Jennifer Stell

OMG I am glad I stopped it at 1:16..... We are packed up at Spotlight bout to get out of here, and in order to bleach our eyes we immediately watched the following video: WARNING: It's got Hitler in it.....(I am jewish, and please don't flag or boot me for this) I do not want to offend anyone. it's a joke, but the editing is pretty great. And Ehhh, FUCK DAVID LEE ROTH in the mouth with a sawzaw...

DUDE, I am taking you up on that... and what's your email... I .. Have... An... IDEA. (unrelated to Philly visit).

Update.... Sorry I have been out of touch, life demanded I put the MAC away..... We are in Los Angeles, CA.... At the moment, True Tattoo doing Friday the 13th Tattoos, and then we have appointments at Spotlight tomorrow, and Sunday, then flying back out to Dallas, to do some routine work on big stuff, and anything else that may pop up, and probably back to Austin, TX to go to the Sign Painters Show going on at a gallery down there.... Then Houston to work and take care of some old family business that needs to be dealt with.... Then San Antonio, either before or after the West Texas Tattoo Convention in San Angelo... in Feb. The SLC tattoo convention in March.... And Back out to Immaculate in Mesa at some point in all that so Richard and Aaron can work on this book project in works....

It's a really well put together project, just watched the second episode and donated some money to the paypal.... I hope to see more stuff like this, that hopefully one day will hit mainstream. . . Gary Martin is even in it for a bit, he's the reason Austin is beautiful... Gary's got a way of giving his signs and especially his lettering a persona of their own that lends to the over all feel of a place... We are massive Martin Sign Fans. We just got done doing a little guest spot at Rock of Ages with Tony and Steve, even with cancellations, and almost losing our dog to an adverse vaccine reaction, we still had smiles on our faces and were bummed to leave... Those are good guys, and glad to see 'em...

Hey Shawn... You smell like tacos. xo, Jen

Francher:"It would really be nice to get back in to a shop where I am inspired by my co-workers every day." That's one reason we stay on the road... fresh faces and perspectives keep the water from getting stagnant.... Thanks for the message, mutual feeling... I'm sure we'll cross paths again.

Were in Dallas for two weeks, then heading to Austin.... Elm Street Tattoos, and Rock of Ages in ATX.... XMAS PARTY TONIGHT!

Welcome to the "show".... hope it entertains as well as amuses... Miss you already Shawn, didn't get enough time to catch up on the .... at the show. I am glad it's here too, way cheaper then therapy, and it satiates the tattoo cravings...

We are working Richmond as well.... We got Tony Hundahl, Oliver Peck, and Alex Trufant in the booth with us.... Richard and his "bastard sons", as he lovingly calls em... Porter, let me know if you are coming out for that show. I miss your sarcasm!

Jerry's Artarama.com is having a sale right now.... Water color paper: Arches: Blocks, rolls, and sheets, super affordable, but the prices go up in like 3 days... I am ordering a few rolls and what not while I have the funds in Paypal... You can never have enough paper in this household. Also: Anyone over in the UK, or Europe heard of "Talens Ecoline Watercolour Inks/ Liquids? I need to find some stuff, but I am not having too much luck in the states...

OH SHIT.... I smell shenanigans!

Pecker, Hundahl and Trufant are in the booth with us... It's going to be a c-low karaoke stare down at some point I am sure... Can't wait for this shindig. And everyone of them prolly have space open, so book 'em, cause they all get busy real quick. I know I am doing setups, etc for em all.

We are there, and Richard has time open all three days if anyone is interested, and please come say Hi, sometimes I get bored. :)

We watched it this morning.... GOOD WATCH, Lots of faces you see, and it's a really well put piece... Learned a lot. Anyone else seen it...

Loved It!

Loved It!

With Keet D'Arms in the basement... then when we were at our wits end, we ended up being layed over in Houston to fly into Tampa, during that show, only to not make it out of the room for two days straight, I finally ended up renting a car, and driving back to Jacksonville... Only to wake up the next day on the verge of a nervous break down and none other then my Mother waking me up to get me out the front door to leave Richard, I went home on the premiss that I needed a break to rest. Only I was out of my MIND detoxing, and thank god for Alex Trufant, he flew to Jacksonville to drive Richard back to Dallas, to bring us back together. . . I love the man, I would not have sacrificed everything in my life to be with him back in 2009. It would have been a HUGE mistake. . . I knew I was tired of being jerked around. I knew I was getting tired of the party, I just wanted a shop to work in and mind it as my own... With our rules. Without a feeling like we would owe anyone for it. Partner or None I don't want to owe anyone for my own place. I'm possessive. We stayed with Joe and Katie, and then Brian again, working out at SnS, with the boys... Only throw in some old familiars and we got our footing back to normal. . . We took it easy, and worked until we were ready to get on the way back towards home, both of us freaking out, that I would nut, and not be able to stand the site of home. . . We stopped to work in NOLA...This time at Annette's Shop... We left a morning early, and ended up sneaking over to Destin, FL for two days of gorgeous sand, and beautiful weather to doze off in... Got back home in April... Stayed put for a few weeks then flew back out to work Oliver and Aarons first Friday the 13th, attend the opening party, and try to get something in writing again... Flew back to Jax sans agreement, to only drive back out for the Masters Invitational Tattoo show ... Which was awesome as stated I think in a previous post... We saw everyone in one place which in itself is magical. . . After trying to deal with what was inevitably somewhat of a lost cause, cause we should have just minded our own business... And not gotten involved, we drove to Immaculate to get back to REAL no Hollywood Drama Tattooing...Thank God For Aaron Coleman, he's a real man among all you mother fuckers that call yourselves men, and he can draw for days. Thank you for helping us pull our heads out of our asses and getting us back on track. . . From Mesa, AZ to Dallas, from Dallas, to Little Rock, From Little Rock to Atlanta, from ATL to JAX, from JAX to ROC City for that show. . . From ROC City to Philly to work at the Kadillac Duece Tattoo; from Philly back to Jinx Proof in DC.... From DC to Conway, SC at Jeff Cribb's place: Hero Tattoo... where Richard and me fell in love with a girl named Frankie that we wanted to adopt from Jeff and Cheri, OMG I have been so puppy sick since we left. And now we have been home for 13 days now... Lease is up in November. His son flies in on Sunday to help us pack, and get tattooed, and maybe head out to San Francisco with us, so we can show him some place not Texas for a change, and figure out where each one of us wants to be... Starting at the SFO show we will be on the road full time, until we find a city... then-build, have, keep, work, and love and cherish a shop and home with family of our own.... Make a place unlike any other. Ours. So that's what's been up in my life... Lessons: Don't believe what EVERYTHING you hear. IE: We have no beefs with anyone. We aren't booked a year in advance, we're not that cool. Drugs, can be fun... But we're already crazy, so yeah, that was enough of that back in March, after said "Nervous Breakdown"... Happiness comes from with in - Thanks Caleb Barnard... for everything. We have family, thanks Oliver, and Aaron, Will and Tammy, Joe and Katie, Josh, and JP...Thanks, Eric, and Susan...Everyone at Jinx in particular, Hedgepath, and Tim... Thanks Woodard, Coleman, Jesus, Aaron, and Joe, Rob, and his family, thanks, Keet and Crew in ATL, thank you Jet, and then Mr. Perfect, and Sir Hooligan. Thank you to the Cribbs... and thank you to folks here in Jacksonville, FL, Jason Harms, and super importantly, thank you to the Inksmith Family, Mike Wilson, Angelo, and Swed... Along with Eric and Bev, thank you for giving us a start over and a good spot to crash for a year or so, and puttin up with our crap, whether it be a wedding or whatever ya'll helped us two get a foundation to start our married life together, and for that, I am truly grateful. I hope that's a proper post, cause I won't have another in while... Time to get back to working our asses or to work our asses off somewhere else. Now you know where all the photos on facebook come from, we stay busy no matter what... We love what we do so it's not so much like a job. And were lucky, a lot of us of are... in that way.

It's been nice being back in the personal space of our own. And it's been nice to actually put the stuff you pay for to use for a minute before packing it all up and leaving on yet another road trip across the states... I am super grateful that I got to do all the shit I got to do, it was a "blast" for lack of a better term. Coming up on the SFO show this year, and good lord that time has flown by. I mean it was only this past 25th Richard and I got married. It's been a surreal last week or so being able to process the memories and thoughts, along with the work, people, time, and lessons that I accumulated, and I say that as opposed to learned, because some stuff is still sinking in, or as my psychologist would have put it: "Jennifer, you just swallowed a bunch of shit, you seriously took whatever someone gave you and without thinking and acting on your personal behalf you chewed up and swallowed a bunch of shit, it's just now actually starting to digest, but do yourself a favor and shit or get off the poddy..." Well this dump is getting blogged, a personal polaroid to hold onto... The "honeymoon poo", Ahhh so pretty. I have a pattern of behavior that gets me in trouble: I am too quick to take people at their "word" instead of "face value"... This is bad in and among Tattooing nowadays... I need to learn the fine art of detachment, and being objective without taking a side. A lot of people like to talk to hear themselves speak, and it seems that a lot of the last year was a one way conversation with a bird that made you laugh at some times but there was no blanket big enough to toss over the cage to give it a rest, so that peace could happen every so often. I don't like birds, they kinda freak me out... I took a pregnancy test today, (not prego), (sigh of relieving comfort), yet a little bummed, I thought, as Richard said, well... That would have meant Texas it is, or staying here in Jacksonville... Nope... I really feel like I have been in school this past year, tossed back in the ridiculous "high school" doing a "course study" on the road. God I am glad I grew up a lot in Dallas, and in Texas back in Richards old shop. I really don't think I would have made it, yeah I'm a little impartial, and (possibly PMSin, in a fluffy emo sort of way.) I mean Vegas is off (for now), well: it's possible, but we both personally see more Bullshit Drama then Actual PERSONAL FULFILLMENT, and both of us were millionaires at one point, at least on paper, and I don't know if I want that amount of responsibility again. I know we want our own shop again. We want to have a place where it is our "business" in both senses of the word. Even working in a shop for someone you care about, unless you sign the checks that make sure everything is paid, keep your nose on your face, and remember you are responsible for good work, satisfied patrons, and being happy... Those things truly come from within. Nothing else is really of concern... It's not tangible life matter that satisfies any human need to exist. Just be happy to be a part of the game, even if you are riding the pine. So anyways... Yeah, super glad I grew up in Stells shop: been thru the drugs, the big partys, the shows, satan, and the criminals thank god I went thru that whole nude photo thing back in deep ellum... it makes the fact that there are youtube videos, (with comments making fun of me) of last years show where he's tattooing in the blackout, we can't see the tattoo, holding the flashlight, (panicky) not knowing what the fuck to do, just get it done... The world could have been ending but that fucking tiger was going to get DONE... I'm getting told by him to keep people out of the booth, so I am freaking out telling people to back up ( no I wasn't afraid of the dark- DICK), and YOU never hear Richard talking to me, in his scary whispering voice that really freaks me out to keep these fuckers out of the booth, let me get my job done god dammit, I wanna have a good time too! Yeah that video is out there, coming up on almost a year now. And it's not a big deal... It was pretty funny. Yes I take this seriously ( I can be a bitch, I take this stuff to heart )... I love it, it's in my nature to care about what I do. And to take a personal pride within that. We got it done. Who cares by what means, what happened did, and no one got hurt. . . It's been a wild ride. Well... From SFO we flew to LA, Worked at True, and Spotlight, and we painted the signs on to the front of Spotlight that visit, that visit was a blur... We had some appointments at True, we did those, then we went to Bob's to Paint... I mean we offered, and it was time to make good on that. So yeah... But yeah it was my first time in a Dick Blick art supply, Bob and Richard and I were buying one shot paint to use, and when paying we finally get up in the line, and the cashier is taking Bob's money, and he pays cash... Well the chick takes 3 minutes each to looks at the 100.00 dollar bills, and I was getting peaved at the snobbery, I looked at Bob, and could tell he was too... I picked up a cute little tin of gum, that had a smartass remark on it that was for sale; I held it up to show Bob, he read it aloud, " I need more money and power", and then turned to the little wasp behind the register, looked her in the eye, and finished the saying, "and less shit from people like YOU!". . . That in it's self is worth of a blog post. . . We painted over the course of 37 hours in a 48 hour time period, fueled on ...., and art. It was pouring down rain... Ray stayed late one night, then Serazio hung the entire night the last shift. We worked up until 30 minutes before our car service was due to show up to take us to LAX to fly to NOLA for Halloween. ...(Memories)... Ahh, we ended up napping in the Eagles of Death Metals Back Stage Green Room at Voodoo Fest... Tattooed at Nola Tattoo, Watched the party punish the people... And ended up back in JAX eventually... Bought the truck, paid shit up only to realize we were still uneasy with JAX to fly the coop again... We drove to the Richmond Show in the truck, it blew a belt... Broke down in SC, got it fixed, got to the show, worked our asses off, went to DC after, Thanksgiving dinner with Rachel in Virginia... Thank God for the familiar face... After DC we went to Billy Easons funeral and then we went back to Jacksonville, only to pay bills and pack up to fly back out to Los Angeles, to see Louis C. K. live, do appointments, ended up seeing Josh Homme at the show too (shook his hand), and keeping distance as to not ruin my favorite music for life...As he popped in and out of True that visit.... From there we had a road trip to Vegas... had that whole "opportunity" arise. . . Still weighing in on that whole thing... Xmas kinda sucked, yeah we stayed at the Redbury, it was nice... But I missed home, and my family, so did he, so we buried our problems in work... Painting and working all nighters... Well we never quite could get home... After driving back from Vegas, we kept seeking out a solid agreement... Pushing off our flights, we finally ended up having to fly straight to Austin, TX for the convention... then renting a car and Driving to San Angelo... Then Riding with Oliver back to Dallas from the West Texas Tattoo Convention. From Dallas we went to Houston after being grounded and stuck at Brian Thurows house due to an Ice storm that hit Dallas, ew... That was horrible. Worked up until it was time to get to SLC to work that show. Then we met up with Tony Hundahl to work that gig... We make it thru that show, only to get iced in once again and did some appointments at Lost, with Keet in the.... Next Post...

I want to mirror what Ursula said... and yeah, having a little spot to run off to online, has been refreshing when needed the most here lately.

It's not completely gone. I have been to places it still exists... It's a vibe. Those shops are the places I think of, and draw my hope for the future. It's not just the shop either.... it's the chemistry of the crew inside the place that makes the mood, and sets the tone, which makes the magic happen. Some days I hate life in general. But I dunno... Doesn't everyone? For the most part I try to remind myself, it's a blessed-charmed life we lead in a jaded sort of way, there's a lot of freedom, but that's a double edged sword... I have been doing a lot of thinking, and yeah, it's all appeared to become shit, but there's still the few circles of comrades, that I draw my inspiration and try to absorb the magic when around them... I've only been working in or around a shop, since I was 18... a measly 11 years. But it's the faith a couple people have in me, (one in particular), that's what gets me to pull my head out of my ass and keep my chin up, and keep going. Learn the lessons good and bad, eyes open mouth shut, and mind open. Welcome to the site sir... I have stumbled upon some magic here: Kore Flatmos Interview really struck a good chord, I listened to it three times already while working on other stuff and it gave me some goose bumps listening to him talk about tattoos.

Right On!

With all do respect: GET WHAT YOU WANT.... Efh the consensus. Richard, " Jilly Bonny aka Horiyuki is the best in the States for a Phoenix. The Phoenix is a beautiful metaphor, design, it's traditional, they can be simple to elaborate, and depending on who you pick to actually do the tattoo the options are limitless, with how, and where, and what kinda look ya wanna pull off... Do your research, it always helps in the long run.... Jacksonville, FL has a few guys that you could consult with, and I'm sure you'd be stoked... Mike Wilson, Jason Harms... Attached is tattoo by Jill Bonny....

Oh yeah... we're back in JAX Beach..... If you wanna get work, holler, we get cabin fever and take off after about 10 days.... I know there are 3, wait 4 back pieces needing sittings, and a few other things walking around needing finishing.... So, holler at me here, or Call Live Wire Tattoo Direct to set up an appt.

We'll going to have to stop in at Think Tank.... Brian Thurow moved out there.... We owe him a visit.... I believe it's in Denver....