Burmese Map of the Universe

I am such a lucky tattoo artist- in more ways than one, but one of the main ways is that I have a very 'ahem' CREATIVE group of friends. My people want tattoos and they want interesting and inspiring stuff, dammit. I still have only done one piece of flash EVER.

I get messages like this on Myspace (this one is from my friend Cerridwyn):

I was thinking of maybe a chest or back or 1/2 sleeve....
With all these incorporated in an art nouveau/kai/mucha way:
bird skull/antlers
octopi/kracken/ships/ocean
moths
weird flowers-poppies/love in the mist/yarrow
pretty ladies(maybe)
bicycle parts
bones
iron work/skeleton key
twirly designs

Holy Cow, right? There are 1000 ideas in each one of the things she mentioned!

Recently Jessica was sent the most beautiful "inspiration package" to use in the design of a 1/2 sleeve tattoo. It was from a friend of ours- Amie, (who HAS a degree in graphic design) and great taste as evidenced by the package; pictures of feathers, bandanna fabric, works by Jean Toroop and Camille Rose Garcia, actual bits of lace and rickrac...it was really cool. She also wanted to incorporate a needle, thread, spiderwebs and keys into the design. We were a bit overwhelmed, to say the least. Overwhelmed and overjoyed.

What about this guy?

The temple

* to people that may stumble on this image: this is a custom design that I drew for a specific person. Please respect their self-expression and do not copy this tattoo (I know this happens because I have people bringing pictures off the internet in every day at work). All rights reserved! Thank you.*

Aimee drove up on Friday night to get some more work done on her backpiece. It started as a small peacock feather (one of my early tattoo suggestions, executed by Zack at Lovedog Tattoo, I think we were about 18) that was badly faded from years of not using sunblock on it. She still got compliments on it, but wanted to touch it up and add to it. That's where I came in.
Since I've known Aimee for 24 years I have a really good idea of her personal style and asthetic (it's very close to mine, since we developed our taste together) and so I designed something for her completely from scratch. I also made the feather bigger and redid the eye. You can see the changes, though the "before" picture is pretty dark.
I am going to fill in the Indonesian temple/henna/lace design all in dark burgundy red so it will contrast with the green in the feather fronds. I love having the freedom to design this kind of work- for women especially. I think there are so many options for flattering and meaningful tattoos that really accentuate and celebrate the shape of the body.
I am working (ever-so-slowly) on a sketchbook of flash; absolutely my art-nouveau-inspired drawings, and nothing else. I want to mainly explore mixing realistic images (like the peacock feather) with flat non-representational designs. I think one will set the other off, and incorporate the realistic design more smoothly into the shape of the person's body. Does this make sense? Maybe I will just have to SHOW you in the future!

before after (in progress)

The Notorious K.A.I.

Awesome!
David Allen got to it before me, but there was a front-page article written about me in this week's UC Davis Aggie (the newspaper of the university). It's totally flattering and I still have no clue how they found out about me. I don't know anyone on the paper.
I am happy with the article (there is nothing like being misquoted in a public forum) and I think she translated most of what I said well. It must've been hard since I tend to GO ON about tattooing and my opinions about it. I think I also had a lot of ice tea at that point in the day.

It's also apparent that the interviewer and I got along rather well. I think I should probably use the article as my resume in the future. Or just something to carry around at parties and give it to people and say, "Look! I'm one hell of a girl!" Haha.

Kai Smart article in the Aggie



I DO think Jessica's story of tattoo artist conception is more interesting than mine. It's surely more representative of what women in tattooing have had to go through. Mine is very abnormal;
find amazing and little-known tattoo artist (Jess didn't even have an email address when I met her.) through personal connections who actually WANTS and is looking for an apprentice but has had no luck,
meet and hit it off pretty immediately ( the day we met I recognized her because she has the exact same haircut as I. Pretty funny. I'm just a foot taller than her),
realize that I can't apprentice and live at the same time so take a contract job in Antarctica to make a nest egg of money to live off of while I learn,
begin tattooing in Antarctica with equipment I brought with me for practice,
come home and spend 7 days a week at the tattoo shop!

Jess started in a gnarly bikered-out shop in Vacaville, and basically had to learn on her own. She was put into rotation as a full-time artist only three months into her apprenticeship. She has tattooed a hemopheliac (who didn't tell her) and penises (she's got good stories, but you have to pry them out), and lived to tell the tale.
When I started apprenticing with her it was at a typical agressive all-male shop. Jess had carved out her little space there by being a little queen (in the sense that her demeanor allowed for no jackoffs or sleaze) and being a damn good artist. She put in her time with bullshit and homophobes and racist bastards, and learned to tattoo amazingly by sheer force of will. She emerged unscathed, with her own shop, a fiance that is both a piercer and a wonderful guy, and a sunny outlook on life. Other people probably would have been made bitter and hardened by this experience, but not Jess. She believes in the art of it, sincerely and purely, She still gets excited about tattoos all the time, after 8 years. We get giddy just talking about color and designs.
Maybe I will write the article on her.
Hey, that's a great idea.

On an entirely different subject, I love Creative Commons. It has allowed me to find this font based on the handwriting of Edward Gorey, one of my favorite illustrators!
Download Gorey font here

Sunset Stone

sunset stone, originally uploaded by kai smart.

Stuck in the dry lands longing for the mist-salt-ocean air of the towns I have lived in before. I visited Santa Cruz, and got gulping lungfulls of seafog to tide me over.

I get asked all the time if I have tattooed myself****. I have not (yet). I am afraid that my concentration on dealing with the pain (yes, I am pretty tattooed, but the pain still does not feel GOOD. I am not one of those people.) will make it harder to concentrate on the art. And of course I would want to do a good job! I think if I did tattoo myself I would tattoo my thigh, mainly for the easy access (I don't want to have to go into a contortion and THEN try to execute my masterpiece) but also for another reason: I am not going to tattoo every part of my body.

I know it seems like most tattoo artists go for that, and indeed it is tempting because I have the freedom to do that if I wanted to, but I am still FIRST AN ARTIST, and I think about the picture (my body) as a whole, not just as a meaningless background for art. Not to diss anyone who does go for the whole body, either peice by peice or as a full suit. That's fine for them, and to each their own- but I really like being naked when I'm naked (I say this phrase quite a lot) and this is why all my tattoos are visible when I am dressed. This is why I started getting tattooed on my neck (!) and forearms (!) FIRST (much to the chagrin of my parents). I value nudity. Eventually I will have some tattoos that will be under clothes most of the time, but certain things I want to keep bare, like my lower legs.
I also value the way my tattoos look upon me as others see me everday. I want them to be a part of how I am expressing myself to the outside world. They are an homage to the art and the people that I love. With every tattoo I have gotten I feel like I look MORE like myself.

I also look very "sweet"* so my tattoos add to my love of contradiction. They get people to examine their own perceptions of what a heavily tattooed person would look like, act like, etc. It's been my experience that I am NOT what is expected. I like the contrast of my tattoos with my dresses and maryjane shoes and flowers in my hair. It keeps me honest. It's a kind of rebellion, but one that is very sincerely thought-out, and not in malice at all.

MUSIC!!!!!!!!!

Oh my God I can't stop listening to the new Andrew Bird. (But I must! I have limited myself to twice a week, so I don't stop hearing it.) It's orchestral and chiming and clattering and melodic. It builds, then releases. He is apparently a one-man band. He has a lovely voice and his album design is also pretty kickass. Do you like The Arcade Fire and John Vanderslice? Do you like lyrics about ancient sea slugs and Waves of Dark Matter? Then go buy Armchair Apokrypha. I obviously can't use enough exclaimation points to be able to communicate this.

I really like the new Feist. I just wish she was ugly**. hehe.
It's not fair that she lives in Paris and has a bone-structure like that and vocal chords that can do THAT and is a great songwriter to boot. The album is called The Reminder, and my surly indie-record-store clerk of a brother is uttering a sincerely-dissapointed and "over it" sigh right now, somewhere on the other side of town.

This might also be really uncool, but The Cold War Kids are GREAT. Their album kicks ass and the singer has an almost over-the-top desperate note in his voice, that may almost be gay (and therefore GREAT!), but then he sings a song that sounds like an old black spiritual, and it totally works for that too. Woah. I like the lyrics and they rock out quite fabulously. I don't even know what they or their album (Robbers and Thieves) looks like. Maybe I shouldn't look. I was sort of bummed when Silversun Pickups released an album poster with their faces on it. I was content imagining them as a teenage family band of blond incestuous opiated mid-90's basement punks. Who live entirely on sunshine and cigarettes. By the way, go buy "Carnavas" (awesome cover art on that one, and the font is rad too!) or "Pikul". YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED!!

###I gave in and looked up The Cold War Kids. They are younger than I expected, and now I believe that they actually were born during the Cold War and it is not just a cute band name. I am also very much more in love with them than before, mainly because of the well-written and funny tour diary and their uncomfortable photograph faces (and funny hats).

An excerpt from the tour diary:

6-26
What do you know about Glastonbury? That it was began by druids on a
farm spanning 10 miles? That 160 thousand people are there camping in
mud that creeps halfway up your shins? We knew none of this. It goes
without saying that people here are crazy. It’s mob mentality. People
can’t really enjoy this. It’s a tradition thing. They know that they are
supposed to enjoy it, so they follow suit. There was one guy that was walking
by us wearing a shark fin on his back doing a genuine breaststroke and
the look in his black and sunken eyes convinced me that he had been out
to sea in his mind too long. We tried to get away from the mud and get
some sleep in a little tent on top of wooden picnic benches. But we found
no solace. And no Winehouse, either.
But we did discover Seasick Steve. He was playing before us at the Q
party. Seasick Steve is a tough looking man (eagle and sailboat
forearm tattoos, big ole white beard) from the U.S. South, aged about
55. He plays guitars with an average of 3 strings and his songs are
pretty terrific stories.
On his day off in South London, Maust become quite the gin snob
after his super elite and private tour of the Beefeater distillery In case
you want to walk by, it’s the Vauxhall tube station.

And now my next act will be....SLEEPING!!!






* and I am....;)

** I take it back, Feist is Canadian, and therefore awesome and deserving of beauty;)

****A man who is unafraid of tattooing himself is David Allen. He has a blog I have been following for a while, about being an apprentice, and with his passion for the craft and attention for detail, he is already becoming an AMAZING tattoo artist. He's very inspired by Classical artwork too, and you should doubly check it out if you like that.

Salome tat

What if you got tattooed with this. I'm sure Gustav Moreau mean for it to be printing on a diaphanous veil, but wow...wow.
Salome

Eating Ice Cream and Drinking Hot Tea

The night comes down like a wet blanket, sky weeping, the black ground sudenly slick and shiny.
It was hot and swampy and humid, now it's raining. Riding my bike home through air infused with the scent of cut grass and giant yards of blooming roses, I decided that being that we live in a delta, we are actually in the California equivalent of the deep South, albeit a very white deep South.

I go to lunch with Jess every day, and we talk about art nearly the whole time. It's refreshing and wonderful, I can be as effusive (is that a word?) and gushing (there has to be a better word than that) as I want to be, and she understands. I want to collaborate with her (I mean, I already am, in that she asks for my opinion and I draw stuff for her tattoos....shhh.. don't tell the customers) on art, I want to draw the background of a painting and she draw the foreground and vice versa. I haven't felt so inspired about working with another artist since I met Alani in 4th grade and we would spend hours drawing with our matching Pentel felt pen sets. We would draw women's heads and rotate pen colors for the eyes, and hair styles "straight, curly, free" over and over again. Which is essentially what I am doing now..hahahaha:


These are for the Tall Totem Pole show. I did ten works total. If I sell two then I make the money back I spent on frames and shipping. Which was a lot. That's why art shows tend to suck a little(just being a lazy artist here). That's why original art is really expensive, but reproduced art is not. A lot more work goes in than just sitting down and painting (or in my case inking) the picture.
I continued with "the Girls" series that I was working on; miniature imagined portraits of sweethearts and lost loves. Formal, colorful, and miniature, in an attempt for affordability. I sold all but one of the original series, so I am trying new stuff with a spin. I'm using ink and brush, and they are very fairy tale-inspired. Women metamorphose and take on animal attributes. They are also very Japanese tattoo-inspired, especially the work on Zack Mosher. Stark black brush lines against the white paper. I love brushes, they have always been very easy to manipulate for me, and everything looks so GOOD.

I also tattooed my friend Meg, rather unexpectedly. She came up for a wedding and showed up at the shop right as Jess's last appointment didn't appear. We had talked about me designing tattoos for her long before I ever knew I was going to get to learn to tattoo. So she was game and had a photo of a succulent, and I made a drawing and we were both nervous, and I tattooed her then and there.

We are going to do linework succulents on her lower arms in colored ink...then a wreath of cherry branches and blossoms on her upper shoulders. All delicate, all linework. We may throw in some bees, and perhaps a bird (she wants crows, but I would have to find a way to make them work with the blossoms. Actually the juxtaposition of the pink and black feathers might be striking) as well.
She said that she will get tattooed excusively by me. That she will be my work of art. Which will be awesome. Meg is taller than I, beautiful, and has a long neck and a face like an old-fashioned doll. I can take her to conventions like a extremely hot walking billboard! (*evil laugh*)

I looks like a Magnolia because I did it.

Tattoo Inspirations (black and gold themed)

Me encanta black and gold:

Abstraction that I actually love.... from a site I stumbled upon today. Reminds me of Hundertwasser a bit.














http://www.carolinachaves.com/gold.black.php

As always (do you ever have an artist who when you see their work you feel like you could just die, becasue they've already achieved the quality of work you want to do...using the same inspirations as you?! It's a terrible feeling. It's what i get with a few illustrators, but mostly:)
Aya Kato:


























































Aya Kato just illustrated Poe's "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", which makes perfect sense, since Kato is today's Harry Clarke (and I'm not *weep*)




and amazing Brazilian graffitti artist/illustrator Herbert Baglione, whose work I stumbled upon when I lived next to Upper Playground in San Francisco. His show there was sold out. It should have been, dammit, it was AMAZING.: