Last week we got a look an an octopus tattoo by Ania from Szery Tattoo in Warsaw, Poland. Well this week we’ve got another artist from the same shop, Aldona. The two tattoos below are just a small sample of the works that have been submitted by her recently, and each and every one is just as impressive.
The first is an abstract piece that incorporates a large birthmark on the owner’s arm.
The second is a piece that pays tribute to Salvador Dali.
Be sure to check out all the tattoo galleries for more examples of Aldona’s work.
Josh Roelink is one of the most sought after tattoo artists in Sydney, Australia. He’s also a new father and the proud owner of a gorgeous private tattoo studio. I was lucky enough to be able to get tattooed by him before leaving Australia and it’s one of my favorite pieces from the trip!
One of our first stops in Australia was Kaleidoscope Tattoo down in Bondi Beach. We spoke with tattooers Luciano Lima, Freddy, Stevie Edge, Cory Ohrman and their piercer Brady Hardin. If you’re ever lucky enough to be checking out the beautiful beaches of Sydney, Australia, there is no doubt you’ll be making a stop to see the world famous Bondi Beach. Don’t forget to visit Kaleidoscope Tattoo while you’re there!
Keep reading to check out the video!
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A few months agoI posted about a show taking place in October that was looking for art from tattoo artists to put up for auction. The purpose of the auction is to raise money for a local Toronto charity that provides free and accessible art programs to children. Well, a large number of artist heeded the call, and I was able to get a few pictures to share with you of some of the artwork that will be on display this weekend.
The show itself is being put on by the boys from Seven Crowns Tattoo in Toronto, so if you’re in town this weekend, you should swing on by. The show is one night only, and admission is free.
You can get the rest of the details about the show bygoing here.
Now, of course, if you’re going to be bidding on some art, it helps if you know what it is you’re bidding on. Well just click the read more button to see a few samples from the many talented artists from Canada and around the world.
I’ll be there as well, so if you end up coming, make sure to stop by and say hi.
I always like to save something special for my last post of the week, and I think you won’t be disappointed with what I found for you today.
First and foremost, I want to give you a little background on the man who inspired this piece. You may or may not have heard the name Alex Grey before, although you probably have seen some of his work. As one of the most distinctive artists in the past 50 years, his work explores spirituality through visionary art, a form of psychedelic art. I’m definitely not an expert in art theory, so I won’t try to explain his works in-depth, but what I can tell you is that his art has a profound effect on the majority of people who see it. For many people the first time they might have seen some of his work was on the album art for Tool’s Lateralus album. Since then Alex has worked with the band, in addition to his own works, and has produced not only album art, but also set designs for their live shows and even created the visuals for this video. One of Alex’s major works, The Sacred Mirrors, has been turned into a gallery exhibit known as the Chapel of the Sacred Mirrors. A film was made about the gallery, and features interviews with Alex as he explains his paintings.
Of course with his art focusing on spiritual transformation, he easily became a natural inspiration for modification artists. Gabriel Cece, from Studio Evolve Tattoo in Virginia Beach, VA, recently created this piece that is an interpretation of Alex’s work.
The art of modification is strongly linked to a transformative spirituality, where the individual regardless of the personal reasoning behind it, transforms their body on a physical level to achieve some internal satisfaction. This piece in particular speaks volumes towards this transformation, as the eyes placed on the transparent hands show the inner self looking out on the world. The spirituality of self is viewing the outside world, and is changing the external self to reflect the thoughts and feelings of the inside.
I think I should stop myself there, as I could probably go on for hours about the beauty of this piece of art. With the new gallery system on BME, you’re able to leave a comment directly on the page of the image, so if you wish to share your thoughts on this with Gabriel, head over to the religious and mythological tattoo gallery and leave a comment.
Hi everyone, I know many of you have been wondering what’s been going on with all the World Tour footage, so I’d like to share some of it with you today, as well as introduce you to a pair of artists that are true masters of their art.
As you may have noticed, a few days ago I posted about a gallery showing of Horiyoshi III and Kaname Ozuma’s art at the Known Gallery in Los Angeles. The show is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the works of these artists in North America, as their works are normally displayed back home in Japan.
As many of you know, the world tour kicked off several months ago and the tour members have since returned. Most of the tour was spent in Australia and New Zealand, with rescheduling occuring due to volcanic eruptions, political unrest in Thailand and Greece and ultimately a break had to happen because Rachel came down with pneumonia after recovering from a week long hospital stay in New Zealand. One she was given the OK to travel, she managed to hobble to Japan. While there, the BME tour was fortunate enough to meet with Horiyoshi III and Kaname Ozuma. This meeting resulted in individual interviews with both artists, but a joint interview was later filmed where they talk about their friendship as well as their inspirations for their art. A special thank you goes out to Hiro Hara & Horiren for arranging the interview as well as filming and editing it, Kana Nozaki for translating and Will Carsola for adding the subtitles.
During the initial interview with Ozuma, Rachel had asked where Ozuma had shown his work. The last time Ozuma had a show in the US was back in the 70′s in San Francisco. She jokingly asked if he’d like to do a show in the states now and to her surprise, he enthusiastically said yes! This meant she was going to bring an exhibit of Kaname Ozuma’s work to LA. In support of his long time friend, Horiyoshi III contributed some of his work to be shown at the gallery. The show will be running until September 18th, when sadly the art will be returning to Japan. So if you do get a chance to go to LA, you won’t be disappointed. All of the work from Ozuma is available for sale. Ozuma has been painting tattoos on women longer than most tattooers have even been alive today. He is a traditionally trained Japanese portraiture artist and his work is absolutely stunning. He’s published several book over the past few decades. Any tattooer interested in Japanese style of tattooing may not know his name but they will definitely know his work. His books can generally be found on Ebay (as they’re fairly limited edition) although he does have a new book coming out soon. We’ll update you on the details for it when it is released.
Some people have asked if the models are all tattooed or if Ozuma uses his imagination but the answer is that it’s both and so much more. Sometimes a model comes in and she has no tattoos at all. He will then use his imagination and paint whatever he envisions on her. Sometimes she is fully tattooed (by Horiyoshi III) and he paints her as is. One of the popular things to do in Japan though is that a couple will come in and commission a painting, the man has a full suit and the woman has none, Ozuma will then paint the mans tattoos onto the woman. As a thank you present to Rachel for curating the show, Ozuma painted a a portrait of her. He included her sleeves, hand and neck tattoos but as Rachel doesn’t have anything tattooed on her back yet, he painted a beautiful Japanese mermaid that goes from her shoulders to her back.
If you aren’t familiar with either artist, here’s a little background information on them.
Ozuma Kaname
Born in Niigata, Japan in 1939, Ozuma Kaname began studying traditional Japanese painting under his uncle, artist Sakai Soushi, from a young age. Moving to Tokyo at the age of 18, he trained as an art dealer while working at a printing company. Afterwards, he moved on to the publishing industry where he illustrated tattoos. The majority of his work continues to be tattoo-related along with other traditional Japanese themes; and often serves as a source of inspiration for master tattooist Horiyoshi III, whose clients in turn, are often depicted in Ozuma’s paintings.
Horiyoshi III
Born Yoshihito Nakano in 1946, Horiyoshi III is the second tattooist to be bestowed the honorific title—the tattooist affixation “Hori” means engrave—in a line started by his master, the legendary tattoo artist Yoshitsugu Muramatsu, or Shodai Horiyoshi of Yokohama (Muramatsu went on to dub his son Horiyoshi II, and later Nakano was named Horiyoshi III).
His images are classical Japanese woodblock print motifs such as the phoenix, dragon, snakes, tigers, samurai warriors, Buddhist gods to name a few as well as background images of waves, clouds and various flowers. Among Horiyoshi III’s published works are 36 Ghosts, 108 Heroes of the Suikoden, 100 Demons, and The Namakubi (severed heads), 100 Dragons and 58 Warriors. Horiyoshi?s artistic genius and generosity of spirit have had a defining impact on the world of tattooing, taking it to new levels in this new century.
Work is still ongoing for the rest of the tour videos, but we thought we should share with you some of the material that will be featured in the tour updates. This particular video is unique from the rest of the videos, as this is just a recording of two old friends reminiscing. Expect the rest of the videos to feature proper interviews.
Up until yesterday I would have said nothing. Then I saw this.
I had the pleasure of meeting (and staying with) Dan a few years back. He was incredibly nice except when he refused to speak to me until I started speaking to him in French. Here we are in his shop, demonstrating the difference between tall and short.
Dan & Jen at Calypso many long years ago
I’ve always been a huge fan of his work and who could blame me? Check out some of Dan’s new work.
Dan will be at the New York Tattoo Convention in May but I’m told he’s all booked up. If you’re having tattoo envy and want to get inked by Dan, your best bet is to plan a trip to Belgium so you can see him at his shop, Calypso Tattoo, in Liege. As for me, I’m afraid I’ll just have to keep dreaming for now.
One of the names that popped up in the interview requests was Norm so it was great timing that his Vimby video just surfaced. I figured I’d post it, like I do with all of Vimby’s Tattooer Videos over here on Modblog to tied you over until BME can do it’s own interview with him. Norm’s script work has to be some of my favorite lettering out there. He’s developed a very beautiful style which gives a whole new meaning to black and grey lettering. He tattooed the palm of my hand a month ago which I’ve included after the jump.
You can check out more on his myspace or at Spotlight Tattoo in person here in Hollywood, California.
It’s not the best quality photo since I took it with my iPhone but like I said, his script is really beautiful. There is something elegant yet still jailhouse about it. The “Norm” on his palm and the “LA” on my wrist are both by Jack Rudy of Good Time Charlie’s TattooLand
