Blood, Sweat and Ink: Part 1

Yesterday I made the journey to SLC to start work on my sleeve. It was an exhaustive day but so worth it as I've been looking for a very ling time for an artist to tattoo me that knows Polynesian art.

Taki (Doug) Vea at Samoa Ink in Salt Lake City is da' man. The shop is way laid back and non-typical when it comes to all the other tattoo shops I've visited over the years. Plus, the first thing I noticed when I walked in was that the shop was devoid of flash art – a sign that the artists only do original work.

The other thing I really liked was that it also lacked the usual "hardcore" attitude that ink shops tend to carry (skulls, naked women, etc.) We listened to reggae the whole time and talked story with other Poly's that came in and out. Real chill. It's somewhere that I'd let the kids hang out with me while I was getting inked.

Taki and I sat down and had a good talk about what I wanted. It was a good experience for me to talk to an artist that had a lot of understanding and respect for Polynesian art. It made me really think about what I was doing there and why.

Anyway, to keep from this becoming a lengthy post, I'll just add that the artwork we did represents myself and my family expressed in a combination of Maori, Hawaiian and Samoan artwork. I am heading back next month to finish the upper half and will report on that when the time comes.