I’ve had some fun projects lately. I’m excited to share them with you!

First, I got another painting-inspired walk-in the other evening, albeit more modern this time. First, Ben came in and set up an appointment with the lovely and talented Niki, and then his wife Sam decided she wanted to get tattooed, too! They were from Kansas City, a place I’ve never been but from whence I’ve inherited a few friends, and it was so nice to be a part of their Portland experience. Sam wanted a tattoo of a pretty stylized little bluebird, and I explained to her that the body will mostly turn into a blue color wash over time but she was still excited about the tattoo, so we charged on ahead. I think it came out a lovely little bird:

The next day, I was so lucky as to be working on yet another cover-up. I love doing these. They’re so gratifying – taking something that someone has lived with and disliked, and turning it into something really beautiful and new and more illustrative of the person’s adult personality. Usually it’s teenager tattoos that get covered. I love to be a part of someone’s process, and I am with every tattoo I do, but it’s so much more the focus with a cover-up. They really are one of my favorite things. Obviously, it’ll still be a little muddy until we get the color in there, but here’s the outline and shading on Becky’s owl:

I’m so happy to be working on this tattoo, and Becky’s so awesome to work with! I’m really excited about the collaboration process we went through, and excited about her suggestion of pinecones, and so excited about the way those little pinecones curve around her shoulder. I’m also in love with those big bold roses! More of those, I think. I’ll be sure to post color photos as soon as I have them.

My family’s also been in town and I’ll be sure to post a few pictures from that as soon as I get them from my stepdad.

THAT’S OWL FOR NOW. Oh man, I’m so funny.