Flash

What is Flash?

Flash as I came to know it.
Were made on 11 x 14 sheets of poster board. The elaborate designs, were either hand painted directly on the boards or paintings that were adhered to these boards. They then would be wrapped and sealed in clear shelving paper to protect them from cigarette smoke and other possible damaging mishaps.
This Flash was used to show case what the tattooer was able to do or wanted to do on folks.
They would be stapled and or framed to the sides of the walls of the shop or in flash racks as you entered the lobby. The idea was to be able to pack these boards up easily on the go and set them back up when needed. Part of the left over carnie traveling tattooer mindset and process.
The flash helped folks pick designs on the whim. Or imprint on a person to think about and later come back in to get done. They were used to inspire ideas. They still are.
When I began tattooing. It was very normal for people to wander in and pick images off the walls. The flash made it easy for people to decide on what they wanted. Even if it was based on nothing more than impulse.

There was something dangerously liberating about this random act for people.

The little stickers on the side of each image had a price. It made it easy to pick what you could afford or budget. There was no resizing available then. And depending on the artist. Some like myself would change a color scheme if requested at no additional charge. But usually, you got what you picked off the wall or out of the flash racks, as is.

Before having the luxury of a copier in shop and a thermafax machine.

Don taught me by using acetate stencils. Simple engraved line drawings based on the flash off the walls that were scribed onto acetate pieces, that helped transfer the image on to the skin. Having the flash on the walls not framed was helpful so you could take down the board and use it to follow the color and shading used on the original for reference.
The process of using an acetate stencil wasn’t always an easy process. After cleaning and shaving the area, you would lay down a thin film of vaseline over the area to be tattooed. Then you would shake some carbon powder onto the stencil and very carefully lay the stencil onto the vaselined skin.
Nothing as frustrating, as loosing your stencil mid way through lining a tattoo, due to someone sweating it off before you could finish getting it done. There were little tricks to getting it done right for sure. And learning how to free hand when shit went sideways, sure came in handy.
I would start from the bottom right corner of the design, as a right handed person and working my way up very methodically, without touching the stencil. Of course if you were a lefty. That routine would be different.
Don had me scribe the stencils off new artworks he acquired, before they would go up on the walls. Or make new ones for old flash that had gone missing.
Each sheet had a number and a filing system that stored the acetates. Everything worked out well as long as folks put the stencils back into their given folders. That didn’t always happen. Which as an apprentice was also part of my job to make order of.
Thankfully flash shops still exist out there in the world that cater to clients that enjoy picking designs off of the wall and collecting keepsakes of their brave impulsive moments.
Most shops now use flash just as decorum. I have some up at my shop.
And use them to keep that nod to the old tattoo shop feeling and as visual points for client inspiration while they are getting tattooed.

When did I do my first set of tattoo flash?

I had painted my first set at the Sea Tramp that was next to Satyricon off of NW Couch and 6th Ave. here in Portland in 1987.
A set, which right after finishing, was destroyed in a bombing that totaled the shop and most of all of it’s decades worth of collectables. Having lost my first set to fire and water damage took the wind out of my sails and was disheartening. I mustered up the energy to start over and attempted another set after we moved to the new location off of Grand Ave. in 1989.
There are a few of these still around as exampled.

The next full set I created was at Everlasting Tattoo in 1994.
Talk about exploring outside your comfort zones and breaking out of the molds. SF certainly began that process for me. Working with the guys I did at the time. Who all were incredible artists. Helped me to open up to be less conservative, willing to do riskay designs, explore unbounded erotica and create more humor filled twisted imagery.

The next full set I did was at Outer Limits in 1996.
Living in LA also had a major impact on my artwork too. I feel this was a darker period for me. Though I was in a mostly happy mental space. I continued my exploration into pushing my comfort zones and dipping into unfamiliar territories.
With this set, I was trying to showcase how to blend existing tattoos that may not have had any connection with a particular style or context. And show how a tattooer could bring continuity to a bunch of random tattoos by using elemental back grounds to promote movement and inclusion.
Most of the flash that I was exposed to at this time, were composed highlighting individual images neatly balanced on a single sheet. Following the standards. But not really addressing backgrounds or connecting components. Since more folks were starting to get larger works. The trend had not quite grown to the point where the masses were doing full themed large scale works yet. It was catching on most definitely. But that pool of clients was still small and had not hit mainstream. What we did have was a growing base of tattooed folks, like myself, that had collected one shot tattoos and needed to figure out how to make them all come together and read as a finished suit.
The standard for most traditional tattoos, as many of you have seen. Were stars, puffy cloud frames and one dimensional wind bars or other basic fillers. I was hoping to bring some life to the images by generating a realistic option with more dimension.

Currently, I am working on a set of flash for Fortune Tattoo. I have finally become inspired to produce something for my own shop. I had lost interest in doing any more flash. I didn’t want to regurgitate the same iconic imagery that seems to be making it’s rounds in every form imaginable. Even the deconstructed versions. And at some point, what hasn’t been done already?
In following with tradition, what I do want, is to show case what I would like to do for my clients and to inspire them with what can be done no matter the content they might have in mind. I figured trying to explain what I see, is much easier by offering examples.
I have always enjoyed doing pieces based off of dream interpretations. Blending styles. Balancing images to read as stories with continuity. Even in the abstract.
This latest project will have seven panels.
The theme for this set is “Horses and indigenous plants of Oregon”.
I had begun with the intention to only do Mustangs of Oregon.
But some of the horses I like that have cool names, that I could play with, using multiple layers of imagery. Are not all from this state. And then I started throwing in some friends horses. Just because.
Much of the flora and plant life I am depicting, I see on the trail when we ride and wanted to incorporate them in these arrangements.
I hope you will enjoy them as much as I have had in pulling them together. I forgot how temperamental water coloring is.
The arguments with my paint, the recycled paper I am using and my brushes have been insightful.

Picasso.”

My beloved Thangka teacher Sanje Elliots’ words sit by me, “Practice every day to make friends with your brush.”

*I will be adding all my sets of flash with line drawings, prints, and individual pieces for sale on my website very shortly.

Need a good cause. Donate to: Mustangs to the Rescue

The Grand BooBoo

Story Time.

Sometime during my transition from Everlasting in SF to covering shifts for Patty at Avalon in SD. I got the opportunity to work with Kari Barba at Outer Limits in Anaheim. Her flag ship shop. Which prior to my being there was called Twilight Fantasy.
That meant moving back to the LA area. I eventually found a place in Los Feliz to live with some friends. It was an easy thirty minute drive. Which if I didn’t time right, would take me two hours to go thirty-one miles one way. Rush hour traffic is no joke. Plan accordingly.
I had set my intentions with Kari as to what I could offer her. I came in knowing I needed the winters off to be free to develop my own custom works and have time to paint. I knew I needed time to recharge, so I didn’t suffer burn out. By taking the winters off was also a way to alleviate the pressure and benefit those artists that stayed put. I included my want to travel, doing a few guest spots a year and a few select conventions. Which I had hoped she would join me in my pursuit to find a traveling partner. She rarely traveled during this time. I did my best to re-inspire her to get back out. Anyway, my plan was to come in fresh after the winter off and help keep up with the spring through summer rush.

So, my first week at Outer Limits.

I recall walking into the shop to set up. Linda Tobin had her station right at the front as you walked in. And man, was she intimidating. She would look straight into your brain with these crisp icey blue eyes. Barely a smile present, just a head nod to acknowledge the eye contact. It took a bit to gently break through her “sizing me up walls.” Her wife was one of our main piercers. A mischievious vixon. And between the two of them. There was some powerfully fierce female energy to sift through. It took some finesse to not distrupt the balance that was already well established. Quite a vibe being around a handful of confident power house women.
Of course, it did make room for an instigator who had tried to get us to brawl.
But that’s a story to include in a post for another time. We can title that post, the trouble makers.

My first week was awesome. Besides realizing I had not packed my black pigment.
I decided I could squeek by with using some Higgins I found at the local art store.
Sure, I could have asked one of the artists to “borrow” some of theirs till my order came in.
That’s not how I wanted to roll. Being that guy. We all know those guys.

The shop was busy enough to keep five artists working full time with just walkins.
That first week went smoothly. I was able to show off my skill sets, doing anything and everything off the walls, drawing up custom works for people with a quick consult and set up, showed off my freehand abilities and over all work ethics in a congested shared environment.
I was feeling pretty proud of my new situation and high on the force of seeing a comfortable grounded future where I could thrive.

Then came week two.

As soon as I came in for my next shift, Kari and the shop help notified me that.
Thirteen of the tattoos that I had done the week before had lost all of the black pigment I had used on them.
ALL of it.
Vanished. Disappeared. Poof. Gone.

I had not used that pigment on everyone from the week before thankfully.
And I was fortunate to have received my pigment order before coming back onto my next shift. “Whew.”
I called each one of them and set them up to re-address fixing their tattoos. I fit them in between my on going shift and took on some extra shifts to make sure everyone was taken care of.
I believe, if memory serves me correctly. I was able to get everyone done before going into my third week. Mind you, I had done a full freehand tribal sleeve from wrist to shoulder, inside and out, traditional pieces with full color, but absolutely no black anywhere to be seen. It was weird looking. Most of the tattoo just needed their outlines redone. I don’t remember it taking me very long to correct my errors.
But it sure was a good kick in the pants by universe to stay humble.
Kari was a gem. I had not wanted to disappoint her in her decision to bring me onto her crew.
And there I go making one the worst career boo boo’s ever on my first week working with her.

Lesson learned.

Always have extra stock and make sure your travel bag in fully re-stocked before leaving the house.

BE PREPARED

Here are some suggestions as to how to make your very first tattoo or one of many, a more pleasant experience.

Make sure to get a good night’s sleep.
It is common to have a case of the nerves on the eve of your appointment.
Don’t stress. Be kind to yourself.

Subsistence.
Eat a healthy dinner the night before. A carb filled breakfast with a protein in the morning and a carb/iron rich lunch before you come into the shop.
I have folks that come in and tell me, they were too anxious to eat or they weren’t able to eat “much” before coming in. I will send you out to get some grub if this happens. Which will take off the time we were supposed to be working.
So, please handle these bodily needs before meeting with me.
You may bring in light snacks if you need them.
Orange juice, trail mix, and water is my first recommendation.

Water.
Drink lots of it. Bring a water container with you.
Hydration is a must. Before, during and after getting tattooed

What to wear.
Wear comfortable clothing that I can easily move and gain access to the areas I am working on.
Make sure to wear clothing you are not worried about getting pigment on. It does happen sometimes.
The shop, for those getting tattooed in discrete places, is a clothing optional space.
I have pasties and drapes to offer those that need them.
And screening to give you a more private session.

Drinking alcohol.
Do not drink the day of your appointment and please refrain from drinking excessively the night before.

Clipping.
If you are a furry human. Please take the time and use your clippers to remove the mass amount of hair that is on the area you want me to work.
Don’t worry about normal amounts of hair.
I will use a new razor on each of you to remove hair that is in my way.
I just need the bulk of your fur removed if possible.

Guests.
Please let me know if you are bringing a guest.
I prefer to not have more than one guest in my shop during the visit.
My reason being, is I like to engage with the client that is in my chair.
I need to know how they are coping at all times.
I am pretty good at keeping a conversation, but it can get a bit overwhelming when I am forced to entertain more than one human and all their curious driven questions.
Too many guests is chaotic and mistakes can happen.
So, keep the distractions to a considerate minimal.

Thank you.

What was my first Tattoo done as a "Professional?"

Story Time.

A few months after my initial training. Don had me start by tattooing a handful of the hobos that were hanging round during the beginning of my apprenticeship. These guys did odd jobs, keeping an eye on the shop, acted as our bouncers, cleaning the shop up after hours for a hot meal and a place to stay. Some of them were pretty rough characters. Listening to their stories were life re-evaluating to say the least. Names like Hop-along-Tom, Gorilla Bisquit and Indian-Joe. Until social media, I didn’t know the majority of my friends full or legal names. It’s just how it was. These guys told very colorful stories of hard lives lived. I felt completely safe with them. I knew them as friends. I trusted them. And they trusted me to do my first tattoos on them.
Working at this incarnation of Sea Tramp was truly a remarkable experience. The walls were layered thick with years of drawings and memorabilia. The lobby itself, was covered from floor to ceiling with mostly Bert Grimms work and a handful or more of other worldly tattooers flash.
Mostly all originals. Everywhere you looked, there was Art.
I don’t know what the dimensions of the shop were. But, long enough to do an eight wrap coil by hand. Starting from the front (locked) door handle to the rear of the shop and back again. It had multiple side rooms. One was Don’s personal office. The other were for private sessions or used for storage. Don Nolan had done a full scale painting of life sized hula girls that wrapped around the inside of the walk-in shower. Yes, we had a shower, a bunk bed for travelers and a common area for us and close friends.
Walking into Sea Tramp was like walking into the bowels of an ancient pirate ship.

Don was Captain of course and the rest of us, were his crew.

Just getting to the front door of the shop was a feat in itself. The streets were littered with vagrants, drug dealers, addicts, hookers, punks meandering with or without a purpose, shadowy folks lurking in doorways and feisty sailors on ship leave during certain times of the year. Not a place for an innocent person unfamiliar with this type of world to be walking around by themselves.
Most all of the tattoo shops were not elevated to the trendier parts of town like they are now.
MaryJane’s shop that is across from the Galleria, was the first attempt to open a boutique style parlor in a less seedy neighborhood that I know of during this part of my career.
So, getting to our shop, was an adventure to say the least.

Having a young suburban woman from Hillsboro enter the shop was unique.
I recall her coming into the lobby, with the door shutting the chaotic rush of the city streets behind her.
Don, told me I was up. As in, this was my first customer.
”Big eyes! Yicks."
Doing my best Don impression.
I greeted her with a warm smile and a compliment for having made it!
I asked what she wanted and after some time surveying the flash off the walls.
She chose a Chilly Willy figure.
Her name escapes me now. I am sure I have a photo of her and the tattoo somewhere in my archive. I am surprised this event still holds up in the front of my brain files.
But there she was. Wanting to make a mark to commemorate her newly found freedom from a bad relationship and initiate a reclaiming of herself.
My memory of this woman, holds to a feeling that she was like the phoenix that had risen from the ashes, a new. She had come through the veils of chaos and survived the fires.
I was happy to have helped her in her personal pursuit. And thankful to her for being my first client as a “professional” tattooer.

What got me into Tattooing?

Story time.

Mind you the time line maybe off by a year or two. Much of my youth is a blurr.

Who got me into Tattooing?

My mom initially. I was around fifteen going on sixteen. Around 1983. Both my parents were pretty heavily tattooed. For the time period. My mom knew a few traveling tattooers and kept getting told that I should get into the art. Since, “I always was drawing.” That it might be a good profession for me, was their reasoning. So, one of my mom’s tattooer friends asked if I would tattoo him. He wanted one of my female figure drawings. I obliged.
What was my reaction to doing my first tattoo? I couldn’t stand it. I didn’t like the pressure of someone in my creative space and mostly didn’t like that I was hurting someone. It was weird.
Shortly there after, I got my first tattoo at a punk party in NW Portland at someone’s apartment.
I don’t recall who the tattooer was now. Or who’s apartment it was in. But man, did that little three flowered bracelet hurt! When I came back to visit my mom’s house. I heard my mom bark out from the kitchen the name she used when I was in trouble. I was like, “I just walked into the house! wth!” She proceeded to ask me about my new tattoo. “How did she know?!!!” I showed her and explained it represented her, my sister and I. She appreciated the sentiment. But laughed at me and said, “That’s it?” She pulled down her shirt to show me an elaborate piece started on her back by the same tattooer who had just worked on me. He had told her I had been a pain in the ass. Small world indeed.
A few years later while hanging out at the Satryicon, Don introduced himself to me. I had started picking up painting window displays downtown, drawing projects for band friends and designing tattoos for folks who were bringing them into his shop to have tattooed. It must have quirked his curiousity. Because he asked me if I was interested in being a tattooer. I was like, “o hell no!” I told him my tattoo story. He told me that if I ever decided to get into tattooing to contact him.
At that time, I was like, “yay, no thanks!” Too out there for me.
After some time, I began writing Don as a pen pal. I still have all his letters. During our correspondence, the idea of learning the trade from him, seemed the path that I was supposed to take on. “Thanks Mom.”
He re-offered me an apprenticeship. I accepted. He later told me, “that becoming a tattooer would be really hard for me, that one in a hundred people could make it in this trade and that being a female coming into this male dominated profession would be even more difficult”.

I took on the challenge with my everything.

And the path unfolded.

What are some things you want to tattoo?

Horses. Mermaids. Pirates. Wild life imagery with epic nature back drops. Abstract combinations with realism. Surrealistic dream renderings. Full themed matching sleeves. A few more back pieces before I retire. Full color. Black and Grey. Combinations of both. Craving to do more pieces that are innovative and out of the ordinary.

Proofs

Will you send me a proof before my appointment?

Nope.

Why don’t you do this for people? I want to know what it’s going to look like and make sure it’s what I want before coming in for my appointment.

The majority of those who ask me this. Have given me exact images to work from. Though I do not reproduce other artist’s tattoos. I will use images you send me as reference to build my own design for you. Based on the perimeters you have provided.
My goal is to stoke you out on your tattoo. As well as my liking the outcome. If you send me reference that you found on the first page of your google search. I will know. And may ask you to dig further for better reference. Or I will on my own time. It’s understandable when first getting into tattooing to need proof. Fearing the tattoo won’t look anything like you had imagined or the reference you provided. Not knowing me personally. Not knowing how to navigate through all the zillions of artists that claim to know what they are doing. I get it.

The truth is, the leap of faith, is part of the tattoo experience.

Most everything I make for people is pretty straight forward. At our in person consult or by email. You provide the elements, the styles, the basis of the work and I will pull it all together for you. Which I do on my own “free” time. I do everything by hand. I will provide a line drawing or stencil (proofs) for you on the day of your appointment. If any minor changes need to be done, they can be done so in person and on the clock at the time of your appointment.
I spent an incredible amount of time pulling people’s ideas together.
Many times, I spend more time working out the math of the project than it takes to do the actual tattoo.

Study my work to see what I am capable of.

The pieces you see on my website took trust in my process on the part of my clients. I do my best to make people happy and to listen to their wants or needs. I take detailed notes. I save all of our online communications so nothing is lost in translation. I have had some very complicated pieces to compose over the years that took an incredible amount of mind math to figure out how to pull together, so that it makes sense, flows properly, reads correctly and most importantly holds up for for a lifetime. All tattoos just like their owners, have a mind of their own and may need to be revisited. Polishing, adjusting contrasts, blends, or touching up areas that did not heal well or areas that need more saturation. I wish I could just print out a perfect tattoo for you and be done with it. But I am not a copier machine and skin is not always a compliant medium to work with. So, email me if you have any questions. I want to make sure the tattoos I am doing have reached their best potential.

As I like to say to people, “you provide the ingredients to the soup and I will make it for you.”

To quote Deb Yarian, “Sometimes you are only as good as the tattoo you’re asked to do.

DEPOSITS

Why do I need to leave a deposit?

The non-refundable deposit I require to confirm your appointment, ensures that you are serious and are ready to commit to getting tattooed. I unfortunately still have folks flake on their appointments, cancel/reschedule too close to time of appointment to fill their spots. Deposits do not cover my time lost. But, it’s an incentive for clients to keep honest.
Please pay your deposit in a timely manner. The dates/times offered are only confirmed when deposit has been paid.

When is my deposit applied to the cost of the tattoo?

Usually, the deposit is used on the final session.

How might my deposit become forfeit?

If you are a NO-show, if you are a last minute cancellation, or you reschedule your tattoo appointment more than twice.
Or you have not used it within two years towards an ongoing project.

Are there any exceptions to your policy?

Yes, medical or family emergencies are completely warranted.

What if I change my mind on the original design and want something different for my appointment?

I will require a new deposit and the original one will be forfeited.

How do I get back on your books after being a NO-show or last minute non-emergency cancellation and really would like you to finish the work we began?

I will require a new deposit.

Guest Artist "Tex" April 4-8, 2018

Tex will be back for her yearly visit this April 4-8, 2018. Email her with your wonderful ideas and she will make them come to life. "I am coming atcha April 4-8! And taking project ideas now. Email me if you wanna be included." email: Tex@textattoo.com .......................................... #authentictattoo #textattoo #sftatto#sanfranciscotattoo #portlandtattoo #pdxtattoo#guestspot — at Authentic Tattoo (Tex Tattoo).

 

The Good Fight Art/Music Show

bernieflashStephanie Wilkins and many other Portland Oregon based artists have contributed art for "The Good Fight" art and music shows. A pair of Bernie Sanders inspired Art and Music events.

Come check out this wonderful collection and enjoy some accommpanied musical inspiration.

Belles from the Crypt Upper playground

Omg horror fans!!! It's tomorrow! The much anticipated "Belles from the Crypt" show! Eleven absolutely amazing female artists living right here in Portland have teamed up to bring you a spooky Halloween-centric gallery extravaganza! Opening reception starts at 6pm tomorrow! Join in for horrifyingly badass lady art, refreshments from Widmer brothers brewing and music by DJ Knate Pha$er. Have a photo op in our very own GOLD coffin and just generally have all the fun anyone could possibly have EVER! ‪#‎bellesfromthecrypt‬ ‪#‎octoberart‬ ‪#‎halloweenart‬ ‪#‎female‬ ‪#‎femaleart‬‪#‎femaleartist‬ ‪#‎firstthursday‬ ‪#‎firstthursdaypdx‬ ‪#‎UpPortland‬‪#‎upperplayground‬ ‪#‎art‬ ‪#‎artwalk‬ ‪#‎pdx‬ ‪#‎pdxart‬ ‪#‎portland‬11227928_958624174179946_7670347462895232385_ounnamed-3unnamed-2

My hands by Christopher Onstott for Buddhadharma magazine summer issue 2015

I had a pleasant surprise to see my hands pictured in this summer's issue of Buddhadharma magazine. Christopher Onstott took this photo while Maitripa College was preparing for HH visit and during our meditation class on emptiness. I am really happy my hands are making their way around the globe tattooed, scarred and with love. Thanks to whomever is responsibile. Cheerfully, M unnamed-4image.aspx

Eddy Deutsche legendary Tattooer in Portland 6/10-14/2015

I am greatly honored to announce that Eddy Deutsche will be tattooing at Fortune this June. We are extremely lucky to be able to have such a talented and kind person such as Eddy visit our humble little shop.

This will be Eddy's first time working in our beautiful city. I am stoked to be able to share it with him and his family.

If you would like to get a piece by him while he is here, please email him directly at: eddyd222@gmail.com

And check out more of his works and his full bio on his website. Your mind will be blown.

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