I was sent an advance copy of "Tattoo Machine - Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink" by tattooer Jeff Johnson. I must say I was intrigued by the notion of a tattoo artist writing a book. As much as I enjoy writing the occasional blog entry I have no idea how someone puts down pages of sentences, paragraphs, and chapters into an interesting and complete story. I was always the one in school with not quite enough words in my essays.  

It's risky to put your ideas out there for people to examine and scrutinize, weather it's on TV, in an interview or in this case a book. Johnson acknowledges as much in his intro, "I expect to catch some shit about what I've related here." He also gives us a measured dose of humility as to his skills as a tattooer, "The people I know who are world-class in this profession put in some serious overtime. I doubt I'll ever be that motivated, and there's ample question as to weather I have the talent in the first place..... I hail squarely from the center of the ranks. "  That's a sentiment that I would say I share for myself as a tattooer, and it's very well put.

The book is an interesting read overall, I didn't have a problem getting through it but I did have a problem with some of the semi-macho posturing throughout. Maybe because I'm a woman tattooer I have a different outlook on things or maybe it's because my shop's far away from Portland Oregon where Johnson plies his trade. Some of the stuff he writes makes no sense to me.

He disparages traditional tattoos, "Some tattoo shops are utterly choked with..."traditional American" pap....It doesn't reflect what people are buying... and is largely useless as a touchstone to describe in a visual sense the range of possibilities..... In most cases it's so easy that a motivated monkey could do it." This coming from a guy who added this illustration to his book....

This Friday at Tattoo Culture Marisa Kakoulas (formery Marisa DiMattia) celebrates the launch of her new blog NeedlesandSins.com , "a blog focused on the art of tattoo and it's surrounding culture"  Marisa is a friend of mine and by far my favorite tattoo blogger. Marisa has a sassy, smart take on the tattoo world and has a unique perspective as a heavily tattooed New York Lawyer.  Marissa created and used to blog for the now defunct Needled.com. Needles and Sins branches out with more writers and more subject matter including graffiti, music, burlesque...."in essence, a daily lowdown on the lowbrow."

With so many uninformed, untattooed pretenders jumping into the tattoo world these days Marisa gives us a welcome narrative to the goings on around us in the world of tattooing.

The party starts at 7PM and runs until 10PM. Tattoo Culture studio and art gallery is located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Photos by Sean Toussaint will be on view, and there will be tequilq, uh oh.