I want to apologize to all of you for being so out of the loop lately. I’ve been so overwhelmed with Tattooing, Painting, Drawing, Traveling and opening Loose Screw Tattoo that I’ve found it difficult to keep up with my online responsibilities. Now that Loose Screw is open I’m sure I’ll never be as good at keeping my blog updated as I once was, however I am going to try my best:)
The intention of this, and some future blog posts, is to bring you all up to date as to what I’ve been doing over the past 7.5 months. For now I’ll go over my crazy travels.
Being that I wasn’t quite sure as to when I was actually going to open my studio I kept throwing travel commitments onto my plate so by the time I actually lined up a space my plate was slam packed with pre-commitments. I signed the lease on April 9th and since then I’ve been to Wisconsin, Chicago, Miami, England, Sweden, Germany, and back to Miami. Although those trips killed me, I managed to make it out alive and ended up knocking out some cool tattoos and meeting some great people:
Wisconsin: Stop by my buddy Dan Hazelton’s private studio and dropped off a few tattoos while steady conversing about future collaborative projects. We’ve got a ton of great stuff on the horizon:)
Chicago: Finally had the opportunity to tattoo aside one of my all time favorite tattoo artists, Mr. Tim Beidron. I’ve been a big fan of his work for a long time and it was definitely a pleasure to be able to soak up some of his knowledge.
Miami: I always have a good time in Miami. I worked Tattoolapalooza and was a part of judging an awesome tattoo competition alongside some of my favorite artists (Mike Devries, Travis Franklin, Dan Hazelton, Jess Yen, Robert Pho, Tommy Lee, Durb Morrison, Frank LaNatra and Myke Chambers). It was definitely the best competition that I’ve ever been a part of. Worked on a bunch of in progress tattoos at Tattoolapalooza so didn’t end up leaving with any pictures worth posting.
England: This was my first year tattooing at Tattoo Jam and I must say it was awesome! The Tattoo Jam crew made me feel like a celebrity and were very friendly. I don’t think I’ve ever been treated so well. I also got nominated for “Best International Tattoo Artist” which I think is crazy! If I had ended up taking that title I probably would have given up tattooing;) Luckily I was beaten by the very talented Jeff Gogue’. He’s been a favorite of mine for awhile so losing to him didn’t sting too much;) I was also up against Nikko Hurtado, Mick Squires, Shawn Barber, and Claire Reid. I was just flattered to be mentioned aside this group of mega talented tattoo artists.
Sweden: So I’ve come to realize that the only thing good about Sweden is xEmilx, Jimmy Lajnen and the awesome clients that came to get tattooed by me (sorry Sweden). Out of all the places I’ve ever been in the world Sweden takes the cake for the most boring. I had a ton of fun tattooing at Fisheye, but if I never make it out to Sweden again I think I’d be better off;) Maybe I’ll try Norway next!
Germany: I’m always excited to get back out to Germany. I spent the last three years of High School in Heidelberg, Germany and it always stimulates a lot of fond memories with each visit. I got to spend some much needed quality time with my Dad who I haven’t been out to visit in a couple of years. I also dropped off a couple big tattoos at Crazy Greg’s. Got a chance to hang out with my buddy Erkan and the rest of the Crazy Greg’s Crew. I always have a ton of fun with them.
Miami: The last trip of the year landed me at Art Basel in Miami. Probably one of my most favorite events of the year. If you haven’t had the opportunity to experience it you should get out there at least once before you die! It’s pretty awesomely overwhelming!!
So now I’m back for the duration of the year (the next four days;). On the plate for next year is:
Hampton Tattoofest (Hampton, VA)
Tattoolapalooza in June/July (Miami, Florida)
Possibly Paradise tattoo gathering (Colorado)
Tryin to squeeze my way into a couple of comic-cons (San Diego and New York)
Got the G-40 summit coming to Richmond this year!
and Lastly Art Basel!
I’ll keep you guys posted on everything as it unravels. Thank you so much for sticking with me for all these years. I promise to always try and keep you visually entertained;)
Jesse
