The Underwood has landed

[shunn]

This is what happened to me down at New York Adorned yesterday afternoon:



And this is what happened to Laura earlier in the day:



After that, and after Laura had taken Ella to the vet to be diagnosed with conjunctivitis, we hied ourselves to Kebab Cafe on Steinway Street for wine, victuals, stimulating political conversation, and cask-strength whiskey.

I hope to make a fuller report, but those are the basics.

Comments

[slurpy316.livejournal.com]

is that as tattoo?

if yes awesome!
if not. ignore me. i'm very very drunk.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Sure enough! If you click the pic you can actually see my arm and tell what the hell the picture means. Probably not clever cropping on my part.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

That's really excellent work. Yeah!

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Stephanie Tamez, the artist, really outdid herself. She didn't think she could get such detail into such a (relatively) small piece. Other artists in the shop kept coming over to watch. They would tell her it looked amazing, and she would say, "I must be crazy." But she pulled it off. I love what she did.

Took only three hours.

[curmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Oh gorgeous! And HUGE! When you said you were having it tattooed on your forearm, I assumed something about a third that size. Wow.

And Laura's is all happy and cheerful.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's actually a little bigger than what I was looking for, but smaller than what Stephanie wanted to do in order to get in all the requisite detail. But I think the compromise turned out very well. I like the size, and she was able to get in most all the detail she wanted to include.

Laura's is based on Klimt-styled flowers. Our painter friend Stephanie (not to be confused with the tattoo artist Stephanie) designed the piece, then came with Laura and took photos as the work was being done.

[eleanor.livejournal.com]

Tom Yak at NYA did my back. I'm thinking of getting a second tattoo, will go back there.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Hey, that's a nice design!

NYA has a really good vibe. I got a piercing there too, and it was a very pleasant experience. And Stephanie told a funny story that involved Tom. We were talking about the Shelley Jackson story-tattoo project. Stephanie said she's become known as the person at NYA who does script well, but no one has come to her to have a word done for Shelley's project, while Tom's done two or three. Stephanie was feeling left out.

[couscous1021.livejournal.com]

Looking good , you two! Bill, you could be like the literary Popeye !

3 hours, you say? How about Laura's? Were Laura's blossoms also done by Stephanie?

[shunn.livejournal.com]

I writes to the finich cause I eats me spinach.

Laura's took an hour, same tattooist. Turned on a dime, stylewise, Stephanie did.

[couscous1021.livejournal.com]

How do you feel today? Itchy? It really is wonderful, have you thought of submitting it to one of those wonderfully raunchy tattoo magazines?

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Feels a little sunburnt, but not too bad. When I wash it with antibacterial soap and hot water, though -- mother of God!

Hadn't considered a tattoo magazine, but now you've planted a dangerous seed....

[brezhnev.livejournal.com]

Next time, you could go to the Kolob Cafe, for a nice evening dish of lime Jello with shredded carrots, romantically set under the light of the kokaubeam.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

The kokaubeam are nice, but the wine selection really blows.

[brezhnev.livejournal.com]

Too bad about the wine selection not being up to snuff -- I mean, it's not even a hot drink, so how could it be not good?

And didn't Brother Enoch have a liquor license at his house in Nauvoo?

BTW, that's a nice shinelane machine on your arm.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid they're using the revisionist menu now at Cafe Kolob.

I'm kind of pleased with the shinelane. They do good work in Cainhannoch.

[brezhnev.livejournal.com]

Indeed... Writing has come quite a long ways since the days when they'd inscribe those frescoes and papyrii back in Iota Toues Zip-Zi. I must say, though, they sure find the darndest things in those old papyrii...

[markbourne.livejournal.com]

Incredible. (Ink credible?) That's stunning, Bill. The detail, especially the shading, is gorgeous. Can you flex your muscles and make a tappa-tapp-tappa-DING noise?

Of course, some would say writing good fiction is a lot like having a needle jabbed into your flesh again and again, all the while you're hoping something nice will be left over when it stops.

And congrats to Laura on getting her Klimt pierced. Um...

Nice all around, you two.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

I did flex the forearm this evening and tell Laura that I was typing. So far no carriage return bell, but maybe after the touch-ups three weeks from now.

Your thoughts on writing are pointed.

Laura and Ella departed not long ago for a weekend in Massachusetts. I'll convey your congrats on her Klimt when she's back in the, er, 'hood.

[bobhowe.livejournal.com]

Boy, good as the picture is, it absolutely doesn't do it justice. Mazel Tov.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was glad you got to see it in person. I kept wanting to unbutton my sleeve all day at the office but had to resist. Wearing long-sleeved shirts, even linen, in 85-degree weather is for the birds.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Of course, it's not just to hide the thing for now at the office. It's also a tattooist-recommended part of the healing process for the first couple of days.

[roadnotes.livejournal.com]

That's so great! Just such a perfect design... *envy*

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I've quite literally been thinking about this for years. Not this specific design, but I didn't want to get a tattoo until I was sure I'd come up with the right subject. My good fortune was that, once I did, I found an artist who did it better justice than I could have expected.

[organaut.livejournal.com]

That's gorgeous. My husband and I have been contemplating tattoos for a while.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Any thoughts about what to get?

[organaut.livejournal.com]

Husband is thinking of Ursa Major on his arm. I am not certain yet, have to come up with a personal design involving an organ pipe.

Welcome to the cult of the inked.

[ricperrott.livejournal.com]

Wow, that is a superb job. I knew you'd come around and join the club someday. You've come a long way from the shaggy haired madman at Music Boulevard, eh?

Congrats to the both of you on some seriously excellent work.


P.S. Don't be a stranger. :)

Re: Welcome to the cult of the inked.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! And I seem to recall that I'm not the only one with a hirsute history....

Re: Welcome to the cult of the inked.

[ricperrott.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course not... although in these days of a half-inch of hair (and less than that in a couple of spots) I sure do miss it sometimes. Quite honestly though I'm not sure what use I would have for three feet of hair nowadays. Perhaps I could knit some sort of organic parka for a hippie American Girl doll.

[thatames.livejournal.com]

So I was googling Stephanie Tamez today (because my long-awaited appointment with her is this coming weekend!) and came across this post of yours. I've been admiring this tattoo every time I look at Stephanie's portfolio, and it was so cool reading about the person who actually got it. It's so freaking beautiful, and is one of the pieces that was a major influencing decision for me to wait it out for Stephanie v. someone local. This post is clearly from three years ago, so I hope it is still looking fantastic and making you happy.

[shunn.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I couldn't be happier with my Underwood. I get more compliments on it than I ever expected. I now trying to figure out what else I can possibly get that will live up to it.

Good luck with your appointment with Stephanie this weekend! She's great. What are you getting?

[thatames.livejournal.com]

Please see here.

I'm with you; I can't imagine another tattoo will make me this happy. They might all have to be with her.