Welcome to 2015!

Good God Almighty, how is half the year over already?

We have a host of announcements to make, some of which are way overdue, some have already come and gone. Per esempio, Johnny was a guest at Trilogy Tattoo in Virgina Beach in the month of May, working alongside industry legend Dave Lukeson.

• Last year, Johnny sat down with Keith Ciaramello of the Tattoo Mentor Podcast. If you missed it, you can check it out here. http://www.tattoomentor.com/archives/177

• June 7th: Seppuku Tattoo welcomes guest artists Lu Tattoo from Lecce, Italy! Come by and say buon giorno, schedule an appointment for a tattoo, or swing by to give him a nickle tour of your city.

http://www.lutattoo.com

https://www.facebook.com/lutattoo.tatuaggi?fref=ts

• June  17, 2015: This day will mark the fifth year being open at the Bloomingdale location, and the tenth anniversary of Seppuku Tattoo, which originally opened in Savannah on May 25, 2005. Plans are in the works for a commemorative T shirt give away, as well as a party, hopefully at a new joint scheduled to open directly around the corner from the studio, on the Hamburg Turnpike. More information will be announced as it happens!

• June 19-21: Seppuku Tattoo will be up in Canada at the Northern Ink Xposure Tattoo Convention. This is the convention's twenty fifth year, and it's an honor to be invited by Damian McGrath to participate. If you're planning on going, Johnny still has a few spots open, so feel free to contact him regarding appointments. The studio will be still be open, Jamison will be on hand with our staff of receptionists to help you with whatever you need.  

 http://torontotattooshow.com/

• July 10 -12: Seppuku Tattoo will be attending the first annual Empire State Tattoo Expo at the NY Midtown Hilton in New York City. The United Ink people have assembled a hell of an all star line up of artists from every corner of the planet, as well as some of the greatest artists from New York City, and is going to be a hell of a show. Not to mention the location puts us three blocks south of Central park. Johnny hasn't tattooed in his hometown since the Roseland Ballroom in 2004, and is glad to be included such an impressive collection of his peers. If you're a long time collector of work from Seppuku Tattoo artists, this will be an excellent time to show off your work.

http://www.empirestatetattooexpo.com/

• August 14-16: The Wildwood Beach Bash in Wildwood, NJ. The studio is inquiring as to whether there are still open spots, but is interested in attending. A large number of Seppuku Ronin journeyed down in 2012, and brought back a lot of shiny things. We'll announce as soon as we are confirmed. 

http://www.wildwoodtattoobeachbash.com/

• Coming soon: This,...

After a thirty year long resume creating visual art in a number of different mediums and a host of career titles, Johny is adding one more to the list. Details T.B.A.

•September 20-27: Johnny will be out of the studio for the following event. Please schedule your appointments appropriately. 

http://www.writingexcuses.com/2014/10/09/wxr2015onaboat/

• The studio has been working to become more fully staffed, and currently has four artists on a rotating schedule, which means that we are welcoming walk ins at most times. Please contact the studio for more information. 

• We still have openings in the schedule and could fit in another part time artist, and are always open to guest spots from visiting artists. Let us know if you're interested. 

As always, domo arigato gozaimasu to all the Ronin for your loyalty and support of Seppuku Tattoo!

October Updates

Happy October Seppuku Ronin. We hope that you’re enjoying this amazing Indian Summer as much as we are, unless you try to go apple picking and sit in non stop traffic for hours at a time. Oh the joys of ‘country’ life,…! Serves me right for not just heading into Central Park. A few announcements about things happening at the studio,… 

• Halloween Tattoos

Yes, we will be revisiting our Halloween Tattoo Flash again this year. Same deal as last year, first come, first serve. Both Jamison and Johnny will be in the studio for the day. http://seppukutattoo.blogspot.com/2013/10/halloween-tattoos.html

• Guest Artist Jess Versus! October 21-22

The exceptionally versatile Brooklynite Jess Versus has established herself securely on the web, raking up numerous photo sessions published online. More importantly, she’s a seasoned tattoo artist, model and burlesque performer. Well known around her way, Jess has a killer personal style that is expressed in her tattoos, graphic design and illustrations. One need only visit one of her numerous online pages (including flickr & tumblr) to get an idea of what she’s about – but you can take it from us that she has a personality and style which reflect that fiery hair color.

Whether with tattoo machine or pen and paper, this talented young artist delivers. After completing her apprenticeship with Jon Clue, she developed her own style and approach to the tattoo art form. Her custom work is colorful and technical, whilst her range as an artist is impressively diverse. Everything from old school Americana to fantasy benefit from her unique approach at the Twelve 28 Tattoo where she works. When not working her booth at the Williamsburg tattoo shop, Jess can often be seen bombing around town on her purple Gran Royale ‘Lurker’. Chances are she’s either heading to work, on her way to a photo session or to a burlesque show, so don’t get in her way. If you want some personal time with this rising tattoo artist you’d best catch her during business hours to go over those design ideas.

jessversus@gmail.com

• Randy Prause has been on the disabled list since mid August, when he sliced his fingers on broken glass and had to undergo reconstructive surgery. He has been in physical therapy and recovering as quickly as can be expected. Due to our busy schedule, he is taking appointments for his return and advises clients interested in getting the best dates to book early. Contact Randy directly for information on his timeline. 

randyprause@gmail.com

Domo arigato gozaimasu to all the dedicated ronin for your love and support. Ja mata!

Tattoo Mentor Podcast

EPISODE 5: PART ONE OF A POTENTIAL TEN-PARTER WITH JOHNNY ‘THIEF’ DI DONNA

http://www.tattoomentor.com/?p=177

Oyaho gozaimasu Seppuku Ronin!

Again, I apologize for the lack of blogging. In my defense, I did work fifty eight out of the sixty days that was March and April. Deciding to simply switch over the existing business from a single owner from a partnership turned out to be much more complicated than if I had simply terminated everything and started over from scratch. And thank you for keep the whole studio busy. We appreciate your support and try to always remember that we'd be looking pretty silly tattooing without any skins.

I have a lot of irons in the fire, and we will be announcing plans for conventions, guest spots, travel and special events. We've recreated the website, again, because damn the Internets for not completely changing formats more often than some people change status updates.

Here is a podcast that I was invited on with Keith Ciaramello. Loyal retainers to the Seppuku shogunate will remember Keith as host in the all star Paint Jam at his former not so hurricane proof studio in Baldwin, NY. And no, he STILL hasn't finished his painting from that event either. But take a listen. And then jump off to Keith's page and subscribe, his podcast features some of the coolest people currently in the tattoo industry. 

ACE IN THE PLACE

Ohayo gozaimasu Seppuku Ronin-sama!

Tomorrow, Saturday, March 1st, we have the honor of hosting guest artist Amanda 'Ace' Allen of Tribeca Ink in New York City. Ace is a long time friend of the studio, and has been tattooing and traveling to conventions coast to coast for years. This short notice is due to the fact that Johnny will be out, attending a memorial service for a dear friend and mentor who helped shape him into the artist he is today. Ali Chin Chin has scaled back her schedule to part time, and new resident artist Randy Prause is still getting acclimated from his old digs.

We will have all the proper announcements when the deck chairs are all reshuffled,... it takes us analog artists a bit longer to get things set online. But we just wanted to let everyone know that you can get a walk in or a killer piece from Ace tomorrow!

http://www.artbyace.com/

https://www.facebook.com/#!/TribecaInk

Domo arigato gozaimasu!

HALLOWEEN TATTOOS!

Seppuku ronin know how obsessed we are with Halloween and all things horror related. In the past we've set aside October 31st as a day where we gave away free Halloween tattoos, each artist picking a single winner based on the best tattoo idea. We are going to do thing a little differently this year, as this will be our last year with Matt Lukesh, and his schedule being completely booked between now and the end of the year. 

This year, I have set aside all Halloween Day for walk ins, and will do any piece off of these three flash sheets I've compiled for our minimum set up charge, which everyone knows is $50. I'm willing to spend anywhere from one to three hours on each piece, a value of between $150 to $450. I may be talked into doing something not on the sheets, but only if its as cool or cooler than the pieces assembled here. 

Anyone asking for lettering, quotes, or names to be added to the tattoo during this offer with be disposed of mimicking every death in every Friday the 13th movie all at the same time. 

Thanks for all of your continued support, and have a great Halloween season. 

Johnny Thief

Seppuku Tattoo wants YOU!

Ohayo gozaimasu Seppuku Ronin! I apologize for the lack of blogging, but the studio has been consistently slammed. We have been to two Hell City Conventions, a weekend of tattoo seminars, a paint jam at Off The Map, Ali was in Switzerland getting tattooed by Filip Leu, and a host of other events that have kept us all spinning and jet lagged.

I'm bumping my blogs about lettering tattoos and tattoo TV shows, give them a read.

http://seppukutattoo.blogspot.com/2012/02/letter-of-law-laws-for-lettering-and.html

http://seppukutattoo.blogspot.com/2012/04/tv-hammer-party-tonight.html

After a very successful partnership spanning three studios over eight years, Seppuku Tattoo is saying goodbye to Matthew Lukesh at the end of this year. Matt is relocating to Iowa, specifically the Platinum Rose Tattoo Gallery, owned by the extremely talented and handsome Josh Fields. 

In early 2012 we were on a search for new talent which netted us one Ali Chin Chin, and we wrote this blog citing what it was we were looking for.

http://seppukutattoo.blogspot.com/2011/12/help-wanted.html

Matt has some pretty big shoes to fill, so we will be looking at a lot of people. Let me take a few minutes to give you a run down of Seppuku Tattoo, and why it would make a great home for another world class artist or two.

Seppuku began in 2005 and is in its eighth year. We build a new studio in Savannah, Georgia, in an attempt to open in a city that hadn't yet been over run by shops, and also to honor our non compete contracts. Almost immediately we started traveling, attending events and winning awards. Johnny took off to attend the CMJ Music Festival, where he was a guest of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame the very first week we opened our doors. The first month we were open, we crashed the Prick Magazine Tattoo Party at the Jinx in Savannah, and Johnny took the shop's first award for Best Small Color. The Savannah shop was set up as a gallery, and hosted a series of art shows that included Jeral Tidwell, Johnny Crap, Rob Schwager, Brian Morris, Jason Goad, author Paul Grushkin, Brian Ewing, Stainboy, Jason Cooper, and of course Jeff Wood. Now free from being dictated to by our former owners, we expanded our art, began studying painting techniques again, and incorporating fine art theory into the tattooing. Matt's paintings transformed dramatically. They had formerly been based on tattoo flash styled imagery, and shot forward into proper fine art. Matt's tattoos likewise took giant leaps forward, especially being able to experiment in way we had been forbidden to do before. For example, we were never allowed to tattoo color portraits. Now Matt is known internationally for his brand of realism, having clients travel from as far away as Amsterdam. Not to be outdone, Johnny found himself being asked to paint the cover of Skin & Ink Magazine in December 2009. We would be onstage painting in the Wet Paint Projects at Hell City and at the Mad Hatter's conventions, and at closed door all day Paint Jams at Keith Ciaramello's Kustom Kulture Gallery.

Seppuku worked hard to be included in the very ethnocentric Savannah society. We hosted a number of late night fetish balls and sponsored a number of live concerts. We were at the Trustee's Theatre with Paul Grushkin as he presented his coffee table sized tour de force, 'The Art of Modern Rock', to an audience of hundreds. We held a poster show with a number of the book's artists at the Jinx. The studio participated in art shows in Charleston, including a number of poster shows, and the Munny Show. We held book signings, participated in art shows, and Johnny even performed a Halloween wedding at the studio. For all our efforts, and how well received each event was, we felt that Savannah was just not for us, and we moved home after a five year run.

Seppuku attended a number of conventions, particularly proud to be invited to the ones run by our peers, like Durb Morrison's Hell City Tattoo Expos, and Billy Easton's Richmond Tattoo Convention. Normally we are the kind of people that scoff at awards, but on the other hand, it is fun to take an award from a show surrounded by so many peers. Or taking nearly every award, like we did at the Savannah Harley Davidson Haunted Coast Run. We also received a sizable amount of attention from the magazines, notably Skin & Ink, International Tattoo Arts, Tattoo Society, Tattoo Energy, Tattoo Savage, Tattoo Revue, all the Outlaw Biker publications, and a number of Best Of issues. Matt is published in books from the Publishers of Bizarre Magazine, including 'The World's Most Incredible Tattoos'. Both Johnny and Matt appear in 'Cranial Visions', and other artist compilation books. Johnny and Matt also are quoted in Chris Dingwell's book, 'Inside Out'. Johnny's introduction to the book is actually cited by a number of book reviews. 

Johnny continued to move in his former worlds, attending a number of events as a poster artist for Drowning Creek studios. In addition to the Rock Hall Show in Cleveland, he also attended the TRPS Festival in Golden Gate State Park in 2008, and Stainboy Reinel's book signing and poster show in Orlando, The Living Dead Dolls Show in NYC, and a CBGB's Benefit Art Show just prior to their closing. He's been published in a stack of books about rock art, has artwork that appears in Guitar Hero 3, had a poster turned into a DVD for the All American Rejects, and created a poster for Hot Topic's GH promotions. His first paying writing gig was for an article on the release of the 'Art of Modern Rock' book. Johnny is sent photos of people tattooing his posters on them from as far away as South Africa. 

Seppuku has had the honor of hosting great guest artists, including Josh Fields, Dee Dee Seruga, and the aforementioned Chris Dingwell. We've had a number of tattooists & poster artists travel to receive work from us. We also hosted the multi talented Dingwell teaching his 'Painting Without Fear' seminar at the studio for a closed door all day event. Each Seppuku artist is dedicated to getting work from great tattooists as part of the learning process. Some of the artists we've collected from include Filip Leu, Horiyoshi 3, Bugs, Jeff Gogue, Paul Booth, Sean Herman, Josh Duffy, Nick Baxter, Joe Capobianco, Chris O'Donnell, Tomo, Josh Fields, and Ivana Belakova. Ali and Johnny are committed to traveling overseas to continue their collections. 

Seppuku is in Bloomingdale, NJ. We chose the locale for two main reasons; legality, as its still illegal to tattoo in portions of NJ, and the fact that's its not near anyone else, almost an impossibility in this day and age. Although in a sleepy town in the hills, we're right off several main highways, and only 30 minutes outside of NYC. We enjoy being able to attend art shows, gallery openings, conventions, seminars, as well as everything else New York offers, but come home to lakes, rivers, and great hiking. 

In the future, we plan on continuing as we always have, creating great art in all mediums, and creating a great space to get tattooed in. We plan on doing more things outside our doors, as our space isn't quite the art gallery the old joint was. We plan on continuing traveling, both as tourists, collectors, and as tattooists. We will continue to abide by the bushi code of honor, loyalty and trust. We will be enemies of the status quo and killers of mediocrity. We have great plans for the studio, and great plans require great artists. 

If you're tired of walking the demon road of meifumado as an assassin for hire, there can be no better place to call home than Seppuku Tattoo. All qualified ronin, please contact Johnny Thief at johnny@seppukutattoo.com. Domo arigato gozaimasu!

Turning Japanese,...

Ohayo gozaimasu! Hajimemashite. Watashi wa tato~uatisuto Johnny Dorobo desu,... nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu, demo mata jozu ja arimasen,... so I'll stick to English, and tell you about the trip I took to the eight islands of Nihon, my Japanese trip last December.

Being Seppuku Tattoo, all things Japanese permeate our daily lives, from art, manga, anime, tattoos, movies, fashion, motorcycles, culture, food, drink, and ethics. It was only natural that I would want to visit and delve into as many of the Japanese cultures as I could, from sampling their world famous cuisine to getting traditional irezumi from the most honorable horishi.

I can't say enough about my tour guide, Crystal Morey. Originally from Austin, Crystal has lived in Japan since the 90's, and is the owner of Gomineko Books, exporting rare historical periodicals to the tattoo community globally. She has an undying love for her adopted country and all of its timeless traditions. She is also heavily tattooed, has befriended many of the most prominent tattooists, and runs tours specifically designed for gaigin tattooers like myself to see Japan as only we can. She acts as interpreter, tour guide, history buff, manners coach, and if you're not careful, will also drink you under the table or kick your ass at a karaoke showdown. She does a number of tours during the year, with a maximum roster of fifteen, and in a number of cities, from Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. If you want to see a side of Japan that very few tourists ever will, or have always wanted to collect the tattoo work of some of the best artists on the planet, by all means, book a Gomineko tour. I would have been one lost and clueless otaku without her. I only wish there was a Crystal for every country I want to visit.

Crystal Morey: http://www.gominekobooks.com/

The video below shadows my trip eerily. Its filmed by renown traditional old school master Marcus Kuhn, & is just one of this installments of the Gypsy Gentlemen tattoo travel series he's been producing. Take a look, both the tattoo studios I was tattooed at are represented. (Stop the film at  8:16 and see my poster collection I brought as omiyage in Horiyoshi 3's studio!) I believe he was there just a week after I was. This video is reposted with his permission, domo arigato gozaimasu Marcus San!

The Gypsy Gentleman Episode 7: Japan Part 1: http://vimeo.com/71126278

I'm including a number of links to sites, videos, and photo galleries to give you more of a feel for all the amazing sites we explored.

• We stayed in Shinjuku, the famous red light district, down the block from the Japanese version of CBGB's, Antilock. 

• We learned to navigate the extensive subway system, and visited Harajuku, Shibuya, Yokohama, Kamakura, and a number of seaside towns. 

• We partook in cleansing and money washing (zeniarai) rituals at Shinto shrines, viewed traditional weddings of samurai families at the Meiji Shrine, and climbed into the mountains to visit the Nikko National Park, a world heritage site. 

• We climbed inside the largest buddha statue in Japan at the Kotokuin Temple. 

• We visited a ukiyo-e woodblock print museum. 

• We burned incense at the gravesite of the Forty Seven Ronin. 

• We went underground in the Benten-kutsu Caves at the Hasedera Temple. 

• We climbed through hundreds of torii to the Sasuke Inari Shrine. 

• We turned into children at the Studio Ghibli Museum. 

• We rode a bullet train to the Gunma prefecture, where we painted at a daruma factory, and watched Steve experience tebori at the hands of sensei Horimasa. 

• We ate at fantastic restaurants, izakaya, ramen houses, famuresu, Indian, sushi bars, manga kissu, and a host of bars, watering holes, and karaoke rooms. We ate at a theme restaurant called the Lock Up, where your hostess handcuffs one of your party and escorts them to a prison cell to eat. 

• We drank at a west coast styled bar called Tombstone, on the night that visitors from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and California were celebrating after the Moon Eyes 21st Yokohama Custom Car Show. 

• We crossed Shibuya's famous scramble crossing in front of the statue of Hachikō.

• We ended up at David Lynch's Musuem Exhibit at the Laforet in Harajuku. 

• We sang karaoke with tebori master, sensei Horimyo, who blew me out of the water. 

• And, of course, I got tattooed.

Horiyoshi 3 is the godfather of Japanese tattooing, an apprentice of the second Horiyoshi, who's master was practicing ancient tebori (Japanese hand tattooing) before World War 1. He is considered to be not only one of the most skilled tattooists on the planet, but a living lifeline to tattooing's prehistoric past. In the book, 'Bushido: The Legacy of Japanese Tattoo', Horiyoshi 3 explains a series of ideals and ethics that we at Seppuku have used as the cornerstone of our careers and how we treat our customers. Just one examples is the fact that sensei Horiyoshi 3 hasn't raised his prices in decades, despite the fact that droves of people are continually making pilgrimages from across the globe to his humble Yokohama studio to sit at the feet of the grand master. His outlook is that people are making a sacrifice of pain, endurance and money to wear his art and carry it to the grave, so he honors their dedication and makes himself available to everyone, including those of humble means. (Not price gouging gullible star fuckers like some tattoo reality TV stars we could name.) I've dreamt about meeting honorable Horiyoshi 3 ever since I put on my first tattoo in 2000, and to sit in the same studio featured in the books I've studied all these years was simply mind blowing. 

My tattoo, placed on one of my hands that I create my art with, is a namakubi, or severed head. The final act of a formal seppuku ceremony is when the kaishakunin, the second, cuts off the head of the bushi warrior who has finished slicing open his own belly. The tattoo has multiple meanings, but is meant as a tribute to both my dedication to the studio and to the samurai code of chivalry. 

 

We visited Horiyoshi 3's Tattoo Museum, not far from his Yokohama studio. The museum is a huge collection of tattoo artifacts and memorabilia from around the planet and across the ages, donated by hundreds of artists who have made the pilgrimage to sit at the grand master's feet. Although I was tagging Seppuku stickers everywhere I went, and using them as senjafuda at the shrines, the highlight was when Horiyoshi's wife asked us to add to her sticker collection on the front of the building. 

http://horiyoshi3tattoo.com/

http://horiyoshi3tattoo.com/horiyoshi-iii-tattoo-museum/

http://www.amazon.com/Bushido-Legacy-Japanese-Takahiro-Kitamura/dp/0764312014/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375335221&sr=1-1&keywords=bushido+tattoo

I chose Yellow Blaze as the second place I wanted to be tattooed. I've long admired Shige's meteoric rise to being one of the youngest new stars to be included in the best tattooists in the world. Shige is currently not accepting new clientele, but I felt that his apprentice, Tomo, was easily also one of the most skilled horishi in Nihon. I had planned two days in a row, and wanted a jigoku-dayo, (courtesan of Hell), and scheduled enough time for a sizable piece. Tomo was taken with the idea of taking the idea and turning it into a project, and convinced me to let him take up the entire leg, from hip to ankle. I agreed, as a tattoo artist, I know that giving the art as much room to breath is vital. But also, the courtesan's robes are embroidered with scenes from buddhist hell, demons torturing souls, and the largest the robes, the more art that can be shown. Naturally return trips will be necessary to complete the art. 

http://www.yellowblaze.net/

Not enough can be said about the trip. Even at ten days it was impossibly short. This marks one of many trips I'm planning that involve getting tattooed by masters in their home countries. If you have any questions about my experience, please feel free to ask.

Ja mata! Johnny Thief

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-seven_Ronin

http://www.sunnypages.jp/article/tokyo_sightseeing/shrines

http://www.thetokyootaku.com/2009/09/sengakuji-temple/

http://www.horimasa.jp/

http://horimyo.com/

http://www.threetidestattoo.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2oI-bwxoLE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Shrine

http://www.hasedera.jp/words/english/e1.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3101.html

Daibutsu: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3100.html

Nikko National Park : http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3800.html

Zeniarai Benten Shrine: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3111.html

http://tokyobling.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/sasuke-inari-shrine-a-leash-of-foxes/

http://www.ukiyoe-ota-muse.jp/

http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/8/22/1346/33453/travel/Visiting+the+Rockabilly+Gangs+of+Tokyo%27s+Yoyogi+Park

http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdmBBpPXK9A

http://www.notquitenigella.com/2008/07/11/the-lock-up-prison-restaurant-at-shibuya/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRSD7YbMUlo#at=12

http://www.tokyoweekender.com/2012/11/david-lynch-at-laforet/

http://www.mooneyes.co.jp/en/events/2012-events-schedule/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/TOMBSTONE-BAR/450788534961107

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachikō

http://www.rockinjellybean.com/index.shtml

http://www.guitarwolf.net/english/

http://www.kinokuniya.com/

http://www.spencerart.ku.edu/exhibitions/divine-inspiration/kwon-jigoku.shtml