I haven’t been in the tattoo studio too much lately. Busy off on other adventures… but I did work on a couple that I wanted to show you this week.
I hope to be able to get a better photo montage put together once this is healed. This was John’s first tattoo and he already has plans for his next.
Renee stopped in and we did just a bit more on her Dryad wings.
Probably have some more paint type stuff to share with you before I have tattoo work again.
I had wanted to bring my normal art supplies with me to France. On looking into it however I realized that it was going to be nigh on impossible to bring oil paints with me, would cost a fortune to ship and then I would still need to deal with how to get the completed paintings home.
I decided then to just to bring watercolors with me. Cheap. Easy to transport. I prefer working with the liquid watercolors, but they weren’t going to be an option either.
Watercolors are a tedious exacting medium for me, so I didn’t get nearly as much done as I would have liked while I was there, but having time to not have to do anything else was wonderful too. I did learn some more about working with watercolors and I always believe that learning and stretching myself as an artist is important.
These photos are taken primarily with my ipod, so the quality isn’t the best, but you can see the progression on the paintings.
Helper cat present? Check. 
Cats read with their bums
Many of these paintings still need work to one level or another. The two Queens are going to Sara Purr for her to paint the other half of. She will start the Queen of Hearts and Clubs for me to make the second half of. The pin-up guy is for a group project my Female Tattoo Artist group is doing. I think he was supposed to have his bits showing, but I don’t do that when I draw female pin-ups and I didn’t want to on this one.
Here are the photos I took with my regular camera in case the paintings didn’t survive the journey home. I will try to remember to post the ones that need finishing here once they are finished.
<—- All of us are down here in the pond, but some of us are looking at the stars. 
I found Vallee du Madet to be so beautiful that it warranted another trip. Great place to listen for ghosts and watch for fairies.
Started walking from the house….
Went by some “not too bad” views. 
Down the lane and picking the path less traveled. 
Even a dirty camera lens can look beautiful here. 
The road heading out of the Vallee and back towards reality. 
I was really amazed at the lack of wildlife. In such a beautiful area, I never once saw chipmunks, squirrels, deer or turkey. I did however encounter a whole lot of these guys. 
and a few of these. 
Some more pictures from my trip. These are taken from my day trip to Clermont-Ferrand
<—- Look at that one again, its a painting. 
Its strange the things you can see on the top of cathedrals. 
I realized it’s been a really long time since I posted any tattoos. So here is a couple to tide you over until next time.
Yesterday I was able to work on Mariah’s Wonderland sleeve. Added the Cheshire Cat which I had really been looking forward to.
and today I worked on Natalie’s back for probably the last time. When she came to me originally she only had the bottom peacock feather outlined. The rest of this we came up with together. It has been a pleasure working with her on this piece and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
———
oh.
this is the first tattoo that we did on Mariah’s sleeve way back when before she had even started working at the shop. She takes great care of her tattoos and it still looks great (even though you can only see part of it in the other photos).
I am way behind on processing my photos. Since this is because I have been doing so many cool and amazing things lately, I am really not beating myself up about it. My photos for this trip are never truly going to be organized. I took photos on several different devices and there is no way I am going through and putting them back in order. Some of them are taken for memories and some for texture collections. I may share more after this part 1 or I may never get around to it. I’m not making any promises.
I was told that this town is the Official Town of Scarecrows. They have a Scarecrow Festival every year. 
Some of the kids I was babysitting. 
Looks innocent now, doesn’t he? This cat is a terror of chickens and liked to run across my head while I was trying to sleep. Good thing I am used to this behavior at home (well except for the tormenting chickens part). 
Walk into Billom. Beautiful down hill walk. Was a tad bit warm on the return trip. 
Marsh Fly?
Some of the ruins from Vallee du Madet. Truly beautiful and these photos don’t come close to doing it justice. 
I spent some time every day chasing chickens out of the house. Apparently they like to steal the cat food. 
Cats are the same the world over.
I have heard the advice so many times in my life that you should live every single day as if it might be your last.
Being the variety that tends to think about things way too much – I decided a long time ago that it wasn’t very good advice for me. I mean, if today was the last day of my life I probably wouldn’t go to work. I would eat all sorts of crap that really isn’t good for me and I would make sure to touch base with everyone that I could to tell them that I love them.
So if today didn’t wind up being the last day of my life and I did that every day… in pretty short order I would be sick, fat and unemployed. Plus would probably have the majority of people that I love dodging my incessant calling.
—
This past year has provided a number of really eye opening events which reiterated to me that we really don’t know how much time we have left. Not for us, not for the people that we love. Even if we don’t get hit by a bus, the person that we love and we thought that we were going to be growing old with might.
So I propose the 50/50 odds. Not on today, more like the year.
What if you thought that you had 50/50 odds that this might be the last year of your life. Would you take that vacation? What would you want to learn how to do? What would you do differently?
What if this was going to be the last year of being able bodied and healthy? What would you do differently?
I would travel more. I would go more of the places that I want to see. I would still stash away money and look to the future in case I do stick around – but I would make an effort to do more. To create more. To ask myself how I could make a difference in the world and what might I leave behind.
Never mind would. I am.
I just got back from France. I have taken several trips this year and I have several more planned. I am telling people that I love them and why I think they are wonderful. I have plans and schemes in the works for art projects far beyond anything that I have attempted thus far.
I don’t think I am dying – but I don’t know that I’m not.
I am living my life to the best of my ability. That’s all any of us can do.
Pat Sinatra is amazing. For way more reasons than I am going to get into here. I have wanted to get a tattoo from her for a really long time and am not sure why I haven’t prior to this.
Tuesday I was able to make the drive to Kingston, NY and correct this.
I had booked this appointment with Pat a while back telling her that I wanted something with wings. The rest was up to her.
The drive down to Kingston was a nice one and I found Pat’s shop over an hour before my appointment. So I wandered on down to the waterfront to hang out and relax. Found a neat little antique shop, but nothing in it that I couldn’t live without.
Pat’s place is really nice (of course) they had just moved in so it was not fully decorated and set up yet. Pat gave me a tour.
(a special note here for my uberGeek friends. Pat’s new place hadn’t been added to FourSquare yet, so I was able to add it and be the first check in.)
I covet Pat’s Otto sculpture. Maybe one of my field trips will have to be to head down and see if I can get one of my own. 
I can’t remember the dog’s name. I want to say Moozie, but I don’t think that is right. I do remember that she was a rescue that was found in Springfield Mass on New Years Eve.
Of course I didn’t manage to get photos of the humans who work in the shop (duh!) I tend to forget the simple things sometimes.
Pat drew the design on. She made something pretty small, which I definitely wasn’t going to argue with since I was relatively scared about getting the inside of my knee tattooed. I think getting tattooed is easier now that I have stopped eating gluten and am not in constant pain to begin with… but it has SUCKED for so long that I am still pretty nervous when it comes time to get worked on.
The visit was wonderful and all too brief, but when I realized I still had time to make it home at a reasonable hour I hustled out the door. I was grateful to have had some time to hang out with Lori and her client while I was getting tattooed and to have been able to meet Leonie and her family before I ran away.
As soon as I got back on the road we had a pretty good downpour.
It cleared up quickly and the drive home was pretty uneventful. I was pretty damn sick of being in the car about half way home. I think I have had more than enough driving for the week. Going away on another adventure this weekend – but Paul will be driving. (Yay!)
Found this little critter on Sunday and he (she? it?) was nice enough to hang around for a photo shoot. Paul got even better photos on his iPhone.
The photos and posts from this week are going to arrive here out of order. I am sure no one but me cares. I am a tad bit behind in documenting my travels and adventures.
Monday was figure drawing class. I wasn’t able to stay the whole time as I had to get up extra early Tuesday morning to head out of town. Still felt that it was relatively successful and as ALWAYS a good exercise. I find women easier to draw, but it just means I need more practice drawing men.
I am a female tattoo artist and shop owner. I believe in love and creation above fear and destruction. I am a passionate person and respect and admire that in others regardless of where their passion lies.
But at the end of the day, all I want to do is add a little beauty to the world and try to be a blessing in the lives of those around me.
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