TattooAftercare.org

I completely geek out over body suits-in-progress blogs, especially when the work is done by tattoo phenomena. [And it seems many of you do too considering the popularity of John Mack's series on getting tattooed by Horiyoshi III.]

One such blog is Munewari Minutes where Brooklyn’s own Mike Crash posts on the progress of his Japanese backpiece and munewari. As Mike explains in one of his first blog posts,

“Munewari (literally ‘chest dividing’) is a tattoo style which
covers the front of the torso while leaving the center of the chest
untouched…The shape is meant to conceal the tattoo when traditional clothing such
as a kimono is worn. As a matter of practicality, I confess the shape has become an
anachronism. You’re not likely to see many folks in kimono
outside of the rare formal occasion. But the style is unique to
Japanese tattoo and I think quite stunning visually, which no doubt has
contributed to it’s longevity–it is still a commonly tattooed style.”

It’s this information on Japanese tattoo, combined with Mike’s own personal experience, that makes Munewari Minutes such an interesting read.

The artist creating the work is the renowned Horizakura, aka Shinji, of the Horitoshi Family. Horizakura has been tattooing Mike–by machine and tebori–for six years at NY Adorned.

The artists of NY Adorned have inspired other tattoo bloggers whom I love like my friend Sarah whose site Evolution of a Backpiece (which we posted here) relays her experience getting tattooed by Stefanie Tamez. Sarah was inspired by the blog (one of the first tattoo-in-progress blogs) of another dear friend, Keith Alexander, who died in July 2005. While his site is no longer online, you can see here
on BME his backpiece, which was tattooed by Chris O’Donnell, also of Adorned.

Horizakura will not be at NY Adorned for long, however. As Mike noted in his most recent post, the artist will soon be opening up his own studio on the Lower East Side.

Other big changes are taking place at NYA:

Brookyln’s Galaxy of Tar – who have created a powerful amalgam of 70s-era Santana psychedelia with the prog-rock/metal components of contemporary acts Tool and Mars Volta – recently released a pair of tracks for free download at Lapdance Academy.