Rochester 2012

many thanks to LoveHate for a great convention. Long live the classic.

The Perils of Expansion

I’ve once again found a way to put my aimless evening hours to use when away from the shop and have constructed a new book which will be coming out this July, some 26 pages of paintings and drawings Ive made over the last couple of years regarding the often tricky business of expansion. Though most of the ideas detail the manifest movement of the early american empire, in a more abstract way I think they relate to the prospect that all growth displaces the pre existing. And such is the bitch of life, and also the conundrum that I like to document with my neanderthal skill. Ill be taking pre orders beginning in June and hope to ship the first copies out in July. For anyone who has patronized my first attempt at making a book, or will in the future endeavor to claim a copy of this one, my sincere thanks. please direct all inquiries to phillips.ftw@gmail.com

one of my favorite long time customers who has been a mainstay at the shop for almost its entire duration, work in progress for Jason G.

heads and hearts are tricky business, but make for good tattoos

and last but not least, don’t be afraid to go forth into the dark night a drunk cat, fearless, and anatomically challenged.

No Lords

To all things ordered, and in path…

In nature we are afforded rhythms and order. One of my favorites is the ordered sequence of numbers referred to as the Fibonacci sequence. Nature presents ratios, and the ratios are law. In the case of the Fibonacci number sequence you have something as simple as each successive number being equal to the two preceding numbers, such as 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and so on. While it may seem trivial the sequence dictates everything from stem leaf patterns to the golden ratio. And, as it relates to tattooing, the perfect spiral. Just food for thought. And lacking any spirals whatsoever are some new works from the past couple of weeks.

the second in a pair, the first being a similar design with a panther head about a month ago

If you meet a Canadian take a minute to get to know a nice person, at least thats been the case for me

a chance walk in last monday, it pays to linger at the shop

I think the lesson here is killers wear killer shoes

another tattoo made for a Canadian, Thanks Canada

Requiem on the Plains!

In the complete reversal of western expansionism and movement, I will be heading east to persue the promise of the Rochester Tattoo Convention to be held on the first weekend in May. I do still have some available appointments but being as its a three day affair I don’t have much. So drop me a line if you’re interested and I will see you there!

The Labor of Five Weeks

Five weeks, 10 sittings, and a fast finish. Perhaps one of my favorite tattoos to date that I have been able to make for someone. Many thanks to Robert who made this tattoo go as easy as a tattoo could have gone.

and a couple more that came in-between the long sittings.

another back close to being done

and a couple of paintings. This is how my head feels late at night. Sleep is a bitch sometimes. most times.

and this one is for an idea i have for a tattoo next week.

Discovery!

The all so tricky business of discovering something thats been there all along. Stephen Hawking had recently warned that it was perhaps folly to alert the unknown lurkers in the cosmos to our existence based on this very redundancy in history. And, though I remain always optimistic, I think I would have to agree should Columbus’ more distant ships meet our shore.

Fate and Five Dollars

15 was a year of introductions. Introductions to things such as, the beginning of decades of fruitless labor with days wasted at some thirty odd jobs, the hazards of rent, the replacements record “stink”, the mountain peppered conservative wasteland of Colorado Springs, that i liked reading more then school, and tattoos.

The few hand pokes came first, a skull opened the door then they just kept rolling in. At that distant time, in the way back when before each city had 100+ tattoo shops and the onslaught of reality tv, there was only one shop in town. I spent a lot of nights there hypnotized by the black and grey visceral entanglement of the flash in the lobby. It was the first time i had ever seen Greg Irons flash, and also the first time I think I had ever genuinely felt like i had to have something. I didn’t know what i wanted, i just wanted something. The next few weeks were spent trying to scrape up some money, which at that point in my life was about as easy to come by as lunar rock samples. I can’t remember how long it took me to put the funds together, but the gods of minimum wage smiled upon me in little doses here and there and eventually i put together 55 dollars. I went down to the shop (whose name ill omit having grievously lied about my age to them at the time) on a friday night, and began again to run through the walls one design at a time. My favorite was a skull with a snake, which happened to be 60 dollars. I moved down the sheet onto another design, which was a skull, a dagger, and a cobra, 55 dollars. How it was 5 dollars less, i still to this day do not understand. But the fate of 5 dollars brought that tattoo to live on my arm for the rest of my life, while the skull and snake remain to be only an after thought.

The deal was sealed, and that was all that was ever going to make sense to me. I love that tattoo to this day. I still suffer the unending hypnosis of tattoo flash and designs and I live a life of privilege being afforded the circumstance to do what i do. So Id like to say thanks to everyone who has made that possible by choosing to visit me and thank you to everyone who might come in the future.

On a side note, my friend Aidan Monahan is now at the shop with us five days a week. Please come visit him sometime and meet a real deal gentleman tattooer. His work is on the shop website, ftwtattoo.com along with everyone else from the shop.

In Progess for Robert

finishing up Carls outline
and an older one, but a favorite of mine.

By Guess and by God

I rely on this style of navigation almost exclusively.

Heads are going to roll.

A painting i did for the Year of the Dragon show at Seventh Son in sf last week. I think the show is still up at their space until mid February. Many great paintings to be seen while they are up.

The study,

and then the outline. We are hoping to finish this in the next five weeks.

Karajishi for Richard

killer of cats, kingdoms and men alike.

and an older one for my home office, FTW!

the head is the heart