The last weekend of the month I will be working at the Nashville Tattoo and Horror Convention along side many of my awesome coworkers from No Egrets.
If you are interested in getting work done at the convention get in touch with my through email (amazingly.cute@gmail.com) or the shop (931.802.8319) just ask for Heidi :)
Even of you aren't interested in getting some work feel free to check out all the fun happenings the convention has to offer and come by to say hi.
This is a post from my tattoo blog, www.sweettatties.blogspot.com. Thought you guys might like to see a some of what I do when I don't have time to post here. Hope you enjoy :).
I never posted the final session of the Mermaid and sharks piece I was working on late last year. I would have loved to see it in color but still really enjoy it in black and grey. It's one of my favorite pieces to date that I've done. I hope to do many more in this kind of style in the future.
I spent my holidays with my family. I am happy to have gotten the time with them. Its easy to forget to make time in this busy world. My brother Christian and I went to a church dance for the popular midnight event. Which is where we got these awesome photo's taken by April Turner in their set up photo booth.
I have a list of goals and resolutions that I'll be sharing soon but until then. Here is to a bright future!
We started with a temporary exhibit that my parents were really excited about, The Dead Sea Scrolls.
I would say that I am a spiritual person but despite my parents up bringing and persistence to be I am not very religious. I don't got to church unless I am being polite or curious. Not because I don't like church but just because its never been something I feel compelled to do. I am glad they are compelled and enjoy it but its not for me and I"ll admit I kind of expected this exhibit to be some what like going to church. It was however brilliantly engaging.
The exhibit was divided into 4 sections that wind about sort of like a tight lazy snake. You entered from a very utilitarian hallway into the first room which was in stark contrast with its sandy floors and large screens projecting images of the dead sea. This was going to be way more interesting than just looking at dusty objects behind hermetically sealed glass.
A theatrical sort of man introduces you to the middle east its climate and the climate of the times and casual circumstances that lead to the survival and discovery of the dead sea scrolls. All our interest is piqued and we are shuffled into the first hall to the past a time line resting at your feet as you trudge past small artifacts from each era.
After this hall is another set in exact contrast to this one with large open displays for you to walk around peek in and gaze past.
The last of the halls with all its ancient nick-nakkery opened up into a large room with a giant circular display which held parts of the dead sea scrolls. This room under its heavy surveillance didn't allow any photography but did let you touch massive bricks from the temple and held in each of its corners videos about the people of the day or the unusual timing between the finding of the the scrolls and the founding of modern day Israel.
In the end though I always find that as cool and awe inspiring seeing the genuine article is I always come back to some smaller more personal item that I related to in these exhibits the most. My favorites from this exhibit were:
These beauty items and these weights and balances.
My parents have always been about museums and since even before I can remember, pictures exist to prove it, they've taken me and then my brothers around to anything that might be interesting or fun. Even once my brothers and I hit that dreaded age of all parents when we no longer wanted to be any where near them they persisted in carting us around to museums, cultural sights, national parks etc. Begrudgingly we would always go in only to find happily as we left that we all had a really great time.... well if we allowed ourselves to anyways. The tradition has continued and I hope it forever will.
Main entrance of the station
The people in Cincinnati have turned their old train station into a huge home for several museums. Its very similar to the Smithsonian in how you can get way more information than you could ever hope to process in a day in one place. The Cincinnati Museum Place is home to several museums and an Omnimax theater( it's like the Imax's big brother). My parents decided since I hadn't been there yet that it was a MUST on this trip and I happily agreed since I would get me out of the house. My parents don't actually live in Cincinnati so we packed ourselves up, convinced my brothers to leave their computers and studies and headed out.
interior of the dome, the largest in the usa
Its not the cheapest museum experience but its worth every penny. Just stepping inside the colossal building is like a step back into an era of news reels, train travel, jazz and the beginning of so many big dreams and ideas for the country. The deco style is every where. Its an architectural dream of the past. If that or the dinosaurs don't win you over immediately then the ice cream is sure to. That and small children kept racing around going on about the cave and the forest. I mean I might be almost 30 but I felt I had to find out what that was all about.
I had intended to try and bring some projects on this vacation to get ahead on them for work. But I just couldn't bring myself to pack any of it. I justified this by saying I needed to make sure I had enough room for bringing back all the wonderful things I would be receiving for Christmas. Yay! Presents
So when I got to my parents and came to the same startling re-realization I always have that they live in the country and have terrible cell service. I began to wish I hadn't be so quick it not bring my projects with me. I mean when else would I find such a large chunk of down time again and what was I going to do now? The answer ended up being right in front of me. I would catch up on reading. A past time I'd recently picked back up and was always sad to never seem to have enough time to do as much of as I wanted to.
I started by finishing the book I had started on the flight home. My boyfriend, Matt, had just finished it and as we both love this author I was excited to get the chance to read it. Which I did seemingly all in on breath. Damned by Chuck Palahniuk was a delight. I enoyed it immensely. I did find the scene with the giantess demon a bit unnecessary but respected the authors correlating it to an adventure Gulliver has in his travels. In fact all the correlations to other stories and movies made the book a lot more fun in a strangely nostalgic way that I don't think I'd be able to explain. So I won't. If you enjoy his works or are looking for something different I recommend this as a fun, fast read with an ability to make you think a little bit more about your own mortality and what that entails. More about the author and his works can be found by clicking here.
http://chuckpalahniuk.net/
They say things come in their own time and I would say that has proven itself evident with the timing of this book. The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin. I picked it up after my brother told me he was interested in it after showing me this video clip. Surprisingly it piqued my interest for a couple of reasons. I was already thinking a lot about resolutions with the end of the year so nearly upon us and I am always looking for soft ways to try and quietly help my mother, who suffers from depression, to see the happier side of herself. So while we we out at a books store I picked it up. I loved it. It was a delightful read full of personal insight that was relate-able and comforting. Rubin made me feel it was acceptable to be myself; whether or not that was person she (or anyone else for the matter) would actually care to be friends with. It made me happy to be me and it inspired me to try to find more ways to be happy and to share that happiness. More about the project and the author here.
I am now on my way into rediscovering a tale from my youth, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. Granted it was told to me through an animated movie and I never really thought about it as a book until I was much older it has still been on my reading list for shamefully longer than I would care to admit. I look forward to seeing how the film and the book compare.
Once upon a time there was a great comic. So EPIC in its greatness it helped me get partial credit on test questions I didn't know the answers to from 4th grade on up until I graduated college.. both times. I related to the main character being brilliant but commonly misunderstood. This made me want to be like more like his snaky, witty, imaginative self who had a smart response for every reprimand, an imaginative escape for every boring situation and a best friend at his side, albeit an imaginary one. I wanted to be Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.
To be truthful I still do. So on snowy days, which are rare for me since I live in Tennessee which is bi-polar in its weather patterns and doesn't keep the rarest of its weather gifts, snow, any longer than approx. 24 hours if you're lucky, I like to pay tribute to Calvin and Hobbes snow art genius. Since I am in Ohio for the holidays visiting my parents and snow is prefect abundance I was able to do such a tribute.
Thanks for all the memories and help on getting partial credit Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes. Your legacy continues on as legend in the hearts of all who read it.
Ode to Calvin and Hobbes Snow Genius:
The Swimmer and the sharks
Ode to Calvin and Hobbes Snow Genius:
The Bad Diver
Since I am going to be in Ohio for a few more days and there is still plenty of snow I hope to make a few more of these snowmen inspirations. Until then I would love to see any crazy snow creations that you guys may have come up with whether Calvin/Hobbes inspired or not.
The holidays. Wish I had something brilliant to say but since I don't and I am needed upstairs to help polish off those delicious Christmas leftovers and cookies before my brothers make them all disappear I leave you with Zefranks brilliance. <3 an="an" awesome="awesome" christmas="christmas" had="had" hope="hope" p="p" you="you">
