Ink & Art

I was in Italy by myself, last night of the trip. Some guy in my hostel was driving around Europe in a van tattooing people, and he offered a free one to anybody who came to dinner with him. So a few of us ate together, went back upstairs, and he set up on the bed.

It says tutto passa. Everything passes. A folding table, a roll of plastic wrap, a hostel room, and a few strangers taking turns.

Spontaneous, obviously. The placement is alright, not my favorite. Still don't regret it. It's the best story I've got and the only tattoo where I have no clue where the artist ended up.

Number two was a surfboard. Got it on my girlfriend's birthday because it sounded like a fun way to spend the day. That's the whole reason.

Not every one of these has to mean something. Some are just a good afternoon you can still see later. It sits right under the line from Italy so the two read like one thing now, which I didn't plan but it works.

Windansea in La Jolla. I've been going there for years. In 2023 I bought a painting of it, the shack on the sand with a surfer walking out, and I've loved that thing since the day I brought it home.

So I got the painting tattooed on my shoulder. Frame and all. Somebody else's brushwork turned into line work, which is about the best thing you can do for art you didn't make.

Then in 2026 I got down on one knee on those exact rocks, under that exact shack, and asked my now fiancée to marry me. Had the beach on my arm before I had the ring. I didn't plan that, it just worked out.

Hibiscus on my shoulder, done a few weeks ago on a California trip with friends. It's my fiancée's favorite flower and my dad's favorite flower, which I didn't go looking for and I'm not going to overthink.

Two people I'd follow anywhere, one flower. Photo of the finished piece once it settles.

Spray paint on the side of a building, two stories of it. Jesus in the crown of thorns with light coming off Him. I drove past it and turned around to go look at it properly.

Somebody stood out there with cans of paint and put that on a wall most people drive right by. I didn't make it and I don't know who did. It's just worth stopping for, and this is where I keep the stuff that is.