creatures and nature of this planet. Do we ignore the signs of our abuse on natures systems or work to create a new culture that works with in the natural laws of our environment.  Do we continue to hold back our scientists, educators and healers allowing the sick become weaker, the poor to become poorer, and the ignorant to remain just so the rich can continue to be richer or do we let knowledge and empathy have a chance to blossom so that we can all have the ability to live full healthy lives filled with understanding. That is the cross road I believe we are at. I have faith that humanity will choose to follow the path of knowledge and growth but in the end we'll see. Its an interesting time to be alive. Thats for sure. 

Phew. Well you might need some fun after a rant like that so if you live on the Atlantic coast and don't have any plans for the 21st you should check out the End of Times show at House of Madness. I mailed off my paintings for the show and can't wait to hear about how they are received at the gala to celebrate the end of all seasons. I only sent off two paintings but they are both themed around the Maya.

This one is based on a tattoo I designed and tattooed on a fellow named Taco in my apprentice ship. I've always gotten a giggle out of it and knew I wanted to paint it eventually but never seemed to get around to it until now.  

This beauty is a reworked drawing from a design I created for a walk-in customer. I'd kind of hoped to have enough time to paint another version of her for the show that I have drawn up but the time never presented itself so for now this is a lone Amazon but she's pretty boss with her jaguar head dress and face paint. 

Hopefully the world doesn't actually end and I can get some photos of gala and these beauties hung with the other amazing work from the other artists participating. 

The painting never ends

I am working on an old design I tattooed on Taco during my apprenticeship. I always really got a kick out of it and since the end of the world art show has a very Mayan theme I felt it was the prefect time to give another life to the image. It still has a ways to go and the date of the show is soon approaching but I am confident I can get it all done and shipped with the other 2 images for the show in time. Funny how quickly the end of the world approaches.

Started and finished this reaper study for Bart's arm. It will be a cover up so I wanted to test out how I wanted it to look before hand. It helps me focus more on each line/ area if I already have a preconceived notion of what I want it to turn out like. Granted changes are always inevitable between paintings and tattoos but it still helps to have a game plan :)

The other is a drawing from a walk in who didn't care for this version and went with another take on it. I still really enjoyed this one so I am painting it up in the hopes of inspiring a future taker on getting it tattooed. :) I will be sure to post it as soon as its done.

Under the sea, Second session

Still at work on Jay's shoulder but we are defiantly moving along. I am excited to continue working on it :)

Super Storm Auction Winner

The winner of the skate deck I donated to the Tattoo Fight Club  Super Storm Art Auction was Stacy. Thank you for participating in the auction and helping to raise funds for those in need. All the proceeds raised were donated to the Red Cross. I hope you enjoy the board its one of my favorites that I've painted. <3

The winner of the skate deck I donated to the Tattoo Fight Club Super Storm Art Auction was Stacy.

Under the Sea, part II

We did a good long session of lining out Jay's shoulder and chest. The octopus was a ton of fun to draw. Really excited to start bringing these to life and really tie them together. The empty space between the shoulder and peck is where we'll be putting the remaining tentacles.

Give me something good

... To eat that is :) Jerimiah had me tattoo his arm pits furthering his bodily tribute to cartoon dogs before he moved back to Washington state. I wish him the best out that way. Knowing he will always get a good chuckle from his arm pits makes me feel like he'll do just fine.

Under the sea

Everything's wetter take it from me. -Sebastian the crab

This is a study for a tattoo I am doing tomorrow. Pretty excited.

Cash for Cash

Volunteered some time yesterday at one of my favorite shops in Nashville, Kustom Thrills.

The benefit went great. Turn out was awesome, tons of amazing art and goodies were auctioned off. Including a small watercolor I'd done earlier this year. At least 120 tattoos were done with all the proceeds going to help Cash, a little boy with brain cancer.

Best wishes to Cash and his family.

Benefit Auction for Super-storm Victims

Hey everyone. Tattoo Fight Club is holding an art auction for proceeds to help the victims of Super-storm Sandy. I've donated the piece below. Also check out the other amazing artists work. Buy something awesome and help out those in need. If you're interested go to their instagram: tattoo fight club  or Facebook: Tattoo Fight Club.  This board is on an auction for this week and will end SOON.

DC Tattoo Convention

Time to start getting ready for conventions again. If you're in the area and want a tattoo or to just hang our get in touch with me:

Heidi Arata
Amazingly.cute@gmail.com