Aloha all... I've used this greeting for years. It began back when I moved to Honolulu to take my apprenticeship with Mike Malone at China Sea Tattoo. I thought that it was kind of corny, a throwback to a time when Hawaii was considered someplace so exotic that "Aloha" was used in music that beckoned to a far away place. Eventually it became a greeting that I use without ironic corniness, and now it seems that it will become a part of my vocabulary yet again.
Working at Uptown Tattoo has been very eye-opening to me. The crew there (Nic, Jon, Tom and Brandon) are all very driven, and it shows in their amazing work. They have all taught me a lot more about art and tattooing that made me think in ways that I didn't always do before. I'm extremely grateful towards them, but in the end we all realized that I'm not a custom-only shop tattooist.
I was taught in a street shop. One of the best in the country, by one of the best street shop tattooists in the world. I learned the trade, the talk, the way to keep people interested and to discern the people who are wanting to actually get tattooed from the people who are just fucking off. This is a world that I came to love very much, an instantaneous decision that alters the lives of those involved. Nothing is wrong with custom work where the client and artist talk about the piece, work on it for weeks, if not years, at a time, and end up with a unique tattoo. Hell, my father is one of the main forces that created this form in the United States. I have many custom tattoos, and will continue to do them. But my passion lies in the tattoo that comes in the twinkle of the eye, with strong, primordial designs on flash that speaks to the soul of the client. Strong flash created decades ago still speaks to people. It's the old way. The way that makes me love tattooing for what it is: an expression of self.
As of October, I will be moving to the Aloha Monkey, a tattoo shop originally opened by my teacher, Michael Malone, in Burnsville Minnesota. When Mike moved with his prodigy, Keith Underwood, to Chicago, he sold the Monkey to another artist who loves the street soul of tattooing: Josh Arment. Josh has made the Monkey into a strong shop with a crew that embodies the fun of tattoos: Marx Barry and Josh Edwards, along with piercers Ryan Malone and Tara to round it out.
Although I am the square peg at Uptown, I will be leaving it with no anger. Nic, Jon, Brandon and Tom are all great people that I will still encourage friends to get tattoos by (hell, I'll be getting tattooed by all of them myself), and if all goes right, a good friend of mine will be joining them in the future (more on that another time). I know that they will continue being one of the best damn shops in Minneapolis.
So, to the crew at Uptown, I say thank you, and am glad that I have been there for the past year and few months. I've learned a lot about myself since I've been there, and in the end, I found that I like what I am.
