Leaderboard

Out this morning picking blueberries. This year has been tremendous - we've got about 20 bushes and they have been loaded with berries. We're at the point where we are just picking them to give them to friends and family - way more than we can use or even freeze. Not sure why it's been so good - haven't had a lot of rain until the last two days. Perhaps the 11 hives of honey bees is helping. Wanna come pick some?

Thanks for making me want PIE at 10:00 am on a Monday morning. *shakes fist* @Devious6

We have wild raspberries and huckleberries all around our farm, too. Makes for an enjoyable walk around the property. Most of our blueberry bushes are 20+ years old so the smaller critters can't reach the berries - we do share with the birds however. The deer don't seem to bother them - maybe because there are so many wild berry bushes around. And the bees from our hives pretty much ensure every flower and bud is pollinated so our garden is also overflowing this year.

We have many wild blackberrys, and a bunch of rasberrys that are either wild or spread from a long-ago resident in the area (story goes that the hermit/mountain man that owned this side of the mountain had a brother living with him who was an amateur horticulturist. There are evergreens around where his cabin stood that are not native to the area. All bushes seemed full and near ripe one day, stripped bare the next. I suspect lot's of critters with belly aches. Devious, we have huckleberrys up in the mountains. 1/3 the size of blueberrys and 3X the flavor! Problem is, there are natives that love them, too. And right about the time the berrys ripen, those natives are very hungry! One person picks while the other stands lookout.

Chad Koeplinger and Oliver Peck were both at the Stells' shop this last week. DAMMIT. Why didn't I go over and get some work done and hang out? I am leaving this week on vacation, so that's why. BUT DAMMIT.

Got in a short session with Jess Yen on my in progress back piece https://www.instagram.com/p/BIbWbdxjxB3/

Hey everyone! I've seen a lot of cool work and good advice on here, and I've been thinking about getting a tattoo for a long time, so figured this would be a good place to go for opinions. So if you care to help me out, here goes: It'd be a super personal custom piece and the design is now something like 10+ years in the making, and there's a lot of things in it that would have a lot of meaning to me. It'd be a gnarled tree in a black and grey style, and I really like tattoos that try to work with the natural body lines, but would need to be concealed by a dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up (I work in a fairly professional environment). It would have a single bodhi leaf on it, and the branches of the tree would be twisting around each other and the leaf like they're fighting to protect/destroy the one leaf the tree has. I'd also put a notch in the base of the tree like it almost got cut down in the past, but somehow got spared and continued to grow. For the stuff I'm less sure of, and starting to get into what I need advice on. Placement is one of the biggest things: I'd probably see if the artist could try to center the leaf over my heart, or the other spot I like is a birthmark I have on my side that is already almost the right shape. With a little outlining and shading it could easily be turned into a leaf, which goes along with the working with your body thing I like so much. I'm not sure how feasible it would be to lay out the tattoo to get it there, so I'd probably talk with the artist about that. I've also thought about a split in the tree like happens when they get damaged and one side can't really be supported anymore, but that's beyond my limited drawing skills, so again would have to see what an actual artist thinks of that. I'd be fine with omitting it, though. I'm by no means an artist, but I've drawn it a hundred times, so here's my most recent one. And a picture of the birth mark for good measure. Anyone have any thoughts/suggestions/comments? I went to an artist once whose work I really admired, but he acted like it was just a chore that he'd have to do, and didn't seem to have any passion or interest, so I walked away. Anyone have any suggestions on artist near Philly that would get more into the personal aspects of the piece, and inspire a little more confidence?

@marley mission Yeah Chris has an auto reply which says he almost exclusively takes black and grey now, and likely won't get back to everyone who emails him. I've seen quite a few raving reviews on various sites, and everyone seems to agree that he's a good guy. I've waited years, so two months is nothing. If I hear back from either of them, I'll keep you guys updated, but they're both great artists, and I would think both have pretty long waiting lists. And don't worry, I won't base my decision off of a wait list alone.

While heading back from the beach we stopped in (unannounced) at Bell Rose Tattoo in Daphne, Al. Sean Hermann took time out of his busy afternoon to visit with us. Super gracious host, and I'm on his books for July '17! http://www.thebellrosetattoo.com/sean-herman Only a year to wait, lol.

You guys are mean. I'm originally from Finland, which is basically (wild) berry country. Every year around this period I get the worst craving for just about any berries picked fresh from the forest. Although we've managed to grow some raspberries and currants (we do have a couple of young blueberry bushes as well but no berries so far, and they really don't seem to like the Sicilian summer), it has been a really bad year for them for some reason. Only managed to freeze white and red currants. Besides, picking berries in May-June is somehow not the same :D.

@Devious6 That sounds just about perfect. I am a blueberry fiend. I must have them every day. Great pic, too.

Dang, both of those guys do amazing black and gray work! Looks like really long waitlists for Chris Adamek, but I'm sending them both messages to see what they say. Nice piece Sullivan, I think he's really proud of it, I've come across at least three different pictures of it... haha

come to jersey - this guy will do your idea justice i have seen his healed color work in person and its awesome http://instagram.com/chrisadamek

I live in the Allentown area I go to Denis glavin. He does a lot of black and grey work I'll attach a pic of my quarter sleeve so you can see what kind of stuff he does.

Welcome. Read the FAQ, this isn't the place if you want to get into tattooing, and in any case, pretty much no tattooers post here anymore. Anyway, let's see the tattoos you have on you.

Todd bumped me up a week to 8/22 @ Redemption - high noon appt - much better for the same turn around back to jersey

Just saw this and thought I'd post it for inspiration:

Not all of us are nice.

So last session today finishing up the dragon and the background on my sleeve. Arm by Daniel Innes at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop in Toronto

We adopted a very sweet 1 year old Plott Hound from a city shelter Saturday and couldn't be happier. Meet "Molly".

I'm actually getting this tattoo done this friday ( 2/6 ) and I am somewhat going back & forth on the spider web on the forehead. I looked it up and most says gang affilation or jail time while other things say drug addiction. The picture is of an artists interpration of Jesus in the Victorian Era. ( the sacred heart, the way his hand is ). Anyways I am extremely stoked about this piece but I just don't get the spider web part which can easily be omitted ( look wise I do like it ) but in all honesty I'd feel funny if someone asked me to explain a part of my tat and didn't have a solid explanation albeit the work is for me and not them. Anyways as I'm new on the scene ( this will be my 5th tat & got my 1st just last june ) and I figured I could get an answer here. Thanks for reading this & sharing your thoughts.

I received the tattoo so I figured I share a pic. Will re-post when it heals. Got it done on Friday night. This was taken at the shop. I was bigger then I expected but very glad with the size. Omitted the rays around the head and had an idea about a halo but I decided to leave off & revisit later if I change my mind. Thanks to all who shared thoughts/opinions etc whether you liked the idea or didn't. ( or whether you like the tat or not lol )

This one is different - Matthew Crim: