"Layin' on the Tootskie!"

Soo today was a long day. Not long as in bad, long as in productive, one might say.
Today I was up at about 9:45, hung out in my room for a little while, then I got picked up at 10:30. Canman, Angela, and myself headed out to Western Massachusetts to go to the seminar, and to pick up their friend, Jamie Cross, who is the owner (I believe) of Nitemare Tattoo in Ludlow. The seminar was held at Off the Map Tattoo, which, as the name implies, is in the middle of nowhere. Although they are located in the middle of nowhere, Off the Map contains a consistent array of guest artists from all over the country. I met Gabe, who was an attending artist and director of tattoonow.com, and I can honestly say, he's a cool emmeffer. I met the other artist, Tattoo Andy, who does some pretty amazing work. He showed me a piece he did on his g/f's (i think?) foot of an old master painting. It was 'wicked-pissa,' as they say up hee-aah. I also got to meet Josh Carlton, who was presenting a seminar on big mag groupings and portraiture. It was fun, I got a copy of his book, and he pretty much talked about various other 'secret tattoo stuff.' ;oP
We hung out there for a couple of hours, then we headed a little further west to Northampton. There are so many little towns in the state, and the one's I have visited were very animated and interesting. Anyway, Canman, Angela, and Jamie met up with this photographer guy, Jeremy Saffer. Let me include that Jeremy is a fucking outrageous, amazing photographer. He is in his early twenties, and he has terrifc work preceeded by great recognitions. He has photographed many bands such as GWAR, Rob Zombie, Lacuna Coil...the list goes on. I cannot reiterate how amazing his work is. PLEASE check him out at www.jeremysaffer.com
The whole point in meeting up with him is that he is compiling a book of 'Skin and Ink.' Basically he is taking some artistic and somewhat nude pictures of tattoos and their collectors. They are tastefully done, exposing the human body and its permanent art, without blatantly exposing genitalia and such. It's well planned, and he even showed C, A, and J proofs once the photoshoot was over. I hung out and took pictures of the crazy building we were in, and browsed through Jeremy's portfolio while the photoshoot was going on.
After the photoshoot, the four of us shot out to get some grub. We went to this place called Eastside Bar, and the food was incredible. It's not your ordinary burger and fry joint. I got the butternut squash ravioli with pecans, which is kind of an odd thing for me, but it was excellent. That's just an example of what they had to offer.
We finished dinner, and headed back to Jamie's house. We BS'ed for a bit, checked out a bunch of amazing tattoo artist's work, and basically spent a few hours talking shop and what-have-you. After we left, Canman and I talked art for the remainder of the trip home, which was super cool. It's nice to have that interaction where we can be artists, and not have to worry about being defensive about each other's opinions.
Tomorrow, I check out of my hotel, and the three of us are heading to Boston to check things out, then get me shipped off to home. It has been an exciting week, well-worth the trip. I intend on doing it again soon, reallllll soon...
Welp, until another day, this is where I sign off. Hope this thing wasn't to boring for all you'z out in I-net land! Later!