Just TeeJay's Blog

Blood Donations for Tattoo Recipients

•May 28, 2013 • 4 Comments

It has come to my attention that there are petitions circulating that are being driven by the Red Cross to try and get New York State to regulate Tattoo Studios.

You may ask why the Red Cross would be interested in New York State’s regulations on tattooing.

The reason is the Red Cross has rules in place that if a potential donor has been tattooed in a facility that is not regulated by that state – that they must wait at least a year before being eligible to donate blood again. The Red Cross is concerned about the transmission of Hepatitis through dirty tattoo situations.

As a result of this they are experiencing a problem with finding donors in some areas such as New York where there are no state regulations in place.

An Open Letter to the Red Cross

To Whom it May Concern,

I appreciate your problems in finding suitable blood donors in New York state due to the year wait on tattoo recipients. I personally used to donate regularly as an apheresis doner (O+) and am no longer able to due to the one year rule.

However I do not think asking New York state to regulate tattooing is the best course of action to address this situation. As a professional tattoo artist I can tell you that state regulations would do little to ensure the safety of our clients or your blood supply. In addition considering the budget concerns that New York is currently experiencing, adding a completely new program and regulatory agency to their agenda is unlikely.

I see two possible alternatives. The first is to reconfigure your own standards to limit blood donations without the year wait to persons who have been tattooed in a legitimate professional tattoo studio environment. Depending on the State to determine what is a professional environment is risky as in all likelihood regulations would amount to little more than a purchased license. Thus having little reflection on the actual cleanliness and standards maintained within a Tattoo Studio.

The second alternative could benefit you, the Tattoo Shops and the tattoo customer.

Develop your own Blood Borne Pathogens Training class for tattoo artists and studio owners. You already have Blood Borne Pathogens classes available. You are uniquely qualified to put together a comprehensive program to really teach artists the things that they need to know to protect both themselves and their clients.

Teach this class. Charge money for it. Give participants Certificates of Completion. Then change your standards to remove the year wait on donors who have been tattooed by an artist or facility Certified under YOUR program in addition to those regulated by the States.

Tattoo artists would be able to demonstrate their proactive interest in protecting their clients, tattoo consumers would be safer, you would make some money and increase your donor pool. Everyone wins.

Many artists and studios in New York already participate in Blood Borne Pathogens training far in excess of anything that a state would require for licensing. You can use this to your advantage instead of counting on another agency.

If there is any way that I personally or the professional tattoo artists in the area could assist, I assure you we would be available and willing to do so.

thank you for your time and attention,

TeeJay Dill

owner White Tiger Tattoo Rochester & Webster NY

http://www.whitetigertattoo.com

Posted in tattoo, TeeJay
Tags: blood donations, blood donors, Red Cross, tattoo

There may be some withdrawal…

•May 20, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I had painting class this morning. I am unable to attend figure drawing tonight and there are no classes for either one next week (being as it is Memorial Day and all).

So I will be two whole weeks without any structured time to paint or draw for me. I am hoping that I will be able to sneak some time in somewhere over the next two weeks – but experience has taught me that I am not always really good about making time for me.

Anyhow, this is what I worked on today. Both pieces are coming along nicely and I am confident that I can finish them up without “screwing them up”.

They are going to be having a Student Show at the Steve Carpenter Studio and I am able to submit one piece that I painted this year for the show. I am going to use this one and today I finally managed to get a decent photo of it.

A friend of mine has a project going on where he is asking people to draw on $2 bills. He sent me one and I drew this on it

I had so much fun that I wanted to do some more of them. I didn’t want to ask him to send me any more bills, so I went up to the bank to see if they happened to have any $2. Not only did they have a bunch, they had four of them that were still sequential. They said someone had just brought them in – they must have had them in a drawer somewhere.

I won’t spend or draw on those. I will probably keep them tucked away in a drawer somewhere too.

These are the other bills that I did. I still think I like the cat and mouse one the best. I gave bills to Starr and Joe and am hoping that they can do something fun with them as well.

and just because I know there are a couple of you that come here to see tattoos that I am working on – here is one from this week. It’s still in progress and I hope to have more photos of it soon.

Posted in Art, Oil painting, painting, tattoo, TeeJay
Tags: $2, bear with antlers, bunny with mermaid tail, decorated bills, drawing on money, oil painting, painting, painting in progress, Steve Carpenter Studio, tattoo, work in progress

It’s Been a Little Bit Again

•May 14, 2013 • Leave a Comment

So there is a lot that has happened. Some of it doesn’t seem important in hindsight – but here is some of it that seemed worthy of sharing.

Jenn had this amazing double exposed photo of her cats that she had taken a while back.

She wanted to make it into a tattoo and I was excited for the challenge. The only thing I wanted to change was how far the kitties were from one another – by bringing them in closer I felt it would work a little bit better. I did do a rough sketch of what I had in mind to show Jenn.

I did want to make the one eye reflective (like the flash had bounced off of it), but Jenn and I agreed that it took too much away from the character of the cat.
The tattoo wraps her leg a little bit so it is hard to see in a single photo – so here are a few different angles of it.

I was also able to take a healed photo of Jenn’s hummingbirds which we made for her about 2 (or 3?) years ago.
We have added what will be the last piece to Eric’s Buddha/Mara tattoo. I’m a little sad that this one is going to be finished soon as I have enjoyed working on it immensely. There is one more session to go to finish the MarshCroc and possibly some tightening if Eric has found anything that needs it (or I come across anything).
I really can’t be greedy here – This piece started out as a chest panel and half sleeve and has grown quite a bit since the original concept.
Thanks so much Eric!

On May 6th I returned to painting class. We are probably getting near the end of the session, but I am not going to dwell on that.

This one is finished. I need to sign it, glaze it and get a better photograph – then she can go on off to her new home.

These two are probably finished also. They will need some more observation before I decide for sure and then they will also get the finished treatment. I am having fun with this series for sure and there will be more to come.

Delirium has a way to go yet. Since she is so much different than the other ones that I am working on it is hard to switch back and forth to work on her at the same time. I think she is going to be a sunny day painting that I will keep in the studio and work on when the conditions are right for her temperament.

I went off to Off the Map this past week. I have a bunch of great photos of clouds and flowers and the Bed and Breakfast that I stayed in – but I am going to figure that you really don’t care that much and not show them to you. So here are a couple of the tattoos that I made while I was there.

What can I say about Gretchen? I always look forward to seeing her and she has gotten some of my favorite tattoos. This one was no exception and if you follow me on Twitter (@justteejay) this is the tattoo I was talking about when I said I was “giddy” over the drawing.

I also made this lion tattoo for Jack. He sat great and the tattoo looks much better than the photo. He originally wanted the lion to have three eyes which I was super excited about – but I didn’t realize he wanted the third eye to be subtle. So who out there will let me make a three eyed critter on them? I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly how I would work it out and I would hate for that knowledge to go to waste : )

I got back in town on Saturday night so I had plenty of time to rest up and head back to painting class Monday morning. I started two new pieces.

In case you can’t see these guys well enough – here is the sketch that I was working off of.

A break to check out the lilac festival and clean the house a little bit and then back for figure drawing class. I am not at all happy with my drawings lately – but I will keep plugging along at it and I am sure they will improve again.

The painting is actually going better than the drawing.

I hope that brings us up to date… if I missed anything and it seems important – I’ll make another post down the road.

Posted in Art, drawing, Oil painting, painting, tattoo, TeeJay, Travel
Tags: bear, Buddha Mara tattoo, bunny, figure drawing, gypsy skull head, life drawing, life painting, lion tattoo, oil painting, silverback tattoo ink, skull tattoo

A Partial Monday Report

•April 30, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I didn’t take photos of my figure drawing stuff this morning. Now there isn’t enough light to do it. I figure we all can go a week without them.

Here is some of what I worked on in painting class Monday morning.

This one still has a way to go. This next one is getting pretty close to finished. I’m just tweaking stuff at this point. I think I am going to have this one professionally scanned when it is completed so that I can make prints of her. I’ve gotten some leads on places to do scanning. No leads at all on anyone who photographs artwork.

Here are some photos of what other people were working on in figure drawing class.

and the painting that I made for the long pose. I was really happy with this one. It is the furthest I have gotten in trying to paint a model in one session. Someone in the class suggested last time that I start out putting the paint on thicker sooner – so that is what I did this time. I liked it. I will have to play with it some more.

Posted in Art, Oil painting, painting, rochester, ny, TeeJay
Tags: Delirium, Endless, figure drawing, Gypsy, life drawing, life painting, male model, skull, Sugar Skull, woman

Hell City 2013

•April 22, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Just got back from Hell City. It was awesome. It’s always awesome.

Had a great time, saw lots of friends, had lotsa laughs, painted to my heart’s content and ate way too much! All the things a convention should be. I was privileged and honored to be included in the Wet Paint Project again this year (put together by the ever amazing Chris Dingwell).

Columbus at Night These were in progress and this is about the state that they were in when they arrived with me at Hell City. This little guy was almost finished and only needed a few finishing touches. I think once he is dry I will put a finish on him and sign him. This one you have seen on here previously as a pencil sketch. I had drawn her for a tattoo client and she wasn’t quite what he had in mind. While someone else has claimed her for a tattoo, it will be a while before that happens so I went ahead and used her as the basis for a painting as well. She didn’t make it to finished this weekend but doesn’t need much more. It’s funny that you can see the colors on the painting of the woman’s face so much better when it is in the background under the easel than you can when I tried to photograph her directly. Starting from nothing. Sketching with grey gesso on a paper towel. Of course the thing to do is to wait until the last day when I’m good and tired to work on the most complicated concept that I brought with me. This one will need a lot more work and there are some changes that I will be making to it as well. I think I need a green mouse in there and possibly another goldfish. It needs to be more chaotic than it is now to fit the character better. It will be a fun one.

Matthew Lukesh working on a dead bird painting off of a reference that I had with me. So something beautiful can happen from the dead “gifts” the kitties bring us. Matthew’s Painting finished (I think it was finished…) The Fat Kitty Painting that I made for Caryl Cunningham hung up in it’s new home. I like the way it looks against the orange wall. Horse and Buggy that we saw parked outside the Wendy’s on the way home. There aren’t any rules against taking pictures of their horses, right?

Posted in Art, Oil painting, painting, TeeJay, Travel
Tags: Chris Dingwell, Columbus, Hell City, oil painting, painting, Wet Paint, Wet Paint Project, work in progress

Monday’s Creative Endeavors

•April 9, 2013 • Leave a Comment

I didn’t actually paint in painting class this week. I brought in a bunch of my paintings and Steve and I talked about where I would like to go with my work. Nothing really new, but reaffirmed some things that I had been thinking.

Most of the afternoon was spending wandering about with a friend (which I may post separately or may not post at all). And then back to Steve Carpenter’s for Figure Drawing in the evening.

Some of what the other folks in the class were working on:

And the oil painting that I am working on. I have to admit that I got to a point where I liked this one and was super afraid to mess it up. So I was overly timid working on it this week. I think next week I am going to either start a new one – or try to mess this one up so that I can get over the fear.

Posted in Art, drawing, Oil painting, painting, Sketchbook
Tags: direction in painting, figure, figure drawing, life drawing, life painting, painitng, sketches

whew – that’s quite a lot!!!

•April 7, 2013 • Leave a Comment

So you know how when you run into a friend that you haven’t seen in a bit and you ask each other “what’s new?”. It always seems like not much has gone on.

Sit down and try to write a Blog Post about everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks and realize that TOO much has happened to possibly explain. In the last few weeks since I have been here last I have (in no particular order):

Been to North/South Carolina to visit family
Spent time with my Mom, Step-Dad, Daughter, Sister and Sister’s boyfriend
Caught up with some old friends
Started back to painting class
Lost my Birth Father
Been lost by an airline and then rescued by my Husband
Made some tattoos
Played with Paint
Attended Figure Drawing Class
Ran two tattoo shops (hired a new artist!)
Ran my furthest distance to date (7.8 miles)

Here are some pictures of some of that and some other stuff that I haven’t mentioned. Hopefully in chronological order if I can figure that out…

This drawing was done for a client and wasn’t quite exactly what he had in mind. I would still like to tattoo her and posted her on my Instagram asking anyone who was interested in having her tattooed on them (minus the shamrock) to let me know. I have received a lot of “likes”, but no one has stepped up and said that they would like to have her. So if you would like this lovely lady permanently on your person somewhere, please let me know.

*Update* – I did just receive an email from someone who is definitely willing to live with this lady!!!! Thank you so much for the interest : )

I look forward to being able to make her a tattoo (I can do so much more with shading with a machine than I can with a pencil).

Finished this pair of paintings (they are signed now, so my personal rule is that I am not supposed to touch them again once they are signed). Also posted this photo on the Instagram already.

Tattooed a partial coverup on a friend of mine’s daughter. She wanted to cover the kanji and save some of the existing work if possible. I hadn’t made any of the tattoos on her neck – but I did make the flowers on her shoulder a few years ago.

I have been tattooing a “forest” on my friend Michelle. Michelle and I have been friends since High School (and she still likes me!) This was the latest addition. She had asked for a dancing willow tree – feminine and brightly colored.

Had lunch with my Mom and my Kid at the most amazing restaurant in Charlotte called Cowfish. Food was amazing – and catered to all of us (me being gluten intolerant and Teigan being Vegan).

me and my kid being silly…

Played around with paint a bit while at my Folk’s House.

After a whole lot of difficulty in getting home (that may never make the blog – if it gets written down it will most likely be in the form of a long complaint letter to Soutwest Air and AirTran). I returned to Painting Class bright and early Monday morning.

Took a break after Painting Class and spent the afternoon with one of the most Charming Gentleman in Rochester who (whom?) I was most honored to make a tattoo for.

Then that night back to Figure Drawing Class. I arrived late, but apparently before the model did. One of the guys from the class had stepped up and was posing for us (clothed). I imagine it is far more difficult than it looks to hold those poses as well and as long as they do.

I was having a super hard time when I started out… Then I made this one which was the first time one of the models had ever asked if they could take a photo of the drawing. Instead I took a photo of the drawing and gave him the original. I was very flattered. I don’t even care if he was just trying to be nice – it made me feel good.

Then to painting for the long pose. Started out with a full body which I scrapped quickly…

Moved onto working on just the face instead, which I was much happier with:

Tuesday was a medical tattooing day (no photos of that) but when I returned to the shop, there was a great surprise. Flowers had been delivered to me from my friend who I am not allowed to mention by name on the internet.
Thank you so much! They were greatly appreciated and will make for reference for some tattoos and maybe even a painting. One of the most beautiful arrangements I have ever seen. (and as of today they still look great)

Some regular tattooing went on this week. Worked on a couple of sleeves tattooing into those ditches and elbows and funny bones – all of those places that look great tattooed, but really suck getting tattooed.

The Cthulhu sleeve is just about finished – want to add the horn on the other side of the head and fill in a little bit of back ground (can I fit more skulls in there?). I’m really happy with this one and Bob is great fun to visit with while we are working. This session we had a whole long discussion about “back in the day” dive bars in Rochester.

Eric is finished with the sleeve portion of this Buddha/Mara piece. I may need to go in for some touch ups, but not much at all. Next we will work below Buddha to bring the piece a little lower on his torso and add one or two more antagonists to the scene. Eric is also a great client and a few of us at the shop look forward to his visits. I’m excited about this tattoo and also a little bit sad that it will be finished soon. Hopefully Eric will let me make something else for him in the future.

Saturday I added a shoulder piece to the Sleeve that I made for John. Yet another great client. Super fortunate that everyone I worked on this week was so awesome. It was hard to come back to Rochester and leave my kid behind in North Carolina – but the amazing people that trust me to decorate them make it much easier. I was also able to grab some healed photos of his other half sleeve now that it is healed. I am hoping to have him stop by some day when it is daylight so that I can get some better photos of both of them healed. John is all finished for the time being at least. It was great getting to know him a little bit and I hope he enjoyed the process as well.

Hopefully I didn’t miss anything. That was a GIANT update!

Now I’m going to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Posted in Art, Oil painting, painting, rochester, ny, tattoo
Tags: artwork, Buddha Mara tattoo, bunny, bunny painting, Corduroy the Bear tattoo, coyote painting, Cthulhu Sleeve tattoo, drawings, family tree tattoo, love birds painting, oil painting, paint, Rochester Flower with Hummingbird Painting, skull, tattoo

Lamberton Conservatory

•April 7, 2013 • Leave a Comment

There is no better cure for the Rochester Winter Blues than the Lamberton Conservatory. They are open year round (and I think every day) and you can rejoice in Summer any day you like.

I tend to prefer to go in the very early Spring when I am eager for the flowers outside to make their appearance, but they just haven’t quite gotten around to it yet. This is a little too early in the season to enjoy the koi pond, but everything else is magnificent!

Posted in Garden, rochester, ny
Tags: flowers, Garden, Highland Park, Lamberton Conservatory, NY, orchid, quail, rochester, spring break, tortoise

Figure Drawing from March 18th, 2013 and couple of tattoos

•March 19, 2013 • Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since I had a technology failure in my life. Today I accidentally backed up my iPad – which meant (unbeknownst to me) that it was going to wipe out everything that I have done with the new iPad since I got it and restore me to sometime last year. So I lost all my new info on the iPad, am now signed out of everything (much of which I have no recollection of how to access), lost all my photos from the last year including the photos of the tattoo that I made today, all my painting photos from yesterday and reference photos that I need for drawings for two different clients. Somehow it even removed absolutely everything from my iCloud and managed to give me back every stupid app I have ever downloaded on to either iPad.

oops.

Oh well.

So here are the photos that I took on my camera this morning from figure drawing class. I had a pretty hard time last night getting into the swing of it.

I won’t be going next week as I am headed South to see my family – but perhaps I will have some painting photos from while I am away visiting : )

and the photos of my tattoo from today that I took on my camera…. sorry Amanda : (
I lost the all the way”before” photo as well.

In looking back through the camera photos I realized I hadn’t posted any of the pictures of Sarah’s now completed arm.

Posted in Art, drawing, Oil painting, painting, rochester, ny, Sketchbook, tattoo, TeeJay, White Tiger Tattoo
Tags: fairy tattoo, feminine sleeve tattoo, feminine tattoo, figure, figure drawing, floral sleeve tattoo, girlie tattoo, Rochester NY, Steve Carpenter Studio, woodland nymph tattoo

Figure Drawings from March 11th, 2013

•March 12, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Yay! was able to go to Figure Drawing last night and stay for the full session.

Here’s my photos from the night:

and some of what the other folks were working on and some of my in progress shots from my iPod:

and lastly a reminder that Spring is right around the corner – on Sunday I saw my first crocus and this morning there were snow drops popping up all over the place!

Posted in Art, drawing, Oil painting, painting, rochester, ny, Sketchbook
Tags: figure, figure drawing, gesture drawing, oil painting, painting, Steve Carpenter Studio, watercolor