Friday, February 18, 2011

Red Nose Day 2011

For Red Nose Day this year at the studio I'll be doing any of the tattoos from our £30 set for £25 as long as you get it done in red, with £15 going to the cause. So if you feel like a tattoo, having a little discount while giving a good amount to charity then come on down.

It'll be running all of next week (21-26 Feb)



Thursday, February 17, 2011

Another week has gone by..

Here is our baby boy Lucas, having hang time at the shop on Tuesday. He was so happy to be able to come along to work with us (look at that smile). Little did he know he was about to go to the vet. Sorry buddy.

Well, another week is over. The weeks are flying by, don't even know where the time has gone! This week we had a couple of the guys from thslfe.com come into the shop to take some pics of the shop and Matt/Simo tattooing. The pics may make it into their hard copy A4 "coffee table" style publication, they hope to release sometime in the near future. The publication will be featuring all Australian content, featuring artist from different walks of life (street artists, graffiti artists, tattooists, to name a few). So fingers crossed the pics turn out well and you may see us in there. Big thanks to the guys for thinking of us too, we really appreciate it! So check out thslfe.com

Here is a little exert to give you an idea of what their website is all about:

"The site will feature, but will be no way limited to, Artists, Photographers, Tattooists, Designers, Riders, Boarder, Free Thinkers and Individuals who offer something more than the norm, as a way for them (and myself) to express creativities and provide an insight into the lifestyle/s that we are a part of every day".

The guys from thslfe.com taking some pics of Matt tattooing on Wednesday. Thanks Scotty "Too Good" for being such a great model!
The terrible two had some spare time, so Jamie tattooed Simo for a bit. (Jamie looks kinda evil here, don't know if I want to be tattooed by someone with that face).
Of course there must be tattoo content in here. Feels like forever since Matt finished anything, so it is yet another "in progress" shot of some line work. Our very good client Luke got a sweet traditional dagger/snake piece for his shin. Nice one.

Matt also started a cool hawk/snake piece on Matt B. There is a skull squeezed into the background up the top but it's a little hard to see in the pic (in between the flames). I wasn't able to get shots of it on his arm this time but here is the line drawing to give you an idea anyway. Mr snake still needs his scales, but use your imagination.


Matt also started a massive tiger back piece on Natalie. I really, really wanted to take some pics but Matt wants to wait until the next session, so it has some black shading in it. What a party pooper!! Anyways, stayed tuned on that one. I love it because I am desperate for a Japanese tiger too.

Saturday night must get a mention here. We were invited by our awesome client Robbie Heart to see him wrestle. I had some hesitations, as I wasn't really sure wrestling was my "thing". But I have to say I had one of the best nights in a long time!! Between watching how awesome Robbie was and listening to Jamie and Matt heckle to the point of loosing their voices, it was so entertaining!! We all had a really good laugh and of course I had to take pictures of the event. There were many more but my computer is too slow right now and I got sick of it taking so long.

What a star Robbie Heart (our hero)!

Tash and I getting into the spirit of things.
Matt doing what he does best "playing air guitar" with Robbies belt.

I got a little concerned when I saw the amount of blood coming out of Robbie's face!

Anyways, thanks Robbie, we are now your biggest fans! Can't wait for the next event. If you want a good night out, you should come along!

And I would like to take a moment to send a shout out to my mum, who just asked to get her first tattoo! I am so proud! "Go mumma bear"!

Matt's contribution this week: "Big happy birthday to my little sister, Lauren, who turned 30 this week. Much love to her and our Canadian family". ps listen to Bad Religion.

Iron Heart Now Offers Piercing by Biff !!!!!!




Saturday, February 12, 2011

Sydney Tattoo Expo

Well it's been an extremely busy week, which is awesome but tiring at the same time. We have had a really positive response from the article in the Advertiser last week, so pretty stoked on that.

So after much deliberation Matt has decided he is going to work at the Sydney Tattoo & Body Art Expo. We had a such a good experience in Melbourne, we want to do it all over again as soon as possible. So check out the dets at http://www.tattooexpo.com.au/

We are taking any enquiries now for that one, so if you happen to be in Sydney when we are or you live in Sydney, hit us up with an email at progressiontattoo@hotmail.com. So here is a few stipulations we have for the event, should you want to book in:


  • Matt won't be tattooing any necks, ribs, stomach, inside upper arm or lower back (logistically we can't because we only have a chair to work with and can't lay people down).
  • We really need people to be 100% committed if they do book in.
  • Matt really would prefer to have clients give him complete artistic license with each piece he designs. He of course takes what you are after into complete consideration and will take all ideas on board when designing the piece. But the design aspect has to be left completely up to him (this is chance to show case his ability and he only wants to do tattoo's that will be a good representation of this).
  • We will be asking for $300 non-refundable deposit when we make your booking.
  • All travel expenses to get to Sydney and cost involved in getting to convention are at your own expense. We cover the cost of getting you into the convention.
  • We will be charging Matt's normal rate of $160 per hour (with minimum appnt times 3-4-5 hours, possibly longer).
  • We will be doing consultations within the next few weeks, so we can meet and discuss and for deposit to be paid.
  • Pieces would preferably be Japanese, as this is what Matt really wants to focus on. However send any ideas you have through, as all things are considered.
So if your keen you just have to send me an email, with your idea, where you want it and how large. Plus name and phone number too!

Well, not much else to report this week. Plus I am too tired to blog right now. Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Bye for now.

Matt's input this week: The song "Falling Upward" by Neurosis is a song you could seriously start smoking to.

??

Friday, February 4, 2011

Another Day

So after our awesome time in Melbourne over the weekend, we were straight back to work Monday and we have had a rather busy week.

I started a Japanese language course on Monday night. I am trying to learn Japanese, since we will be returning there quite a bit in the near future. I thought it would be important for at least one of us to learn a bit of the language. Matt can't even remember the difference between "Hello" and "Thank you", so I thought I would give it a go. Oh my goodness I am overwhelmed. It's been a while since I have been in a classroom. However, I am determined to hang in there, maybe it's just because it was the first week. Maybe it won't be so overwhelming next week. Wish me luck.

If you got the Adelaide Advertiser this weekend you may have seen us in the "Weekender". I think I mentioned, way back last year sometime, that we were going to be in the paper and it's finally been printed (see I wasn't lying). Basically the article was about how tattoo's have become much more mainstream and just how popular they are right now. They featured Matt and our shop in there, so that was cool. Justin and Amy (Matt's clients) got interviewed for the article and we got a few pics in there too (a way too over sized one of Matt, me and the puppies looking like the dorks we are). So yeah, that was pretty funny to wake up to this morning.

Did our pic really need to be that big? What dorkazoids.
On the tattoo side of things Matt finished Ben's arm this morning and also started a new Japanese piece on Drew's leg yesterday. Drew's leg has a Hannya, Japanese ghost and 4 snakes in it. Drew does have the largest calves in the world, so although that sounds like a lot, it did all fit in there quite nicely (may even be room for one flower).

Benny boy's arm (Girl wearing vulture skull), finito!

Drew's new leg piece, Front.
And Back!


That's it for now. I am off to have a Saturday afternoon nap on the couch. Cheerio!

ps Matt's input this week. He says everyone needs to watch "Waterworld" and "The Postman" and appreciate the brilliance that is Kevin Costner.








Thursday, February 3, 2011

A bunch of stuff for sale

First off, we now have some T-shirts for sale with 2 designs. They're £10 each and screen printed on high quality fitted shirts.



My friend John Keaveney (site) produces some amazing art work and we have a skateboard deck he's made for sale in the shop. It's a limited run of 2 and would look good hanging on a wall anywhere. If you're interested get in touch for more info and price.


And lastly I need to get rid of some paintings so here's a selection up for sale. They're all original paintings and all will be framed when sold. £50 each.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Special weekend.

I have to say; my blogs aren't as frequent as I wish they were, but I'm proud to have one for you now. Holdin' it down with the film for a long time now. Stoked (but gotta get a flash...)!


Ave-dog.




Finished up my first larger piece started at the new shop.




Now I'm not one to write words in my blog or anything... but I just thought I would catch people up to speed with me electronically. January was really slow at work, and my psoriasis has been affecting my hands, which put me out for a couple days. But, thankfully I've been getting some good help for my hands.

The doctor I have been seeing really emphasized the importance of not leading a stressfull life for people with my condition. It has been really humbling to try to de-stress myself. Just to learn to relax when I find myself getting upset is difficult sometimes. It is hard to look at the bad habits that I have adopted and admit that I can change back just as easily as not.

I just wanted to say that, thanks for reading it.

Otherwise, I'm tattooing Tuesday to Saturday at Rebel Waltz Tattoo. Come by the shop between noon and seven to book an appointment, 873 A Notre Dame - 201 832 6733.

Thanks for checking out my blog.



Bram



Also come by to pick up some of my new cards!


Sexy ender.