Blood, Sweat and Ink: Part2

Yesterday I got to finish my sleeve down in Salt Lake. At 7 straight hours (with only three 5 minute breaks!), I think I reached my max and am glad Taki finished when he did. My left foot was starting to twitch and with each passing stroke of the gun, I kept hoping that it was the last one.

For a cover-up, Taki did a sweet job. My only regret is I wish I was starting from a clean slate and not covering up 3 good sized tats. However, what he was able to design looks 100% better than what I had on there before. Plus, it now has meaning.

Not to step on any toes, but the whole skulls and "hardcore" ink is just not for me anymore. Not to say there aren't sweet tats out there of that style but to me skulls, spiderwebs, etc. aren't part of my lifestyle, I guess you could say. Maybe it's that I'm not "hardcore" or something. Who knows, but that art doesn't mean anything to me.

Most of my family and friends don't care for tattoos and I'm fine with that. But some of them need to realize that just because they don't understand it, it doesn't mean its wrong. It's O.K. to NOT understand some things. It's what makes us individuals and unique.

Also, I think as long as your ink means something to you then that's all that matters. I know a friend who has a ton of ink, some good, some bad. His perspective is that each tat reminds him of a certain point in his life, kind of like a time line, or, road signs, as he called them. Makes sense to me.

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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.

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