Tattooing is a team sport.

It takes two people to make a good tattoo; the client and the artist. You don’t need to be friends, or have anything in common for that matter; only a willingness to pursue a shared goal and the ability to listen. It’s a dance. The tattooer leads the dance, but both parties are active participants.

I am beyond grateful to have so many return clients that stick with me through the years. It’s the ultimate compliment, really. To have the opportunity to create real working relationships with people. To foster trust and thereby stronger work. And to make cool tattoos on cool people.

Quite a number of my clients have been working with me for well over a decade now. There are many individuals, but also couples and even whole families who work with me on a regular basis. I have so much gratitude for these relationships and am excited to build new connections with future clients.

Much gratitude. Thank you.

Collecting healed photographs of my work has always been something I value and enjoy doing.

I feel strongly that a tattoo doesn't really look "done" until a few months after its completion; at which point it's settled into the skin and the client has had a chance to wear it. Once a tattoo has been lived in for awhile, it takes on the energy of the wearer and it just feels different. It's a part of them and their story.

Plus, on a more superficial level, I simply like the look of healed black and grey tattoo work. The shading softens, black appears less dark and takes a more organic feel, and the skin is free of any irritation associated with the application and healing process.

Got a healed tattoo from me? Always feel free to reach out! I'd love to grab healed photographs.

Rebekka and I recently finished up her second sleeve. The first (comprised of floral, geometric elements, and an anatomical heart) was completed 5 years ago in 2019. The most recent was completed over the course of a five months starting in late 2023.

The tattoo on her inner arm depicts the figure of Amphitrite from Greek mythology; the Goddess of the Sea and Marine life as well as the feminine balancing force to her husband Poseidon. The outer arm depicts a clipper ship being attacked by the mythic Kraken. The sea is both calm and tranquil; it is also both turbulent and chaotic.

It's all about balance.

I love tattooing flowers.

Floral tattoos lend themselves quite nicely to the flow and form of the human body: complimentary shaped petals that mirror and echo the curves of an arm and leaves that tumble and twirl around the curvature of a rib cage. These design are always a joy to draw and to tattoo. I'm always excited when potential clients reach out with design that include floral elements.

Birth flowers for loved ones, herbs for healing, or botanicals that acknowledge significant life events. Perhaps the blossoms from a wedding bouquet  or blooms which used to adorn the backyard of a grandparent who has since passed away; flowers are a powerful way to mark something meaningful without having to disclose the underlying intent of a tattoo. There is always strength and potency in subtlety.

Flowers emit a balancing of energies. Their bold power exudes delicate grace and a fragility that's met with unforgiving resilience. We give flowers to celebrate birth and acknowledge death. The intoxicating scent of a rose cannot be enjoyed without cautiously minding the prick of its thorns. There's an exciting tension created by two opposing forces together in harmonic union.

Here's some projects that feature floral tattoos...

The concept of Sacred Geometry contemplates and concerns repetitious patterns found within all levels of Nature. The curl of a breaking wave, the head of a yellow sunflower around which all it's petals dance, the iconic nautilus shell's unfurling vaults. Ever expanding, spiraling up and out, interpenetrating all physical reality.

Our experience of the physical world is a dance in which the grand unfolding of Nature is interpreted by the five senses; this is Sacred Geometry at work. Energy patterns at all levels of vibration are received as sight, sound, taste, smell and texture to merge into our moment to moment experience of the outer world.

The use of mandalas and other fractal geometric shapes in tattooing can serve as a reminder of the underlying structure of it All. I find the process of tattooing images of this nature to be quite joyful. I get lost in the lines. Over and over, in, out, in and out. It's like a form of meditative tattooing.

As someone with a personal interest in the topic, I get excited when clients reach out with tattoo concepts inspired by these images and ideas. Mandalas and fractal patterns are like visual poetry that reflect the patterns found in the human form.

Here's some examples of work the incorporates sacred geometry in some way shape and form:

I've been doing a deep dive into my tattoo photo archives.

I have photographed almost every tattoo I've done in the last 13 years. Every once in awhile I'll go back and look through all the photos, it's a real trip and a valuable experience. It's like watching one of those "flip books" where you move the pages with your thumb and the picture moves like a mini movie (...depicting how my style and craft has evolved over the years).

There's a story behind each piece. Conversations with the client and shared moments of silence while the work was being done. It's a reminder of how lucky I feel to have made so many connections through the years. As some of you may know, I'm not the most chatty tattoo guy, but I still try to be fully present to someone, even if we're not exchanging many words.

Looking through all these photos also reignites my interest in documenting work. I hope this year to begin again having a little more fun with photography. Time to break out the ol' (real) camera...

My 13 year-long relationship with tattooing is ever evolving. Over the last few years, I've begun to see my work as a means of inner development. Tattooing is an incredibly demanding craft that requires patience, trust, and faith in the process. These are all qualities I’d like to develop in myself. Thereby, practicing them as part of my daily work is an opportunity to cultivate these qualities in such a way that they became part of every facet of my life.

Cultivating these qualities has also led to a willingness to focus on the process itself. This also requires vulnerability and an openness to the present moment. I find myself moving away from expectations of the future and turning a deaf ear to comparisons of the past, in order to find myself Here and Now.

So here I am. Making tattoos. Using work as soul craft.

Some recent photos of in progress work...

(All projects are instances in which I'm building new work into a tattoo that I completed years ago. There's something quite beautiful about the merging of the past into the present in order to create the future. Quite apropos.)