WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO. (photos by Juan)

Why do we do what we do?... there are several reasons we do what we do, the way we do it...

We tattoo all day... work really hard because we have fun at work, we challenge ourselves daily so that we can be more versatile, creative and technically advanced...

We do great work, like this unreal piece (below) by Mark. We feed off of each other's creativity and are stoked when we do really cool tattoos. This inspires us to be the best we can be.

We do it so that we have stories to tell. Think this one in the works (below) that Sasha is dealing with is gonna be a good one??? I think it definitely has possibilities... we talk laugh all day long, the conversation and the stories are endless.

That look on Sasha's face says it all!! Finally, after a long week... we get to reward ourselves with... MEAT... brisket, sausages, pulled pork, ribs, rib ends, fries, cornish game hen, fries, potato salad, beans, cole slaw, barbecue sauce... pecan pie for desert!!!

F*CK YEA, LET'S EAT!!!"

Loud(est)horn Inn

Albie Rock's in town.
He made it this time,
he's here, and it's on.

As if the volume between the two of us wasn't loud enough,
our friends Todd H and Ryan hooked us up with some brass.
A trumpet arrived in the mail a couple days ago,
and a tuba was delivered tonight after dinner.
A fucking tuba.
We don't know how to play, yet,
but he's here a whole week.
And we're not stopping till we have it figured out,
or Meryl's ears bleed.
Louderhorn Inn, indeed.
It's going to be the fullest of weeks.




Before Albie arrived,
before I even left for work,
this went up on my street.
Bets are being taken on how long it might stay up...
My guess is six months.

STICKS DON'T PAY THE RENT BY SASHA

A few years ago, a repeat client of mine walked into the shop seeming quite disoriented, which was unusual for him. he shows me a geometric design he wanted to have tattooed and asked for a price quote, all twitchy like.

i could tell by the psychotic glint in his eyes and his self-inflicted rantings that he was off of whatever meds he was supposed to be on. i quoted him the minimum charge and he proceeds to dig around in his pocket. he procures a bunch of twigs, leaves and bottle caps. he tells me that they are magical and sacred and wants to know if he can trade them for the tattoo.

at this point i have to giggle to myself and when i tell him no he continues to tell me how powerful they are and that he got them from a shaman. i tell the guy "cash only" and feeling defeated & possibly realising the lack of monetary value, he gives me the sticks, leaves and bottle caps because he "wants me to have them" and he leaves the shop. i actually kept them for like a year, cause they made me giggle every time i saw them, so in a way i guess they were kinda magical.

now, off-handedly in our discourse i made the mistake of complimenting dude on his dope vintage leather jacket. so half an hour later he comes back to the shop wanting to know if i would trade the jacket for the tattoo. i woulda come out on top on this deal and it WAS a tempting offer, but i just couldn't bring myself to take advantage of the guy in his debilitated state. i was kinda hoping that he would see the lack of monetary value in his jacket and give that to me in defeat also.

i learnt that day that i do have morals and that no matter how hard i tried i would never be able to pay my rent with sticks, but at least i could make a fire, adorn myself in leaves and drink out of battle caps. i always get the crazy ones.

THINGS ARE PICKING UP! FINALLY

Just some examples of what's going on lately. Some really cool pieces are happening in the shop. Here, of course are some samples of realism. Both done by Art...

FINALLY, after the Canada Line construction, which took 2 years, the "recession", the Olympics... and a rainy winter, things are picking up again. We're pretty lucky to have the Canada Line train running under our street but during it's construction, things were pretty dismal. The street was torn up from one side to the other. Foot traffic was a thing of the past. The waiting area of the shop which was as busy as a single's bar was completely dead. No cars were able to travel down the side streets, or even park in the neighborhoods due to pipe replacement.

I remember working late one night, til about midnight and hearing a loud rumbling sound accompanied by a real foul smell. I bandaged my client and went outside to see what was up. As I looked into the trench which has now been replaced by Cambie Street again, I saw a pipe puking out, what looked like a brown spray of human turds and sewer juice! The next morning, as I showed up for an early appointment, it was sealed up and the smell was gone. The city handled it pretty quickly!

Everyone at the shop is busy right now... even Fester is starting to go. Get down here!!!

JULIA GNUSE, ONCE AGAIN VOTED MOST TATTOOED WOMAN...

I (ART) started tattooing Julia in 1991 in Newport Beach California. She walked in one day without any tattoos, hoping to get some relief from a skin condition which was a side effect of her liver producing too much iron for her blood. The skin condition manifested itself in the form of blisters which were as deep as 3rd degree burns. They commonly show up on the hands and face mostly but other body parts were affected. She made an appointment to start tattooing her body suit for the following week. Twice a week for the next 7 years and about 2300 hours later, she was the most tattooed woman in the world. I moved to Canada in about 1998 and my brother Steve took over where I left off. We have appeared on the Guiness Prime time TV show, You Asked for It, Ripley's Believe it or not, Pro Sieben TV (Germany)... and many more.

Recently, she was in Milan where she was AGAIN voted most tattooed woman. There have been several contenders but none with the coverage she has. I look at her photos and it's hard to believe that she was my project...and my brother's, and we feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to opportunity to tattoo her, to have had the recognition we have had and at the same time, be able to restore confidence and happiness in Julia's life, by putting images on her skin which she loves to look at everyday instead of blisters and the scars they leave.

People judge all the time but they don't know her story. If I was in her shoes, I would do the same thing. When experimental medication causes blindness, when dermabrasions and chemical peels only left scars... when doctors said there was NO treatment available which would end this condition, tattooing saved her sanity & happiness. I have had one well known local artist tell me that what I did was "wrong" and that he wouldn't want to "contribute to another person's nightmare". How can this be considered a nightmare when she smiles everyday, now knows Quincy Jones, has been asked by Aerosmith to appear in the "Pink" video, she gets paid for TV appearances, she is flown all over the world - all expenses paid, to show herself off... and all because she wanted to remedy a condition which NOBODY could treat, except tattooing.

NEW ARTIST - "FESTER", STARTING AT SHOP TODAY!!

Armando "Fester" Castruita, is starting at the shop today. Great artist and friend. I've known him for many years from attending tattoo conventions in Mexico. He is a great talent, and we're stoked to have him in with us. He and Juan used to work together in Fester's shop "Ninety Nine Tattoo" in the city of Celaya in Mexico. He can do any style of tattooing... with his eyes closed!

His schedule is not yet set, it will be in the next few days. Come by and check his portfolio out or just tell him "welcome"!

Ugly and Loud

Apparently, way back in February,
UgliestTattoos.com added one of my (uncredited) tattoos to their site.
Thanks to Jeff for dropping my link in his comments,
and to Steve for giving me the heads up.
Me and my ugly tattoos super appreciate it.

Spencer sent me a healed photo of his tardigrade tattoo.
(thanks dude!)
I realize I usually only put the red, hurty looking tattoos
up on my blog, and save the website for the nice, healed ones.
Here's a little proof that the 'ouch' eventually fades.



Dark Dark Dark came back from tour,
and gave Minneapolis some love at the Cedar last night.
So good.
Makes me wish I knew how to play a trumpet.
That way when Albie got here,
we'd be the loudest band around.

WHERE IS A CAMERA WHEN YOU NEED IT...

I (Art) was tattooing at the "House of Tattoo" in Venice Beach in 96, about 2 years before moving to Vancouver. I worked at a shop on the boardwalk... it was so great cuz you when it wasn't busy, you could sit on the front step and people watch all day. Sometimes, there was a piece of dog shit on the boardwalk and with thousands of people walking, we'd place bets on who would step in in it! On weekends or on every day in the summer it was packed with tourists and weirdos... and if you in the shop, and couldn't see outside, no need to worry, they would come into the shop. Weekends there are packed... street performers and people doing weird sh*t. I swear, you could pull one of your balls out, paint it blue, sprinkle some glitter on it and people would walk by, put a tip in your hat and say, "cool ball, keep up the good work!"

Well, one day this guy walks in. He was obviously femenine and gay but was trying to act, and look real tough and straight, jaw clenched, mean look on his face... he comes right up to the counter and in his high "Rip Taylor" style voice he goes, "Who Duzzzz Cover upssss!?" I jumped up and in his same voice I go, "I dooooo!" "Well"... I said "what do you need to cover?" He says, "Oh, it's something on my back, I got it at a party, I passed out and when I woke up, it was there!" I go, "Let me see it." he says, "It, IN NO WAY, reflects who I am... I woke up and it was there!" I go, "I need to see it." He says, "It doesn't reflect who I am, Before I show you, you have to ssssssswear that you won't tell anyone... I want an orca." I go, "I sssssswear! but I really need to see it so I can tell you if it's able to be worked on." He goes, "OK, you promisssssed." I go, "Your secret's safe with me..."

He pulled up his shirt and on his back, VERY WELL DONE, was a tattoo of a man, portrait style - whoever did it KNEW their sh*t.... this man had a black leather hat, dark glasses on, a large handlebar moustache, real thick neck and shoulders- had the physique of a body builder, he had a leather vest on, black chaps motorcycle boots on AND NO PANTS!!! the tattoo had a huge d*ck that hung down past his knees... like if someone had sewn a horse dick on him!!! I stared it for a long minute... I couldn't believe it and then I said, "What shop did you say you got that tattoo at?" he got pissed and said, "I DIDN'T GET IT AT A SHOP BUDDY, I passsssssssed out at a party and there it wassssss!" I go," You're a f*cken liar, that thing is tooooo well done to have been done at a party when you were passed out. It would have taken at least 5-7 hours to do that tattoo, it's very well done, who did it?" It looked like work by some Hollywood artists who's work I knew so I threw out some names... he got so pissed, "uh, uh... CAN YOU COVER IT OR NOT?!" I said, "sure..." so we made and appointment for the next week, and he walked out the door. He never came back...

UNREAL... this is only a small part of the stuff we see in our jobs as tattooers. We could tell stories all day long... come down and see for yourselves! At the corner of Cambie and 14th!

April is my kind of month.

Last night was my birthday dinner.
Some of Minneapolis' finest (and funniest)
came out to eat Ethiopian food,
share stories of dungeons and colons,
and watch the cowboy parade pass by outside.
(saturday night on Lake Street, kids)



I got photos of Meryl's finished/healed leg.
I never know how to photograph these big tattoos.
Some tattoo artists do some fancy frankenstein photoshop stuff,
but it looks so weird sometimes.
It's a big tattoo, here's a couple angles.




Minneapolis has been so beautiful lately,
and there's lots of blooming around Louderhorn Inn happening.
April came at the perfect time this year.
And what's better than Sunday brunch at Seward Cafe?
When the back patio is open.
The first meal eaten outside in a couple months:



And lastly,
Meryl got a fun little one minute video
of me tattooing the birdhouse on Shoes the other night.
I was dressed up for Identity Tattoo's "Not Casual Friday",
not because it was my birthday.
(Todd and Ben were dressed up for my birthday, though)

the almost 30

I turned 29 today.
I know some people like to take their special day off of work,
and do something fun.
I just get pretty picky on what (and who) I'll tattoo on my birthday.
Last year, I didn't tattoo much at all,
and just handed out cupcakes all day.
But this year,
I had two different rad tattoos to do,
and I even ended up working late.

I also took over as DJ at Identity Tattoo,
and played lots of Dark Dark Dark, the Black Keys, and Lady Gaga.
Thanks to Todd and Ben for being so accommodating!

No cupcakes this year,
but Meryl made some banging vegan cookies
that I brought into share with Ben (and everyone).
haha.

First, I did this Obi-Wan Kenobi portrait.
It's butted up against the Boba Fett I did way back in September,
and it looks like we'll be adding in a couple more Star Wars portraits soon.
I used a new greywash ink, and my new rotary tattoo machine,
and had a blast.



Then, Mr Mikey Shoes came in to get a
(slightly more my style) chest birdhouse.
Meryl came to pick me up and got a few photos of the in-progress action,
and I was able to put two of them together in a really simple GIF animation,
but I don't know how to post it anywhere other than my Tumblr site.



Anyway, thanks to all the birthday wishes,
and to everyone who sang along or shared a cookie today.
And a big thank you to Todd for having such a fun place to work.

Second Try

So, Albie Rock has new tickets for MPLS,
cause Southwest didn't learn their lesson the first time.
(but he promises good behavior at the airport this round)
So instead of April Fool's Day, Good Friday, and Easter,
he'll be here for May Day, and Cinco de Mayo.
And since I live in South Minneapolis,
that's where the party is.
April 27th he arrives,
and leaves the 6th.
Want a tattoo from him?
Email me
(or him at battlebeasteleven@gmail.com).

I did this (in between doing my taxes this weekend) for IWYS.
But really, the IRS wrecked my whole weekend.

Quiet House on the Prairie

Ok, ok,
I'm almost done talking about last week's Philly Tattoo Convention.
But our friend Stephanie posted some photos of the show,
and I felt that this one deserved more exposure.



Who would have thought that spray adhesive for linoleum tile
isn't the best way to stick two pieces of burlap together?
Parts of my banner were falling off all weekend,
so we were continuously providing damage control.
(somehow that made people like it even more?)

I got a lot of compliments while I was out there.
Or, at least I took them to be compliments.
Stuff about me not fitting in,
and not being very "tattoo-y".
Maybe it was the pink shirt?

Right about now I was supposed to be halfway through
an Albie Rock action adventure.
I was so ready.
I have two big ass boxes in my living room;
one is of blank shirts,
and the other pinecones.
Ryan even scored us a tuba for the week.
But instead of Louderhorn Inn being turned into a nonstop workshop,
it's kind of empty.
Meryl ran off to Wisconsin with a bunch of her poet friends,
and it's just me and Shamira holding down the fort.

I mean, I have stuff to do,
for sure.
There's seeds and gardens and drawing and projects,
and taxes.
I'm still staying up late doing it all,
but can't help wishing southwest and the S.W.B. didn't suck so bad.

I'm glad all my East Coasters who know what's up
have been driving across states,
and across state lines,
to catch a show of Dark Dark Dark.
You're missing out if you missed out.
April 15th is the big return date for the DDD,
and we're happy to have them back.

EXPLODING FUCK DOLLS ORIGINAL MEMBERS PLAYING O.C. PUNK ROCK PICNIC

This is a photo from the show...

L-R: Greg, Steve Godoy (drums), Art Godoy (guitar), Duane Peters (vocals), Troy Zak (bass), and ROb Milucky (guitar)...

Art Godoy wil not be in the shop until the 13th of April, because after almost 20 years, the most important line up of the Exploding Fuck Dolls has top billing at the O.C. Punk Rock Picnic. The original founders of the most successful incatnation of the band will be playing songs from the Dolls days including U.S. Bombs and Hunns tunes. DUANE PETERS (ex pro skateboarder and member of the Hunns, U.S. BOMBS, Gunfight), ART & STEVE GODOY (ex pro skaters, tattooers, and members of the Last of the Bad Men) and 2 other good friends Troy Zak from the Bad Men and Rob Milucky on 2nd Guitar.

The history of the band is tragic & triumphant. The stories are endless... though this line up`s existance was short, it was complete with a total rock lifestyle stories, death, starvation.. struggle & success at a time when that dirty grunge movement was taking over. There were tons of immitators that may or may not admit it, who would not be where they are if it weren`t for the Fuck Dolls.

The band was on the brink of a record contract when it all disintegrated. Due to differences and other things, the band was close to achieving the succes that some of it´s contemporaries enjoyed. Bands like Sublime, No Doubt, Fu Manchu, and others, who´s musical careers exploded later on, had opened shows for the 'then' successful Fuck Dolls. Duane went on to form the successful US Bombs and the twins went on to play with Deniz Tek from Radio Birdman. Time has passed and the struggle is not as necessary... it´s time.

Duane called us this week and asked if we were down. We agreed... I (Art) was in Mexico and changed my flight back to Canada, to a flight to L.A. The gig is APRIL 10.. FOR MORE INFO GO TO: http://www.ocpunkrockpicnic.com/
Some of the set will include :
American Bomb
Rumble Beach
Let´s Go
The Wrench
Radio Birdman´s "Breaks my heart"
and more...

So a berserker barbarian walks into an airport....

Joan sent this photo to me so that I knew how nice her tattoo looked
before she went and f*ed it all up.
I did these botanical bleeding hearts at the Philly convention,
but four days later she's swimming in a lake in Austin, Texas.
Oh man.



Speaking of bleeding hearts,
it's a sad day in Minneapolis today.
No foolin'.
Albie Rock was supposed to arrive at 5:30 last night.
We had two weeks worth of plans
that we were going to cram into 6 days.
Tattoos, shirts, still lifes, art, stickers, websites and more.
But where is he?
Well, his flight got canceled.
After he drove the three hours to the airport.
And Southwest thought Kevin Smith caused a scene?
(all that guy did was be fat and whine on twitter)
Albie Rock brought the thunder to the Manchester Airport, for sure.
And was then was forcibly removed from the airport.
No kidding.
You should read about it here.
I'm sure the trip will be rebooked for the near future,
and the case of root beer that Todd special ordered
will be sitting in the fridge waiting for him.
Louderhorn Inn will be happy to accommodate any reservation changes,
and tattoo appointments can be rescheduled.
We'll probably use this time to actually set up a 'Never Quiet, Never Soft' website.

So for now, it's just a little more of the same.
My (until recently) overbooked week looks sad and empty now,
so let me know if you want in.

Don't go swimming with fresh tattoos, kids.
Stay away from airports and exploding maple trees,
and don't poke the bear.