Welcome to Paradise

I'd never been to the Paradise Tattoo Gathering before,
but this year I was convinced to go,
and it turned out a million times better than I expected.
It's way different than other conventions;
there's less public,
and it's mostly just filled with tattoo artists, aspiring tattoo artists,
and serious tattoo collectors.
There's seminars/panels all day every day on painting, tattooing, taxes, etc.
It's pretty nuts.
I took a Shawn Barber painting seminar,
met a bunch of awesome people,
did a few fun tattoos, etc.
But there were two things about the weekend that topped it all.
Amy and Jamie came out from Northampton to stay with me for the weekend,
and I got to share a double booth with Jeff Gogue, Mick Squires (of Australia), and Horien (of Japan).

I think the Amy and Jamie hangout time made everything so much better.
They brought batches of homemade vegan cookies,
and boxes of vegan chocolates.
They brought smiles, hugs, and laughs.
They are two of the best people I've ever met,
and I couldn't have been happier that they weekended with me.
They got along with everyone,
are brutally helpful,
and took a ton of wonderful photos for me.

Sharing a booth with Jeff Gogue and friends was pretty amazing.
Jeff was the keynote speaker of the convention,
and all of his art was on all of the promotional materials.
He is kind of the entire face of Paradise.
He is also one of the most inspiring people I have ever met,
and it was a huge honor to have been included in that booth.
Usually I come away from tattoo conventions with no voice,
tired, cranky, etc,
but this time I left hungrier than ever,
and full of drive.
I'm somehow even more excited to go out to Oregon in January for the extended guest spot.































I did two new tattoos during the convention.
This big leg addition is on Scout,
a fantastic artist and tattoo apprentice in Northampton, MA.
She already had the mermaid,
but we added some fish morphing into birds going up her leg.
We got all the black and grey work taken care of,
and next time we'll do the color.
She sat like a champ,
and a lot of fun to talk to.






















Todd H came and got tattooed,
and it was fun hanging out with him, too.
(as always)
He got a memorial tattoo for his friend I once met while tattooing him.
She died last year, and he wanted a piece based on her nickname,
"stubborn jungle man bad guy".
That's certainly the right way to remember the good times.

Thanks to everyone who helped made it a fantastic weekend,
especially the people at Off the Map/TattooNow who put it all on.
And for Miss Mary Bowen,
since she always looks out for me extra special...

Tested.

Really.
And with Blake as my witness, I stood my ground.
Not 13 hours after making the new rule concerning MN pride tattoos,
a very nice young lady came into the shop,
asking for me specifically,
and wanting a "minneapolis skyline tramp stamp".
But she'd only been to 5 states other than MN,
(not the now mandatory 10)
so I passed her off to Ben.
Rules are rules,
even if the ink that penned them isn't even dry yet.

Blake was getting a start on his new Halloween half-sleeve,
a zombie scarecrow thing on his outer forearm.
I'm excited about the whole project,
we mapped it all out,
and got some of it outlined and shaded.
Here's the in-progress outline:






















I can't believe I leave so soon for the east coast
Tuesday I'll be getting in the car,
and driving insane amounts.
The first leg is 812 miles to Ashtabula, OH.
I'm stopping at FX Tattoos for some high fives and butt slaps,
and then driving the rest of the way wednesday.
I'm not even close to ready or prepared,
and more than a little bit stressed out,
but my good friend Amy Briggs will be there,
(with vegan cookies!)
so I know it'll all be ok.

I'm tattooing AND getting tattooed
while at the Paradise Tattoo Convention.
Jeff Gogue will be working on my big front piece on Friday.
If you're around, come visit.
I'll be mostly naked and crying,
and there will be a couple hundred people trying to watch.
I know, sounds like so much fun....

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.