1.31.11

Today was an extremely productive day... for the most part...

I say for the most part because right now I'm extremely bitter that after working hard all day to finish up the black and any small outline details on my flash set, I had a huge accident. A few hours ago while getting set up to get started on the colours , I accidentally sprayed red watercolour all over one of the sheets.

Watercolours are amazing because they're fast and smooth... but horrible because if you make any significant mistake, it's pretty much done. As much as I wish I could fix that sheet... I can't.

The night is still young, and hopefully I can finish all the other sheets so I have a semi easy day tomorrow, just having to redo the one.

We'll see.... à demain....

1.30.11

I have tomorrow and Tuesday off and I'm going to make an extremely serious effort to finish all 6 sheets of flash within those 2 days. I need to have them done because I'll have to move on to another painting project asap. We'll see....

I've had this song stuck in my head all day... I love rediscovering a band or album you once loved and have not listened to in years, writing them off due to their recent offerings. This album is absolutely amazing. This song is absolutely amazing.

2001-02-02
The Vogue Theater
Vancouver, BC

1.29.11

Today I got to tattoo something I've never been asked to tattoo before.... MANATEE!!!!!
Taryn is super awesome. Really excited to work on this again soon.

1.28.10

...4 sheets of black down... 2 more to go... and then finally colour... I really wish I was still able to stay up all night and paint without feeling like total hell when I have to tattoo the next day ...

1.27.11

So my camera must have heard through the grapevine somehow that I was speaking ill of it on the blog... because today it revolted.

It would seem that the battery is dead. I tried charging it 3 times, and it allowed me to take this one and only photo of Stephen's under water sleeve.

Too bad, he sat for 6hrs today, most of which was colouring blue background. This fish was tattooed last session, so it's healed. The background around it is all fresh though...

1.26.11

Lake Louise was AMAZING today. The hill was in great condition.... for Lake Louise.... the top was unbelievably windy, as usual, and the main areas were skied out to ice/rock.... But there was definitely fresh snow, and untouched pockets if you know where to look...

Remnants of good night of painting, pizza and winter aleI spent an hour and a half in this hot tub last nightBreakfast for the animalsBreakfast for meSummit Platter
Untouched lines...for now...Very HappyI took a few videos for Teagan with my iPhone. Just to prove there was epic powder to be found, here are a few screen shots.... It was almost hard to breath through the face shots of snow at times...Dinner, and then all too familiar drive homeIt felt amazing to get out on a mountain again. I can't believe this was only my second time out this year... I'll have to fix that in the near future...

1.25.11

I'm taking the blog mobile tonight. I had a client have to cancel tomorrows appointment, so since I was sick last week, tomorrow will be redemption at Lake Louise.
Pretty damn sweet room just outside of Banff for $80.I brought my paint, brushes and flash sheets, so I'll be able to get a bit of painting done tonight. Fireside painting in the mountains, pretty sweet.

1.24.11

Needless to say, Chad Koeplinger's work is phenomenal, but it's his general down to earth attitude towards tattooing being a job that really makes him amazing. He's probably one of the only tattooists that I can stand to listen to or read about when interviewed.

I found these today and they're hilarious, but pretty damn accurate for aftercare. I can never understand WHY it is so hard to get clients to LEAVE THE DAMN BANDAGE ON FOR CLOSE TO 24HRS.

This is almost a weekly conversation at the studio after longer tattoo sessions-

Me- So, you'll want to leave the bandage on for about 24hrs...
Client- Yea... I'm going to go home and probably take if off in 3-4hrs...
Me- Please don't, your tattoo will produce huge, thick scabs and heal like shit. Here's why...
Client- Yea... I'll definitely take it off before going to bed...
Me- Please don't, at least sleep with it on... I leave my bandage on for a full 24 hrs when I get tattooed. Trust me, it works.
Client- ... well, okay...

Client (a few weeks later)- Yea... so I took the bandage off after about 3-4 hrs, and it got these huge cookie scabs... it lost a bunch of colour and healed like shit... it was really sore for like a week... I don't know what happened...
Me- .......

Anyways... have a watch if your interested, have a laugh, he sure is...






"Come on man, don't pick it... you're not 8..." amazing.

1.23.11

Here's yet another tattoo that I found on my memory card that's a few months old now... Super fun peacock feather, one shot on Sarah who was visiting from Nanaimo, BC.

1.22.11

Finally got around to editing one of sleeves that I have sitting on my camera's memory card....

Olga's sleeve, done. I'll put more close ups on my website in the next day or two.

1.20.11

I was really surprised how well done the Sailor Jerry documentary was the first time I saw it. This looks like it has potential to be great as well, I'm really excited to see the whole movie. I have a huge amount of respect for Ed and everything he's given and done to advance tattooing to what it has become today.

1.19.11

Since I was too sick to spend my day off up on a mountain, I outlined 5 of the 6 sheets of flash today. Half day of work tomorrow, then hopefully start painting, as long as this cold doesn't get any worse...

1.18.11

I had my bags all packed, in the car, ready to make the drive up here to ski Wednesday.....however, my cold had different plans and I ended up at home in bed on these.

1.17.11

Still kinda sick... So I had a great day off doing nothing, all day. Teagan made me some comfort food for dinner. Mine's the top one stuffed with cheese. mmmmm....

1.15.11

So more touch ups today at the studio... and .... my throat is sore and I'm starting to feel sick... awesome.... Again, I'm too tired and want to try to sleep this off asap, so no tattoo photos tonight.

I know the blog's name is The Log Cabin, however, I should consider renaming it. Log cabins are amazing, and don't get me wrong, I'd be more than happy to live in one. However, A FRAME HOUSES are my absolute favorite. Mid Century Modern A Frames preferably. I would be more than happy with any one of these.If any one has or know of any amazing A Frame house like these for sale, please let me know. Preferably in a small mountain town. Thank you.

1.14.11

Touched up Erica's flowers today and coloured her ladybug. Next session will be background and adding final touches. Erica's awesome... no wait... super awesome.
My Grandpa was an amazing man. He could and did fix everything under the sun. In his mid 20's, he lost his entire right arm fixing a hay baler on the farm. He retaught himself how to do everything using his left hand. He taught me how to draw on an old chalkboard they had, and I will never forget those times we spent together.

My Grandma's house still has a wall of his old cuckoo clock that he collected and fixed. For years I've been hinting that it would mean the world to me to have one hanging in my home. A few months ago she finally let us pick one off the wall, and today it came back from the Clock Doctor in perfect working order. This clock probably means more to me than I can ever express.

1.13.11

Today I started the first colour/shading session on Amy's Deer. Super fun, she sits amazing considering her first tattoo is a backpiece. Simon set me up with this amazing tattoo last time he was out visiting. Thanks again Simon!

1.12.11

Easy day at the studio today, went in to go do touch ups, and the tattoo looked great so I took a few photos and used the rest of the day to run errands.

I was finally able to pick up new contact lenses today since my recurring uveitis seems to have finally subsided. That means I can finally go up to the mountains again and hopefully enjoy all of this fresh new snow! I also picked up 2 longboards to paint for a client today, and 2 regular boards to paint for fun in the near future.

Unfortunately, I have a few other things I'm working on tonight that don't involve editing the photos I took today, so you'll have to settle for a video

I'll be listening to all 3 albums tonight while I work, like most nights... and mornings... and days... etc...

1.11.11

So tonight for the third time in the last few days, I sat down and though for sure I'd be working on this super fun painting I have in the works... and each time I've sat down to start it, I find something new about it that I don't like. Very frustrating... I know they're just small things that probably won't matter in the long run, but they bug me enough not to move forward. Tonight I almost threw the thing across the room, which would have been extremely funny since it's just on tracing paper right now and would have gone maybe 2 feet....

Today I worked on Dan's underwater sleeve for a few hours. Really fun since we're making good progress on it now. I filled in a bunch of the background and coloured a fish.Probably the biggest news for me today was that I put myself on a wait list with an artist to start my ribs. Excited and super scared.... if all goes well, hopefully we'll be starting one side mid October....

1.10.11

I did say I'd paint today on my day off, and I did no such thing. I pretty much took the day off and did absolutely nothing, other than buy 2 new pairs of shoes, and go out for dinner. Awesome day off.

About a month ago, I finally figured out that I only needed to copy one damn file off of our laptop and add it to our new computer so I could update my website. So there are finally a few new photos in the tattoo section. Hopefully more to come sooner than later. Here are 2 smaller pieces I added to the site that were really fun to tattoo.

I tattooed this on Chelsey a while ago now. Super simple, super fun. I tattooed this on my friend Steve. If you get it, you get it. If you don't, you don't. Joke tattoos are always super fun.

1.9.11

Touch ups and a few quick photos were on the agenda for today. A really quick and easy Sunday for the most part.

I know I just posted photos of Dahmin's tattoo, but he came back today so I could take a few healed photos and touch up the smallest spot missing in the banner. Nikki was my morning touch up. I'll get her back in for fully healed photos in about a month, just a bit or redness around some of the areas we touched up and I'll get here to wear a black tank top next time.
That's all for today. Day off tomorrow. It's still snowing, feels like it will be a good day to stay in and paint.