Five hours of flowers.

Liz and family were in Oregon to celebrate her grandmother's 90th birthday,
but they took a tiny detour to get some tattoo work first.
We had talked about a shoulder cap of flowers back in Minnesota,
and we ended up doing it 1500 miles away.
We stenciled some flowers on,
then drew some more,
looked at it the mirror,
drew more,
and then drew some more.
A little shoulder cap turned into a meandering meadow of flowers.
We integrated it into her waves chestpiece,
though I didn't get a photo of that part yet.
Hopefully, I'll get some healed photos emailed to me soon.






















It was cool having a Minnesota client visit me in Grants Pass,
I got to show off my sexy, new, (temporary) tattoo shop.

Today Amy, Jaime, Meryl, the dog and I are headed to the coast again.
We're on the lookout for lighthouses, dead birds, tide pools,
redwoods, moss and mushrooms.
They have to leave tomorrow morning,
so we're doing one last farewell outing.
Having them here has been amazing,
and it's going to be sad and quiet without them around.

But since we have more to do on Amy's sleeve,
I'm booking a guest spot out East for this summer.
I have a list of folks who want some tattoo time,
but spots will be super limited.
If you want in,
send me an email with your idea,
and I'll try to sort out all the details soon.

So let the party and the sounds rock on

Amy and Jaime heard there was a "Best Visitor" competition going on,
(or maybe they didn't)
but they showed up with a dozen vegan Portland doughnuts anyway,
a box of Sweet Life vegan cake,
and some handmade antler treats.
And that was the first day.
It's been non-stop funtimes since.
I drove to Crescent City with them, too,
and found where the big trees were hiding.
Coastal Redwoods are no joke.






















Then I got to visit Battery Point Lighthouse again,
but this time there was a little more daylight,
and when it's low tide (it was)
you can walk to it (i did)!
So sexy.
And so here's a better, closer photo.

















We also got some tattooing in,
and worked on Amy's antlered birdhouse sleeve.
She sat for a few hours,
and we outlined the whole rest of it.
Then we started shading, too,
and got some of the squirrel filled in.
She made it 5.5 hours before an evening on the couch with
Thai food and Rocky Horror Picture Show was calling her name.






















Here's my gift from Jaime,
a business card holder cut from an antler.
She knows antlers are the answer,
and now all of my clients will, too.
Good thing my new cards arrived the very same day.
It's so fresh.

















We have a few days left before we have to say goodbye,
and we have lots more plans.
I'm playing hooky and going lighthouse hopping on Friday.
After being stuck in Minnesota for so long,
I can't get enough of the ocean.
10,000 lakes don't have shit on the Pacific.

More Peafowling

Korel came down to Grants Pass from Olympia, WA,
and we did some shading on her peacock sleeve.
We have three appointments planned in March, too,
and we're hoping to get pretty close to done with those.
We had started this back in November at Optic Nerve in PDX.
I'm super excited about it,
and thrilled she's able to travel all the way down here.
(6ish hours each way)
She read about Handsome Adam's visit,
and tried to out-awesome him by bringing us coffee and veggies and treats.

Good thing we're pros at having guests,
because Amy and Jaime arrive tonight.
They're taking the long(er) way down here,
so there's time to wash the bedsheets in between visitors,
and they get to see the sexy Oregon coastline.

Speaking of being social,
who else is on Instagram?
Come find me: @hebrank

Company.

Handsome Adam gave us a week head-start,

and then arrived in Grants Pass ready for serious hangout time.

He knew no one was going to try and visit us our first week here,

and so showing up on day 8 was a safe bet for First Place.

Adam is a damn good house guest.

He's up for whatever,

down for anything,

and does dishes till you tattoo his hands.

He helped us explore and get acquainted with our new surroundings since pretty much everything was new to us.

He's like the Lewis and Clark of houseguests,

scoping it out and paving the trail for future visitors.

If you come and stay with us here

(and don't run out of gas in an unpaved national park),

you'll owe Handsome Adam a thank you.

Here he is in a treehouse we found by accident.

We did some drives and hikes through Grants Pass and the rest of Southern Oregon,

the redwoods, and all the way to the California coast.

If Minnesota is the land of lakes,

Oregon has to be the state of rivers.

So many.

Nothing ever gets a chance to dry out,

so moss just grows on everything.

Telephone poles, highways, roofs,

everything just gets sexier with a little moss.

Sometimes it's the only color around.

On the day we drove to Crescent City, CA,

we bumped into Battery Point Lighthouse at the perfect time.

Apparently there's a second lighthouse in that town,

(two in one town?! c'mon...)

so I'll be headed back there next week when the new guests arrive.

It was a bummer seeing him off this morning,

but he threatens to come back again before we leave in April.

Awesome.

Quality and quantity.

Handsome Adam knows what's up.

All Settled In.

Meryl and I made it to Grants Pass, Oregon without any hitches.

I mean, it was a 3 day ordeal totaling some 36ish driving hours,

with a packed car, a dog in the backseat,

and a bike strapped to the back,

but we did eventually arrive at our new (though temporary) home.

It's definitely an amazing opportunity to be out here

and working at Jeff Gogue's shop.

Without anything else to do,

I am being brutally self-indulgent,

and filling all of my time with tattooing and art making.

At the studio I have an easel set up,

and can paint on any of my down time.

In town there's the Southern Oregon Art Academy,

and they have been kind enough to let me sit in on their figure drawing sessions.

So what used to be Naked Mondays will now be renamed Naked Tuesdays for the next few months.

I am happy to get back to drawing from life again.

Here's two 5 minute poses.

I am super grateful to Jeff, his family,

and the shop for making me feel so at home.

I couldn't be more excited to be here.

I plan on making the absolute most of this time,

and having lots to show for it.

And, of course,

I am avoiding the Minnesotan winter this year.

Awesome.

Too many words...

...no room for photos.



Plans.

I've made some serious plans for the rest of 2011,

and the first few months of 2012.

I'll start with the new year plans and work backward.



In January, Meryl and I will be headed West.

Back to Grants Pass, but this time we'll stay for 3 months!

We'll be living out there,

and I'll be working at GogueArt,

Jeff Gogue's tattoo shop and art gallery.

I'm beyond excited,

and I feel like the luckiest,

most fortunate tattoo artist in the world right now.

Jeff is such an amazing and inspiring person,

and I look forward to four months of growth in both tattooing and painting.

Obviously, I don't have a Grants Pass clientele,

so I might be doing some guest spots occasionally in Portland,

but otherwise, that's where you'll be able to find me.

Then, in April, we'll be moving back to Minneapolis.



So with that departure date in mind,

I have committed to only two (tattooing) travel plans for the rest of 2011.

In September (15th-18th) I'll be doing the Paradise Tattoo Gathering at Jiminy Peak in MA,

and in November (13th-16th) I'll be at Optic Nerve in Portland, OR.



I will also be doing a big tattoo project the first 11 days of November.

I'll be doing one 5 hour(ish) tattoo each day,

starting November 1rst,

and ending November 11th.

(11/11/11)

I'm almost done with the 11 drawings for that,

and will have them at the shop for viewing and booking soon.

If you already know you need one,

contact me for more details,

and to save your spot.

And then after November 11th,

I'm thinking of printing up a little art zine

with the drawings and finished tattoos in it.

.

.

.

Aside from all of that,

if you're working on some tattoo projects

(that you want finished before January),

come by Identity Tattoo and have Handsome Adam book a series of appointments.

The rest of August is booked,

and September is filling up, too.

And if you're unable to come into the shop to leave a deposit

(let's say you don't live in MN),

I can take paypal deposits now, too.

Just email me.



That's pretty much everything.

Minneapolis and both coasts,

tattooing and moving and all of that.

Back in Grants Pass

Mountains, kids.
Grants Pass has got them, in abundance.
Minnesota is so flat,
it's nice having a whole new kind of horizon for a week.

This trip so far has been awesome,
Jeff and his family are the nicest ever,
And Meryl was here for the first half of the guest spot.
We got to do a little exploring,
And I even started a new tattoo on her.





































My old buddy Craig from Connecticut made a trip up to Grants Pass
(from San Diego!) to get some work done,
and we tattooed the heck out of his chest for over 6 hours.
He's super rad, and it was beyond flattering for him to take a plane and rent a car just to get a tattoo from me.
You can check him out here,
and beg him to send you some of his rad stickers he makes.

I'm here tonight and tomorrow night,
then driving back to Portland early Saturday morning.
The rental car company messed up,
so I'm driving a white Mustang this week.
I feel more than a little out of place rolling around town it in,
with the windows down and playing HoneyHoney.
(go get yourself their First Rodeo album)

Grants Pass isn't sure what to make of me.
I'm not sure what to make of me, even.

When this happens....

I love traveling,
but hate the packing/housecleaning that always goes with it.

I fly out to Portland tomorrow,
meet up with Meryl in the airport,
(she's flying in from Denver after a week in Boulder)
then get some hang out time with the west coast crew.
Then we rent a car and head to Grants Pass on Monday.
Both coasts in 30 days.
With a little bit of MPLS time in between,
just enough time to do some laundry and a few tattoos.
(big thanks to Handsome Adam for being a semi-permanent resident of Louderhorn Inn,
and taking such good care of Shamira)

But enough putting off the inevitable,
I have to go put some things in a suitcase.

out of this nettle, danger, we grasp this flower, safety

My days out here in Grants Pass are way different than back home.
I start walking to the shop at 8:40 am.
Today was the first time I've been outside when it hasn't been raining,
so I took some photos along the way.
Moss grows everywhere out here,
and makes for some interesting compositions.















I get to the shop by 9am,
and it opens at 10.
When I got there this morning,
Jeff was putting the finishing touches on his latest painting,
and then took it outside to photograph.













My good friend Johnny drove down from Eugene today,
and he got "Buddy Tattoos" of stinging nettle plants with his pal Ashley.
So I did two of these today,
and worked till 8 something.

Johnny's such a riot,
and we all had a lot of fun.
(except maybe Jeff,
since I kept making his client laugh with my dumb stories,
and that doesn't make tattooing a bazillion dragon scales any easier)























Tomorrow's a painting day,
and I'm super excited for it.
Hopefully I'll have something to show tomorrow night.

People to see, Places to go.

My friends took good care of me the second my plane landed in Portland.
Elias picked me up from the airport,
we headed right to a vegan restaurant,
and met up with a bunch of old friends.
The next morning we were all together again,
eating brunch at some different vegan joint.
Portlandia, kids.
A magical place, and a vegan's delight.

Then Julie and Korel drove me the 4+ hours down to Grants Pass,
(with a quick detour in Eugene to stop at Sweet Life,
a bakery with tons and tons of vegan goodies)
It was about 250 miles,
and a beautiful drive through some serious mountains.

Today was my first day at my GogueArt guest spot,
and it was pretty awesome.
Jeff's not only super talented,
he also the nicest dude, ever.
We've never previously met,
but I already feel welcome and at home.

I worked most of the day on a sleeve for Julie,
pussy willows starting at the wrist,
plum branches from the shoulder,
and everything meeting near the elbow.
She sat for a brutal 6.5 hour session,
and we got really, really far on it.
I'll try and get some photos of it in the morning.























Korel was not only the photographer and professional hand holder,
she also got her first tattoo, and did great.
They leave early in the am tomorrow,
since they don't just have a long drive back to Olympia, WA,
but they both have to work tomorrow, too.
That's 7 hours in the car just to get to their jobs.
That's also some of the best kind friends you could ask for.
Thanks for the ride and the time kids,
have a safe trip home.