Catching up

Hey everyone!

I'm proud to announce that I'm coming up on the end of year three. Things have been wonderful in the world of tattooing for me - keeping busy, working hard and trying to get better. I've completely neglected this site and really plan to make more of an effort to keep this more up to date with what I'm up to. I've made a decision to not include every SINGLE tattoo I do anymore... just the ones that I was really into, and/or the ones that were attached to really awesome people. It's nice to be able to meet new people through them being your client. Not all of your clients end up being your friend, sometimes they dont even end up being someone that you want to tattoo ever EVER again!  Having a good connection with your artist/client really makes the experience all the better for both parties. I think this is why I have been so adamant on people making sure they RESEARCH artists... meet them, talk to them, get a good vibe from them. I hear so many stories about clients asking the artist for one thing, getting another, and NOT SAYING ANYTHING!!! What in the world is wrong with these people? I understand that getting tattooed can be intimidating, especially if its your first time, or starting a new larger piece from an artist whose work you really like. Sometimes meeting the "right artist" for your tattoo could end up being more like you meeting your worst enemy. Speak up people.

Anyway enough of my rant.. here's some things I have been working on since I last posted. I may have to spread these out.

 

Like I said, this time I'm skipping the commentary and just posting the pictures. Some of these are in progress!


Until next time....

Prouder

Tyler came from Spain to his old home of Minnesota for a sister's wedding, 

and snuck in a full-day half-sleeve first-tattoo tattoo session. 

For real. 

8 hours or more. 

One session. 

Non-stop tattooing. 

First tattoo ever.

He was well prepared,
and knew my 'state pride tattoo' rule
(and lived in a whole different country for extra bonus points).
He sat like a rock,
drank gallons of water,
and it was a super fun day.
(for me, not him)
(I think he hated it)

But yeah, we got it all in there.
A loon, lady slippers, a cardinal, acorns,
Norwegian pines, some geese, cattails,
and words.
There's a pinecone, too,
somewhere on the other side.
Minnesota, kids.
Love it, or leave it.
(or, leave it, and still love it)
Whatever, just don't get the Minnesota state outline only.

She's something special.

My buddy (and 2013 minneapolis tattoo convention boothmate)
Anthony Elliott is back in Minneapolis for a few days.
He's staying at the Louderhorn Inn while it's otherwise empty,
and working with me at Twilight Tattoo.
And today my rad client Josh let us do a collaborative tattoo on his thigh.
We drew separate parts, combined them, made changes,
and then took turns outlining, shading and coloring the tattoo.
I did the necklace and everything lower,
and he did the whole face and hair and everything.
And the antlers.
No kidding.
(they weren't even my idea)

It was super fun,
and the first time I've ever worked on a tattoo with someone else.
A big thanks to Josh for being such a trooper
and sitting like a rock for hours.
And for Anthony for coming down and hanging out in the big city.

June walk-in days!

Hey guys, we are excited to announce that we are having a summer walk-in week, our first one ever, from June 10th till June 15th, both days included!
We started out planning a walk-in day, but we decided to try a whole week to make it a bit easier for those with not-so-flexible jobs, and well, just because we can!
Why not, right?

Matthew and Wendy will prepare some flash, but they will also be able to do small custom pieces, as long as you don't mind waiting for the drawing, of course.
They'll post sketches and flash on their instagrams in the coming weeks, so you can have a sneak peek at what designs you'll have to choose from.

We'll be starting at 1 pm every day, and finish whenever we're finished.
Uncle Allan is unfortunately booked that week, but he promises he'll do the next walk-in week, whenever that'll be*!

We hope many of you will want to come by, check out the shop and get a sweet new tattoo!
Any questions? Email me at conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com.

*And should anyone cancel during that week, he'll be ready with some rose flash, i'm sure :)

 

 

And one more time in German! (no, i totally didn't write that, i just have awesome German friends to translate for me, that's all): 

 

Hey da draussen, wir sind total aufgeregt euch allen unsere Sommer-Walk-In-Woche zu verkünden!!!!

Unsere erste Walk-In-Woche überhaupt und diese findet vom 10.-15. Juni statt! Also 6 Tage Walk-Ins!!

Wir haben eigentlich geplant einen Walk-In-Tag zu posten, aber haben uns dann kurzfristig dazu entschieden daraus eine ganze Woche zu machen, was es für alle ein wenig einfacher macht in Bezug auf Termine, nicht so flexible Arbeitszeiten, etc! Und natürlich weil wir es einfach machen können!

Also warum nicht, oder?

Wendy und Matthew bereiten gerade ein paar Flashs vor, haben aber auch sicherlich Zeit um einige Customarbeiten machen zu können, solange ihr euch dann die Zeit nehmt auf die Zeichnung zu warten.

Die beiden werden in den nächsten Tagen und Wochen einige Sketches und Flashs auf Instagram posten, so dass ihr die Möglichkeit habt, schon mal einen kleinen Vorgeschmack auf das zu bekommen, was euch dann erwartet und worauf ihr euch schon mal freuen könnt.

Starten werden wir jeden Tag um 13.00 Uhr und hören auf wann immer wir fertig sind.

Uncle Allan ist leider in dieser Woche komplett gebucht, hat aber versprochen, dass er bei der nächsten Walk-In-Woche dabei ist, wann auch immer diese stattfindet!

Sollte in dieser Woche allerdings jemand bei Allan seinen Termin canceln, wird er Wendy und Matthew bestimmt mit einigen Rosen aus seinem Flash zur Seite stehen.

Wir hoffen das viele von euch vorbeikommen, das Studio besichtigen und am Ende eine neues Tattoo tragen werden!

Sneak Peek.

Jen came from Wisconsin a week ago
and got more work done on her Selkie leg sleeve tattoo.
I love this photo she took of the tattoo peeking through a hole in her jeans.

Getting it ALL done.

For real, though,
I've been busy lately.
I've been starting two new big projects
for every one that I finish.
This is some of the week's pieces:

This train was done in two sessions,
and this is half healed, half fresh (and hurty-looking).

Alli got her dog portrait finished, 

and the upper-thigh-butt-crease-area hated me. 

Look how hurty-swollen it got. 

3/4 healed, 1/4 new and red. 

I meant to take a better photo today at work, 

but I forgot, 

and so did she, 

so this one goes up for now. 

I started this owl-octopus morph thing holding a sacred pear today. 

It's a big ass half sleeve, 

and I'm pretty stoked on it. 

Heidi has sky-rocketed to the top of the favorites list. 

She not only knocked out the French pigeon in one shot a couple weeks ago, 

but she came back in to finish the Smokey the Bear tattoo 

on her other thigh this week. 

Two big tattoos in a month. 

I'm impressed. 

She also gave me a fancy music stand to hold my ipad. 

And she told me to get professional 

and use a watermark on my photos 

for when people use them on places like Pinterest . 

Thus, the new watermark.

Thanks, Heidi!

This photo has the healed pigeon, 

and the half healed, half new Smokey. 

I have one day off, 

(from tattooing only)

and then I'm back at it for another 6 days. 

Luckily, I have hired a super part time assistant. 

I'm going to get it all done, finally. 

All of it. 

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. 

Germans!

... and other Europeans.
I have a few May dates with Uncle Allan i'd like to book, but since we're going on a little (not tattoo related)  trip away from the office, i don't really have time to go through the waiting list.
So here's your chance to grab an appointment with Allan, with very little waiting involved!
Dates are 21st of May, 29th and 30th of May, design, size, placement is all up to you!
Send an email to conspiracyinctattoo@gmail.com if you're interested and we'll take it from there.
Thanks!

 

 Also don't forget that you can book with Matthew Gordon and Wendy Pham, see how here and here!

Oh, and the shop is great, Berlin is awesome, spring is here. There, that was an update of sorts, right?

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.