the best different tattoo design: Isaac Starr

Hello Everybody! Jason and I got back from our European adventure fully intact and inspired! What an amazing trip! I can't wait to share our stories and pictures with you. Problem is, I really suck at getting my pictures together. So I'll be working on that and by the time I'm finished it'll be next year but whatever! It'll be worth it! We travelled between France and Spain, did 2 tattoo conventions, made tons of new friends and ate lots and lots and lots of baguettes.

When we got back we had a few days to rest and then went on to the State of Grace Tattoo Convention which usually takes place in San Jose but this year they moved it to The San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency. I must say I really liked this location a lot more than any of their previous spots. The State of Grace convention has an amazing roster of artists and the location always seemed to detract a bit from that. They had to scale down this year because of room and I think that made for a nicer, more intimate convention. You could probably hit a convention every weekend of the year if you really wanted to but seriously the quality of most conventions isn't so good. If you live in the Bay Area or near this will be the convention you want to go to. If you want to look at cars and wet t-shirt contests, you'll want to go to a different convention. A few highlights of the convention were the release and signing of Grime's new book Iron Will and the Chris Conn Seminar. All in all it was an unbelievably inspiring weekend. Jason and Iggy worked the booth and did some fun tattoos and everyone basically had a really good time visiting old friends and making new ones.

Apparently the only pictures I took the whole weekend were this one showing the boys and the banner...

the boys and the table...

and this dude being amazed by JDon's portfolio...

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Also, before I left the new issue of Tattoo Energy (no.67) came out with a stellar article on our very own Cris Cleen. Here are some crappy pictures he took with his phone but you should really just go out and buy a copy:

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Guess what??!! It's that time of year again. The Lower Haight Art Walk will be Friday, Dec. 3. We will of course be doing more Get What You Gets and Hightower will be playing the roof again!! Don't miss it! I'll write another reminder post in a week or 2 but mark your calendar's now!!!

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And now for some pictures.

Trip out on this:

Holly

Jason (aka JDon)

Jason

Jason (in progress)

Jason

Jason (in progess)

Jason

Erik

Cris

My awesome client brought in all of these goodies for us! The boys proceeded to get cracked out on sugar...

Jason!!

Aaron!!

eye-ma'am!

As a kid, I always knew my grandfather, Harry Robinson, was a print-maker. I didn't really understand what that meant until I found myself pursuing a degree in graphic design years later. By that time I was already tattooing and knew it was what I would be doing for the rest of my life, but for some reason getting that degree was important. The way I learned to manipulate type and images was so different than what he did. Everything I did and knew was digital, on a computer. I worked with fonts. He made his own type. Actually poured the lead.

Harry (in the middle)

I took a letterpress class the other day and this is one of the Vandercooks at the studio. I love the container that says "Various Tools".

I took this picture during my letterpress class. I'm pretty sure the press in the background (you can barely see it) is the same as the one that's pictured with the man on the right above this photo.

My mom grew up in his studio. She talked about skating on the concrete floors and the big machines and their noises. I couldn't appreciate that memory as much as a child as I do now. I sure wish I could dive into these photos I've dug out and hang out with them, watch them work. Harry was a pretty special man and printmaking was only a small part of the long life he lived. A navy man, a mailman, a musician, woodworker, loving father, married 3 times (that I know of), a photographer, artist, he lived to be 93 and loved email and his digital camera and his treadmill. And he made a wicked pizzelle. Yum!!

Harry and his violin

Harry and my mom in the shop

I found this when I was looking for the picture of Harry with his press. Sadly for me these photos are of my older sister and not me. I didn't realize he still had the shop at this point in time. I thought it was long gone before us. I think my mom is pregnant with me in the bottom right. I want that chair my sister's sitting on.

One of Harry's illustrations. It makes me think of the older tattoo photos you'll see of girls in their undies posing for a picture of their new ankle tattoo. ha!

um. ahem. Isaac posing for an ankle shot? eh....

I showed my grandfather my tattoo portfolio years ago. He loved the tattoos and asked his wife (# 3) if he could get one. He called them "epidermal engravings". I put that on one of my first business cards. She said no, by the way.

His first wife, Helen, my mom's mom. I never met her but judging by all these pictures I've been looking through tonight, it's her warbly knees I see when I look in the mirror.

Helen and Harry

I owe so much of who I am today to him. And as I use his tools (that all wreak of mothballs) for my own printmaking projects I feel closer to him. And I miss him very much.

And when I find pictures like this in his photo albums, of women who are not any of my grandmothers (my mom is going to kill me for posting this! ha...sorry!), I feel a connection I can't deny and wonder if I'd be doing what I do today if it weren't for him. I'm so curious about this woman! He lived in Huntington Beach at this time, I think early/mid 70s maybe? Anybody have any idea who might have done these tattoos? The flowers look like something Iggy would do.

By the way: