Bunny Switchblade

It doesn't matter what you call yourself or what others call you........just get good, solid tattoos....and enjoy yourself while you are doing it!

I am not going to make it unfortunately.....just flew back in last night from Ohio and seem to be developing a summer cold of sorts! I did get to hang some with @G.Uristti at the Cleveland Tattoo Expo last weekend some!

I really doubt I will be able to make it this time....I will be all over Ohio the week before and I am thinking I will probably be all "traveled out" :( I will definitely make one of these meet-ups though at some point!

Leaving for Columbus, Ohio a week from today! Going to be at the Cleveland Tattoo Expo on Friday & Sunday Friday I'm going to be tattooed by @Debra Yarian......Saturday I am riding down to Youngstown to hang out and be tattooed by Debbie Lenz at her shop.....and then Sunday I'll be back at the convention to be tattooed by Dawn Marie Cooke! I'd like to take a ride up to Jr Tubbs shop too if time permits...... I am also going to ride down Monday to visit with Dana Brunson! Should be another awesome tattoo road trip!

Thank you!!! I really do appreciate that! :) - - - Updated - - - I did.....I pre-tipped her......I bought her a liner made by John Black so she could do the tattoo! ;)

Last night......I was tattooed again......go figure right? Only this time it was by me.....my first tattoo as an apprentice! No pics unfortunately.......but it's in there to stay and I am on my way........

I stopped at Kings Ave on Sunday out at the LI shop and picked up some Rubendall prints for my walls before I headed to the airport to come home! Looks like you had an awesome day down in Manhattan!

No pics to post but.......this past weekend I visited Brooklyn, Queens & LI and was tattooed by Dan Santoro, Rich Fie, Rob White & Marvin Moskowitz! I stopped by Smith Street Tattoo, R&D Tattoo, Mike Perfetto's (didn't realize he is closed on fridays), Cliff's Tattoos, Top Hat Tattoo, Tattooing by Richie (Richie Montgomery's place) and King Avenue on LI! It was a really fun trip and I am looking forward to going back up soon!

Shit....I had a blast just writing it out and thinking about it all....ha ha ha! Thanks @gougetheeyes

Yes Paul Roe of Britishink Tattoo in Washington DC....he is one of the only tattoo artists in the US allowed to tattoo the "bat"....given permission by Jimmie Skuse! If I had made it back up to Philly on the Sunday I would have just gotten it done by Jimmie.....but I just could make it back up! @gougetheeyes ..... The Hubby and I will be bouncing all over Brooklyn and Queens tomorrow! Going to stop by Smith Street when they open (hopefully) .... then to R&D Tattoo in Queens .... then back to Brooklyn to Mike Perfetto's shop to meet up with Tony Polito and his wife and then out to dinner with them I think! If you think you saw me in Brooklyn tomorrow.....then you probably did! :D Gonna try to catch a walk in at Smith Street tomorrow if I can get there in time! I may come back down Sunday as well depending on what happens and how finances hold out..... I'll be bouncing all over Long Island on Saturday....Cliff's Tattoo.....Top Hat Tattoo (Marvin Moskowitz)......then down to stop in at Kings Ave to see if Grez has anything open....and finally to Tattooing by Richie to see Richie Montgomery dinner with them I think

I am not going to make it back up to the convention.....but I will be in Brooklyn...Queens...and Long Island this Fri-Sun! I am going to hit as many shops as humanly possible and do my best to pick up at least 4 tattoos while up there! I am flying in at 8am Friday morning and I'll hit the ground running....grabbing a bite on LI and then making my way into Brooklyn and Queens to do a lot of visiting and getting tattooed on friday! Then I'll be back to do it all over again on saturday.....

I've been wanting to get something from Ron for about 2 years now so I will hit him up on FB and see if he'll be in Brooklyn that weekend! Thanks for mentioning this to me....yeah three kings is an awesome shop!

I'll be heading to Long Island, Brooklyn, & Queens the weekend of May 3-5th to hit a bunch of street shops and pick up a tattoo by Peter Giaquinto! I will probably visit with Cliff White, Richie and Mary Montgomery, Mike Perfetto, Tony Polito, Steve Delgatto, Ronnie Dell'Aquila, and.....Rich Fie and hit up all of their shops (minus Tony P.'s of course) and do some amount of hanging out but not sure if I will add any more work from them! I may hop over to Staten Island to Marvin Moskowitz's shop too and get tattooed but I am mostly concentrating on the Brooklyn & Queens areas AND I do love an awesome street shop! I may also pay a visit to Smith Street and see who's there that day too! If anyone has any other suggestions for me to visit then please don't hesitate to speak up.....especially if they are close to any of the other shops I am gonna hit in Brooklyn & Queens! I had some airline tickets I needed to use so NYC was the place I decided to use them on for a mini tattoo trip......I'll try to remember to take some photos!

I'm a patchwork quit when it comes to tattoos....all different styles and none of it planned out! Just get tattooed by the people whose work you like.....and don't worry as long as you like it!

Yeah.....I've been around the BTC while...and am honored to have permission to have the bat tattooed on me! I'm super stoked! :D

I got my Bristol Tattoo Club bat courtesy of Paul Roe.....

I am knee deep in working full time during the day and apprenticing to tattoo pretty much full time nights and weekends so I really have been pretty slammed with things to do....BUT.....much like has been said....i only post when I feel there is something that needs to be said or my post contributes in some way here! :) My post count will most likely remain low....but i am usually around!

@Kahlan ......find a good shop....go inside and tell them you want to help with the shop in your free time (scrubbing the toilets, taking out the trash....sweeping the floors....etc.) AND tell them you'll do it for free! Don't even mention you want to tattoo....and definitely that you are doing it at home....even on practice skin!!! Put away your machines doll....it really is disrespectful to those who have earned the right to tattoo the proper way. For over 20+ years i had been getting tattooed and never ever thought about picking up a machine to tattoo someone because of the respect I had for my friends who tattooed and just out of respect for the craft. One day i went into a shop while i was on a "tattoo road trip" and a guy told me he'd "trade tattoos" with me! I explained that i did not tattoo and why i was against this! He told me he had learned to tattoo from bob shaw on the pike in california after the vietnam war and had 40 years in the biz and he wanted me to tattoo him. I was really worried what some of my friends would think about me tattooing him but I figured he had earned the right to tell me it was okay to tattoo him....so i did! You may think it is silly of me to have been scared of what my peers would think....but it's because I respect them.....and they respect me! I didn't want to loose their respect because that is a very hard thing to gain back! You can learn the way you are learning.....BUT....to truly have the respect of your peers you should learn the proper way! And to have the respect of your peers in this craft.....is one of the highest honors there is! I'm not busting your balls doll......just trying to give you a different perspective on why you should learn the right way! I personally think you should be offered an apprenticeship....not ask for one! And why do I suggest you should offer your services to a shop for free and work like a dog for them for free??? Because you will never learn the proper way to tattoo until you earn the trust and respect first....then you learn to tattoo! It took me 20+ years to be offered an apprenticeship that was the right fit for me! My answer to the original question in this thread is....yes....there do still need to be apprentices! But not because you need free help or because the shop is slow and you need the 5-10k you can get for teaching someone! It's because the craft needs quality people in it that are willing to earn it and one day pass it on! An apprenticeship is not about learning to tattoo....it is about learning the business as well....at least it used to be! - - - Updated - - - i had the pleasure of sitting down with Zeke at the Philly Convention and the world is definitely a much more wonderful place with him in it!!!

I have a list somewhere around the house with close to 40-50 names of ladies that tattooed from the 20's thru the 70's! There were a lot more women tattooing than I think most know about! Names like Dee Brown and Bernice Steinhart from Portland, OR......(60's & 70's) I think @Joe Shit added Debbie Lenz from Youngstown, OH to this list....I'll be finally adding something from her this Summer hopefully! Not really sure if they are legendary though....... My mentor (who is female) opened her shop here in Maryland in the 1970's and has been tattooing 30+ years!

It was good to see @waverly and meet @Joe Shit there on Friday!

Guess it is about time for an update here.....LOL I was tattooed by Frank Lee about a month ago in Annapolis, Maryland I was also tattooed this past weekend at the Philly Convention by LeDan & Jennie Peace....and also Dana Brunson. I almost was tattooed (finally) by Zeke Owen but he was a bit tired on Friday night and I didn't make it back up on Sunday to actually make it happen! And I almost got my Bristol Tattoo Club (bat) from Jimmie Skuse but again...I didn't go back up on Sunday!

A big THANK YOU to those who liked what i had to say and mentioned me in this thread! I would love to see this in print too...I really enjoy being able to look through a magazine if it is worth looking through! There are bound to be bugs and glitches....and grammatical errors and such BUT I really love what they are trying to do! I didn't want to say too much in the Tattoo Collector Magazine thread but i think most got the "hint" LOL Support this please! tattooists actually taking the initiative to educate the public....it has been missing from the community other than places like this site and maybe a few others!

The portfolio is gone from the website! ;)

This totally sucks.....I hate when i hear about this kind of thing happening! Is it being "handled" Valerie??? On a side note.....my bestie is in London this week...not too far from the shop!

I need to actually make a trip up to Brooklyn.....but I am putting off any trips up to NYC right now until after the Philly Convention! There are going to be way too make people at Philly I want to meet up with and haven't seen in a long time or met face to face yet....and of course about 10 I want to be tattooed by.....lmao! Keep me in the loop for sure on meet-ups in the future....I'd like to get up to Brooklyn.....or out on LI sometime around the end of April/beginning of May if possible! Could probably do Manhattan as well around that time!