Speaking of animal friends, I’ve just been reminded of these matching ravens I did a while back on my lovely fellow tribal belly dancer Cassandra, who totally has a thing for birds. I also recently completed a large owl in a similar style on her leg, which I am yet to photograph but hope to soon. Thanks Cass, it’s always a pleasure.
I’ve had the pleasure of tattooing some stellar individuals recently, and they’ve been getting some really fun designs to boot. For some reason I seem to be doing a lot of animal designs, many of them totem or special animals to the wearer, which always makes them more enjoyable for me. Yesterday I started this cute robin and olive branch on the very lovely Kat, who works across the river at Fox Body Art in Collingwood.
Got to test out my new camera on this one too, which takes way better photos than my phone does. Hand-me-down cameras are just one of the perks of having a photographer husband!
Another totem bird, from a few months back now…a little swallow for an awesome fellow named Drew, who I had great fun tattooing and talking shit to for a few hours.
A tiny lizard on Ainsley as part of her Celtic shamanism-inspired piece; this is just one of many animals I’m doing on her leg, including a stag, a fox, a hedgehog and an otter…but no decent photos of any of them yet.
Also fun recently was this zebra on beautiful Kate from Dukes, my beloved local coffee shop. Soon we’ll be adding poppies to this for some extra colour, and I shall get a less gross-looking photo as well.
More Louis Wain kitties on Sally…I’m gonna be so bummed when we fill this arm up, which will be happening rather soon. Hopefully she’ll let me start filling the other arm after that though.
Perhaps the most unusual request I had these past few weeks: a lynx and a pine martin running alongside eachother. There was an awesome story attached to this tattoo that I have sadly forgotten, along with the cool Polish name of the nice chap I did it on… but I know it was inspired by a sci-fi or fantasy novel.
And last but not least, a bordering-on-silly kitten playing with yarn tattoo for my darling sister Kate. The first of many cat tattoos I’ll be doing on her, I imagine.
John James Audubon was America's most prominent and celebrated ornithilogist, so much so that this portrait of him now hangs in the White House. His dedication to the thorough and accurate documentation of America's birds was (and still is) unsurpassed, and resulted in some truly beautiful images. Audubon was a talented painter and possessed a strong sense of aesthetics and composition, setting his images apart from previous works of a similar kind. He was also a hunter and taxidermist, skills which he used to create life-like images of the birds he painted, always incorporating elements of their habitat and lifestyle such as tree branches, nests, eggs, flowers and associated wildlife. For a lengthy and fascinating history of the man I recommend visiting his Wikipedia page, or one of the many websites dedictaed to his work. Otherwise, just enjoy these examples of his stunning bird paintings, the complete collection of which can be purchased in The Audubon Society baby elephant folio edition of his magnum opus, Audubon's Bird's of America.
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