Too bad there's no ocean in Minneapolis....

Three day weekends?
Maybe for you guys.
I only had ONE day away from my home away from home.
Meryl and I went into the shop today to start her chestpiece.
And man, kids, she did awesome.
Even before Ryan and Rebecca showed up to cheer her on.
We didn't finish,
but after four hours,
we were (she was) done.

"some little language such as lovers use"
It's a Virginia Woolf quote,
taken from The Waves.

It'll be healed in time for our East Coast visit in June,
so we'll be able to swim in the ocean.
And we'll finish it as soon as we get back into town.



I finished a couple of drawings this weekend for some big projects.
I have a bunch more to do,
but not everyone gets three days off.
It's going to be two weeks of some late nights
before we head out east.

WE MADE IT ON MSNBC TODAY!!

Today, a story appeared on MSNBC. It was about Julia Gnuse (pictured). She is a long time friend and BEST client ever as I (Art and my brother Steve) did all her work. She is the Guiness Book of World Records' "Most Tattooed Woman". The article gives a brief but accurate story of how and why. DON'T BE SO QUICK TO JUDGE until you've read the story.

Man Hands

'Mr Coyote, what strange hands you have!'
'The better to do Cat's Cradle with, my dear.'


This guys is tucked between a face shooting laser beams from it's eyes,
and a bone lettered stomach rocker.
Yup, right smack on the ribs.
Marshall sat like a rock for it,
and put up with a million questions from me
about the world of music promotion and art collectives.



The shop was weirdly just ours,
since Todd and Ben aren't in the shop the rest of this week,
and part of next week, too.
Today's a Not-Casual-Friday,
so luckily Adam M will be at the shop helping me out,
and holding it down (with a tie on).

Things are about to get even busier.
The trip out east is only 3 weeks away,
and I have too much to do in that little bit of time.
We're hitting 5 states, doing a tattoo guest spot,
attending a wedding and a high school graduation.
We'll be there at the same time as Dark Dark Dark,
so getting to one of their shows in NYC seems like a necessity.

Have a good long weekend if you have one of those kind of jobs....

Summers are cuckoo.

Adam M is the new weekend front help at Identity Tattoo.
He tossed me a few ideas for a tattoo a couple weeks ago,
and I did up a few drawings.
I think, unfortunately, that I left out most of what he wanted,
and put in things he didn't ask for at all.
Actually, this had almost nothing to do with the original idea,
but he still liked it,
so we squeezed in this outline between appointments today.





Meryl and I turned 4 yesterday.
We were married that many years ago
next to a very sexy Connecticut lighthouse.
Meryl also just graduated from her MFA program last week,
and we have a bunch of art/home/garden projects and travel plans lined up for the summer.
It's already busy,
and it's about to get busier.

The new flower guys

Now that was a weekend.



Kicked it off with a dark dark dark show on Saturday night.

We did some seward cafe eating,
art-a-whirling,
dead sea scroll scoping,
st paul cathedral wedding witnessing,
polished nickel hardware shopping,
meryl completing her mfa celebrating,
gardening and yard working.


I ended my two perfect-weather days off
looking in all the florist dumpsters in Minneapolis.
There's a movie (or video?) happening this week,
and it requires a lot of (free) flowers.

I used to be quite the dumpster diver.
So much so that Meryl's mom mentioned it
in her toast at our wedding,
(exactly four years ago this thursday).
Actually, she called it 'dumpster dipping',
which is way cuter
(and far more accurate).

I've dipped in dumpsters
from Connecticut to Savannah to Seattle.
Back in those days,
it was multiple times a week.

Anyway, I still remembered how,
and we filled an old Volvo's trunk full
of not so fresh before your face flowers.
I hope the filming goes well.


Tomorrow is back to work,
with a full week of tattoos to do.
I got re-energized
by some great music,
good food,
and a throwback punk night out.

TATTOOS, FOOD, TATTOOS, FOOD, TATTOOS, FOOD...

When we start the day, it could be with "traditional style" job like this one that Sasha did with super clean lines and super solid color.


Or maybe, a black and grey dragon like this one that Mark did. Notice the details... the shading, the unique style unique only to Mark Lankin!

Or it could be a JEEP like this one that Juan did... perfection. If I was gonna get a Jeep, this would be the one I would want...

Or maybe... just maybe you're a SPICE GIRLS FAN... you could get that too just ask Art (me) to do it..... Personally, I would get DEVO tattooed on me but Curt doesn't give a fuck, he can get whatever he likes!!!

Or maybe you're a Virgin Mary fan...

This is what WE do at the Funhouse.. a variety of tattoo styles and sizes, from realism to traditional, to black n grey... any theme any size. We're not gonna moralize and judge... we do what we do... the way we do it. While doin' it, we get hungry and if it's lunch time, how bout one of these?



Don't care if you like meat or not... we do. This is the TERNERA TORTA from "Las Tortas", up the street from the shop... such a quality sandwich. God... pickled jalapenos, pickled onions.. guacamole, beans, lamb meat... cabbage... all on a quality bun. It's not cheap but worth every penny.

Finish it off with a piece of chocolate cake from BEANS... just look at it... you can see the chocolatyness... even though the frosting is melting like a turd in the summer sun, i can assure you that it didn't taste AT ALL like a turd... such quality buttery chocolaty frosting.... and the density of the spongy cake made for a real filling and fulfilling lunch!!

So, that day, we all worked like dogs.. really! Long day, so guess what? are you hungry yet? ....

how bout now? It was time for round 2 at Memphis Blues Barbeque...

FUCK YEAH, LET'S EAT!!!

Ryan, Juan and Mark sharing the cooked carcasses of the pigs, birds and cows that donated their muscles and fats to feed us... and thanks to Memphis for gettin' the potatoes, beans, corn and coleslaw for our meal, before the hippies and vegetarians got to it... man, they always try to HOARD and keep this stuff for themselves.

F*CK THEM, LET'S EAT MEAT!!! REMEMBER, FOOD IS A REWARD FOR HARD WORK.

Stretched Stomachs, Tired Hands

My stomach didn't hurt at all today,
for the first time in nine days.
It was probably because I didn't eat three people's portions,
or send stabbing pains into my belly from laughing too hard.
Why not?
Albie Rock left us this morning,
after nine days of feasting and drawing.
So yeah, my guts don't hurt today,
but I certainly don't feel better.

I'm so bad at keeping secrets.
I want to show off all of the stuff we made
during his working vacation at Louderhorn Inn,
but it's being saved for a "grand revealing".
Never Quiet, Never Soft has never been this hard.
But not even a peak yet, kids.
We're timing it right,
for your faces.

So instead of all of that,
I'll show off a tattoo I did on Mr Rock his last day at Identity Tattoo.
I mean, it's no "daddy's house",
but it was an honor to tattoo him again.
Many, many years after I did my first tattoo ever,
but on the very same leg.



I spent the day settling back into some state of normalcy.
I returned some phone calls and emails that went overlooked
this past week while we were overeating.
It might be a little quieter around Louderhorn Inn for a minute,
but it won't be any slower.
Some finishing touches are needed before it's all done.

Eleven.

There's no mistaking that Albie Rock is in town.
I'm getting even less sleep than usual,
but everything else is more.
Laughing more, drawing more, eating more,
even finding more dead birds.

In between tattooing and hitting Minneapolis' vegan restaurants,
May Day parades and backyard barbecues,
we've been working on art for new everything.
We have a gifted trumpet and a borrowed tuba,
a few bags of goodies from Joann Fabrics,
bunches of drawings and lots of ideas.
Never Quiet, Never Soft, Never Enough Time.

DESTROY EVERYTHING

Some peope don't get it. They would look at tattoos like this and go "why would someone put that message on their skin?... forever!" The simple answer is cuz they don't give a f*ck what YOU think! Instead of looking at the finished product and admiring the stunning, decorative and perfect lettering done by Juan, and how aesthetically perfectly it fits on Mark's back, people always have something negative to say.

Just look at the perfection. The cleanest lines around, the smooth transition from dark to light on the shading. and look how perfectly it fits...

Check this! Probably one of the largest TASMANIAN DEVILS ever done!!! Fester knocked it out quickly and executed it in awesome style, as usual. He does some clean work... Most people get these Tasmanian Devils smaller but this guy knew what he wanted and how he wanted it. He had a story to accompany it as well.

Some tattooers would say, "I'll never do a Tasmanian Devil.." We ask "Why not?" they would in turn give you some recycled answer they have heard some place before, from another un original artist... trying to act as if it's below them to tattoo this image. When in reality, who gives a fuck? It's a customer service job and they act like they're doing the client a favor!! Egos and attitudes have no place in this trade.

One day these guys are serving burgers and the next they're tattoo artists... it's an immediate image upgrade from ordinary to rock star status! Silly... don't stand for it! If you go into a shop and get treated like a turd, leave and come here!!