Ian recently got a large-scale skin removal of the God Osiris done by Russ Foxx at The Fall Tattooing. He’s definitely a braver guy than me as he managed to sit through the 12 1/2 hours it took to complete. 12 1/2 hours? That may seem like a long time, but keep in mind that Ian is forty foot tall giant. Photos of the procedure and finished piece continue after the break.
Dan writes me, saying, “I’ve run into some what I feel is an unfair treatment in my work place recently,” with the following picture attached:
I couldn’t agree more, and he explains,
I work at a grocery store as a cashier and have been working there for almost two years. I was hired with my lip pierced, and up until recently has never been a problem. We recently received two new managers and a lot of things have started to change — one of these things is the enforcement of a “NO FACIAL PIERCINGS” policy. We are forced to take them out or cover them up while at work. Taking them out is not a convenient solution since I have seamless rings, and as anyone who has used them in the past, they are a bitch to remove. I am forced to cover my rings with a disgusting band-aid or medical tape. This draws even more attention to them than not covering them at all. The band aid barely even covers anything and irritates my skin terribly. I feel that they are trying to humiliate us into taking our piercings out. I talked to the union and human resources about the issue and apparently the piercing rule was in the employee handbook that we signed when we were hired, though I have yet to see one of these handbooks.
You know, outside of “right and wrong” issues, and in my view of the world, the store is very much in the wrong here, there’s a real aura of idiocy that embraces this policy. As Dan points out, a couple piercings with an obnoxious bandage placed over them is far more upsetting looking to customers (whether they like or dislike piercings) because it sends the message that there’s something wrong with the piercing. And, as he also points out, being forced to do this daily endangers his health, so it’s ridiculous, offensive, and counter-productive on every level… but, sadly, in most States, it’s a fact of life for all-too-many people.
Finally, Dan asks,
I just wanted to know if anyone else has had similar problems in the workplace with their mods, and if anyone else has any more ideas that I could try to sway their policies?
Along the same lines as the previous two entries is Jonathan‘s stunning facial cutting, another piece that just makes me so happy to see because it’s also so striking and beautiful.
Jonathan writes,
The design was an idea I’d had in mind for maybe 18 months to two years and was umming and ahhhing over whether to get it done or not. When I went out to Thailand I was lucky enough to get to hang out with John Durante and Ron Garza and had a chat with them about some possible work I’d been thinking about. Since I was in Phuket for the Vegetarian Festival which, essentially, is a festival celebrating blood rituals, I couldn’t think of a better time to get them done to go through my own blood ritual.
The initial plan was to get both sides of my head done in tandem, one side by Ron the other side by John but Ron had to leave before the festival ended so it was just John doing both sides. We spent about three hours lining them up, and then about half an hour cutting. I’m so glad I had them done. Even in a not so perfect environment he was excellent, hygienically, and professionally speaking and I’m happy to have met so many wonderful people including Ron and John on my journey
Joathan says there’s no specific meaning in the design, and that he just wanted something symmetrical that suited his face. Mission accomplished! Anyway, continue for more pictures.
The fresh photos are, of course, fresh, and the healing pictures are at about three weeks. Once our video facilities are back in full gear we’ll update this with a procedure video as well.
(Click to zoom!)
One of the reasons I posted the Sudanese facial scarification in the entry below is because Stephanie had her face tattooed a few days ago — which is why it’s still quite red and obvious in the daylight picture below — with U.V. ink by Katherine at DFX in Edmonton (thank you to Lane for the tip and pictures), having been inspired by the scars from that region. I’m really moved by how beautiful and striking this piece is… It really brings me intense joy to see this type of forehead/facial work.
Yeah, that’s right — I’m finally updating under my own username! Much thanks to Roo for helping me get posts here until now, but, as much as that help was appreciated, I’m definitely relieved that era is over.
Just to keep everyone in the loop as to the update schedule that was hinted at elsewhere, I agree that main site updates can be expected very soon and am also very happy to see that happening. BMEvideo is nearly ready to be udpated and should have new content within a day or two, and the main BME site should be flooded with experiences and images early in the week, if not sooner, depending on when a small number of technical issues that are barring that update can be resolved. I’ve had a chance to skim through some of the content that’ll be going up over the next weeks and I’m very excited and pleased about it — giddy, really — and I think you will be as well.
Roo and I will need to focus primarily on getting the main sites caught up, so we may be a little slow here on ModBlog over the first week, but I do have a few things I want to post later today. Let me prelude to them by posting a couple pictures from one of my favorite anthropological photo books, Africa Adorned. On the left is a Murle woman from Sudan with decorative facial scarification, and in the middle and on the right a Dinka man and woman, also from Sudan, with forehead scarification.
Anyway, stay tuned later today for a few brief posts.
My friend Angelo from Sao Paulo, Brasil shows how they scalpel labrets down south… with a katana!
When my friend Gabor from Poland Budapest, Hungary, originally did his DIY skin removal (the post was on BodyTwo — when I am able to move the content here you’ll be able to see it again), there was some debate on how it would heal. I’m happy to say that those who were concerned no longer need to worry as the keloid is beautifully even and consistent. Given that (a) it can’t be easy to cut your own hand, and (b) this is a high motion area, it really is a job very well done!
Ryan (PBA) sends in a photo of the new tattoo on his thigh, describing it as “another masterpiece by Nick Kelley, the man that brought you the celtic Colonel Sanders.”
Manrique in Costa Rica got “inspired” and decided to do a piercing on himself. Never having seen it before he figured he would have the right to give it a name. He explains how he chose it,
I like to call it the “NIES” which means “it’s not” in Spanish… I call it the nies because its not on the ear and its not on the face, jaja! I simply love my new piercing and would love to see it on Modblog!
Jeremy recently had this tattoo done by Dave Wallin at Tattoo Culture in Brooklyn, NY. He explains,
There were several characteristics I wanted for my first real piece. Mostly, I was looking for an interesting way to put text on my skin, specifically the phrase “fear not,” which has been an aspirational motto for me even in my darker hours. I decided to try it in negative space. For the background I came up with leaves as something organic and asymmetrical, and vaguely chaotic. Plus I thought it looked cool. Design-wise, I wanted something flat, with no illusion of depth, and I really wanted no black ink or outlines. I was told that this would result in spreading over time, and I said that was fine with me. If the tattoo decomposes into mulch, so much the better!
