Nothing Says Love Like Permanent Artwork

Mia Graffam's amazing kokeshi work in honor of Zo - Honolulu, HI... August '09

Four months ago (that's it!?) we left Honolulu for Canada, and although June rode comfortably the entire flight(s) home, and despite Zo's incredible airline etiquette, I was a little uncomfortable. Why? Because I had almost six hours of tattoo work etched into my back right shoulder. Fortunately for me I was so stupefied with the work that Mia Graffam did that I didn't mind the slight discomfort of your typical economy class airline seat. Looking back now I can't believe that it's been that long since we were making Hawaii our home, or at least what felt like home after most of the summer, and that I have this incredible piece of artwork on my back.

I've stayed in touch with Mia, and am both comfortable enough with her, and confident enough in her and her awesome abilities to want more work done. It does, however, pose a bit of a problem that she's stuck in Honolulu's Chinatown and that four or five more hours of work would demand approximately thirty hours of travel including no less than six airplanes and eight airports round trip...uhmmm, not likely, but you never know. I'd never rule it out. What's more likely is that Mia makes her dream move to New York City and we re-connect on the East side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Anyway, in our efforts to keep that idea afloat we've kept in contact via MySpace, and Facebook. Naturally, after we connected I perused Mia's other artwork that she had on her various profiles and BLAM...found my kokeshi! It's a way better shot that June and I took that night back at the hotel in Waikiki at 1am so I cut and pasted the bugger and am serving it up here, some four months distant. The color etc...looks much better in Mia's pic that she took in the shop (Black Cat Tattoo Studio). There really isn't any other reason for me to post in again other than that I love it, and Mia's work deserves to be gandered at by as many people as possible if she's ever making that move to NYC. See, in a way it's terribly selfish of me. I just want more work done.

On a side note, a friend of mine gets his work done in London by the mucho reknown Mike Austin. Of course, Mike has a waiting list almost as long as the holiday check in lines at Detroit's Metro Airport and so I asked him who he'd recommend I consult with if not him. He quickly said, "Scott Duncan," and Sugar Shack Tattoo in Kincardine. I nodded and went in search of Scott. What I found was his family blog and have been a faithful follower of his family's little adventures ever since. I still haven't called Scott about the work I want done. I'd better get on that. Maybe I'm stalling to give Mia enough time to haul her pleasantly talented carcass to NYC or maybe I'm just lazy? I dunno, but I do know that after seeing the work that my right shoulder has framed for the past four months I need more.