Yang advancing over Yin

Mr Z has conquered another leg tattoo session. He drives up from Austin to get tattooed here in Dallas. This work in progress is executed with the traditional and singular black ink of Japanese tattooing, sumi. It must be hand ground and prepared for each tattoo, one at a time. I am very proud to work with this magic tool. It is a distinction that marks the work of most Japanese tattoo masters, and very few American tattooers. I am lucky, as this gift was given to me by my teacher, Derek Jefferson, who has always had a passion for using the best equipment he could make the connections to obtain.

We used to call up Rollo on the phone, asking what machines he had available that week. When once again we had to admit we couldn’t afford these handmade masterpieces that cost more than the rent on our shop, Mike would share machine tuning tips with us, and we would run back to our stations to implement these ideas immediately… One of my favorite parts of writing here are these trips back in time my mind takes me on, even when i had planned to write something else…

Mr Z is a top tier athlete, I designed this piece for him as a tool as well, to help him overcome opponents one by one, the heavy work inspiring their awe, or fear, or dread…Looking at it through the heady lens of the I Ching, the ancient Taoist classic, and interpreting it thusly, here is the receptive yin energy of earth being overrun by the strength of the yang energy of heaven. Restoring the primordial to the wearer, activating the firing process to obtain the gold elixir.

Using the proper tool for each job, success is visited upon the workmanship. Sharpening the tools, progress improves. I am in the middle of my learning. I enjoy the moments I have had and have now, looking forward to the success I will have as my tools grow in strength and spirit, flexibility and firmness.