Stressfest 2017 comes to a close

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The past few weeks have been a giant ball of stress, but I can honestly say the results have been well worth it. First, I would like to give a massive shout out to everyone over at Climb So iLL for having me work their first ever community event, as well as being very welcoming and supportive of what I’m doing. They are killing it right now in the climbing industry and I couldn’t have been happier with how everything turned out. Overall it was an incredible experience and I am so thankful that I was able to be a part of it.

On top of that I finally announced that I will become part of the crew over at Ragtime Tattoo starting October 1st. I’ve been at TRX for almost 2 years but I am excited that I’ve been given this opportunity to take my career with tattooing even further. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, but I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing either. You get nervous with what’s unfamiliar since you have absolutely no idea what to expect. But after mulling everything over the past couple weeks… I think I would be more concerned if I wasn’t.

People have a tendency to not want to step outside their bubble because they have everything they need, they’re content and that’s it. I don’t want my life to be like that. I get asked by clients all the time why I left Buffalo to come to St. Louis and I usually take the easy route and blame the weather. The real answer to that question is a lot more complicated. I wasn’t going anywhere. I was comfortable and I hated everything about it. It’s like I was in the middle of a pond that’s 3ft deep, drowning. All you have to do is stand up and get out but instead you struggle until you decide that it’s easier just to float. You save yourself but you end up stagnating.

I wanted to force myself outside of my comfort zone. I have been socially awkward and quiet almost my entire life. What better way to get over that than to move to a different city? If you would have told me 2 years ago that I’d be where I am now, I would have laughed in your face.

I can honestly say that my life has been exponentially better since moving here. The people that I’ve worked with at TRX, the people I’ve met at shows, the bands I’ve played with, the people I’ve tattooed, everyone I’ll be working with at Ragtime, I am so thankful for it all. The amount of support I’ve received after announcing this move has been so unexpected. I’m starting to tear up as I type all this… because I never imagined that I would have any of these opportunities. For the first time in my life I feel like I’m on the right track. I’m still extremely nervous but I’m even more excited to be moving forward.

I’ve attached a picture of the first tattoo I did in St. Louis after moving here almost 2 years ago. I intend to stay on course and stay humble. If that ever changes, everyone has the go ahead to slap me across the face.

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Realizing and Revitalizing

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I’ve always loved art, more specifically video game art. Concept art. While researching the topic this morning I ended up on a forum dedicated to the sketchbooks of people looking to pursue careers in concept art. I was blown away. The next thing I know I’m clicking on a link to hundreds of free art e-books. I downloaded one or two, looked through them and something finally clicked. I’ve been saying I love art for the past however many years but this morning made me realize that there’s much more to it than that. People say things all the time that they truley intend to or think that they mean but deep down they fall short.

Most of the names of the artists who’s work was listed in the links I had absolutely no idea who they were and I had never heard of them. One name in particular was Aubrey Beardsley(above image). I would come across another name, look it up, another, look it up. That’s when it really hit me. My interest in art had shriveled up like a neglected plant. My curiosity had been crushed years ago and I didn’t even realize it until that moment. I could relate it to putting on a set of blinders. Getting so caught up in the action of doing something and not really knowing the purpose of doing it. There’s a lot more to art than just the action of doing it. Looking at a handful of composition studies made me realize that. You can’t read a quarter of a book and say that you love it. I feel like I’ve been doing that for a really long time with art. For me personally, there’s quite a bit that I still need to learn before I can truly say that I love it and have that hold weight. One thing I can say though is that my fascination has once again taken root.

I have neglected and refused to study any sort of art for a very long time. After seeing the amount of effort and dicipline that these people have displayed through sketches alone, along with everything else going on in my life… I can finally say that I’m excited to take that step.

 

Climb So iLL – Tattoos and Hairdos!

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As you all may have guessed, I love making art and tattooing. Within the past handful of years I have also developed a love and appreciation for rock climbing, so when Climb So iLL asked me if I would be interested in working one of their community events I couldn’t possibly think of a better way to combine two things that I absolutely love.

I am proud to be taking part in this event and so very thankful that I’ve been given this opportunity, especially after living in St. Louis for such a short amount of time.

  • The event will be taking place Thursday August 24th from 7pm to 10pm
  • There will be a selection of tattoo designs to choose from that I will be doing on the spot.
  • Everything will be done on a first come first serve basis.
  • Appointments are not available for this event.

I will be posting the designs once they’re available so stay tuned!

 

First Blog Post!

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I have decided to keep this short and sweet to avoid potentially boring you to death.

First I’d like to provide a little insight into my background. I am 28 years old, originally from Buffalo, NY and have been hanging out and tattooing in St. Louis, MO since February of 2016.

Art has always been a large part of my life. I’ve been drawing since I can remember, picked up photography and video editing in highschool, started painting with watercolors within in the past year, and I’ve been tattooing for the last 8. I pull inspiration from a lot of different places, a lot of it being nature and wildlife and the weirder I can make it the better.

Last but not least, I have quite a few new and exciting things that I will be posting about over the next couple of months. Updates will come as things progress, so be on the look out!

Continue reading “First Blog Post!” →