Music, art and tattoos

So if you know me, you know that I love music – I sing in two bands – and I have sort of a love affair with Social Distortion going on…and that part of that is my love of tattoo art.  Lately most of my art has revolved around these two things – tattoo style and Social Distortion.  The latest thing born of these …uh…obsessions…has been a series of snowboards called – obviously enough – The Social D boards.  Two of these boards (#’s 2 and 3) have been sold, and the other two are currently on display at Side Show Studios.

Social D #1 - Gardenias - inspired by the song "Footprints On My Ceiling"

Social D #2 - Romance - inspired by "Don't Take Me For Granted"

Social D #3 - Society's Blood - inspired by "I Was Wrong"

Social D #4 - Palm Trees - inspired by "Hwy 101"

All four are very different, but, I feel, share commonalities both in media and style.  Of course the content is all Social D related, but different subject matter, I suppose.  For these pieces, I took old snowboards and first covered them with newspaper clippings…some carefully chosen as with #3, and some chosen at random, as with #1.  I used tinted matte medium to decoupage the boards with paper and then painted over them with lyrics that struck me and images I felt jibed with the words.  These boards are the most fun I’ve had painting in a very long time…the last one especially was a lot of fun for me.  Beach images always perk me up, and attempting to stylize the water in #4 was at once challenging and satisfying.  It’s one of my favorite pieces.

I also dearly love classic flash tattoo styles.  I combined that with some of my own songwriting to get this lovely piece:

His Eyes Are Mine

This one (also currently on display at Side Show Studios) was done on canvas, but with the same newspaper decoupage style I used for the boards.  It’s also 3-D like “Broken Hearted” is…I’m not sure if you can tell from this picture, but the heart and the banner are all sculpted up using molding paste and spackle.  The words are from a song I wrote for my dad called “Lullaby”…”his eyes are mine” because we have the same exact color eyes…although I suppose “his eyes are mine” can really mean anything you want – that’s just what it means to me.

I really try to use my art – both singing/songwriting and what you see here – to both express how I’m feeling at the moment and try to create something the world might find aesthetically pleasing.  I’m not one to apply abstract meanings to art – mine or anyone else’s…and although I don’t necessarily discourage that, I feel like maybe that is why I feel drawn to placing text in my art.  It is what it is…*shrug*  Hope you enjoy!