State of Grace Tattoo in San Jose, CA is celebrating their 10 year anniversary next weekend, September 1st. For $2, I doubt you’re going to find a better way to spend your Saturday.

On November 18th, Tattoo Now is holding the Food Tattoos For Hunger day. Artists, shops and donators will all work in partnership with Feeding America and will be doing food tattoos from flash for donations to food banks. If you are a tattoo artist or part of the studio, and are interested in joining the event November 18th, please fill out the submission form on Food Tattoos For Hunger and they will contact you directly.

Raising money for good causes is not new to the tattoo industry; although, banding together and focusing collective efforts will increase the impact. We are looking for anyone willing to help donate their time and efforts to this goal. Together we can generate more media attention and sponsors to donate to the benefit. Our goal is to have 100 shops participate and be able to raise at least $1,500 each so we can donate up to $150,000 to food shelters.

As this event approaches, I have no doubt we’ll have more information about participating shops and how collectors can be part of this event.

Skip over to Honkeykong’s solo art show on Saturday, July 14th at 5 and Dime in San Diego, CA. He’s calling it Zero Fucks Given and I totally back that.

Best Ink is preparing for season two, and they’re holding casting calls for both tattoo artists and people interested in getting tattooed. For those interested in getting tattooed, watch the cheesy video below. Interested tattoo artists can click here to see a link of casting calls over the next month, all over the United States.

Everyone has their own opinion about reality television shows in the tattoo world, but I don’t think it’s breaking news they’re here to stay. It should be interesting to see how these shows evolve over the next couple of years, and if the general public continues to support them.

Join Jason Loui and the rest of the crew at Iron Works Tattoo in Portsmouth, NH this Saturday at 7pm for the Oceanus gallery show.

Oceanus or Okeanos was the Titan god of the earth-encircling river in ancient Greek mythology. Later he became more commonly known as the god of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.

The Ocean is a mysterious and largely unexplored territory, rivaled only in size by outer space. Yet it is located on our planet and we are surrounded by it on all coasts. As a source of artistic inspiration the ocean has played an important part in tattoo culture and history, whether it be through the introduction of ideas and traditions through travel, or iconic tales and legends incorporating maritime themes and imagery. It is no surprise therefore, that many tattooers have a love for these images and for the ocean itself.

“Oceanus” seeks to explore this love and respect through a diverse display of artwork from many well-known and respected artists in the tattoo community. Through this artwork, you will be able to see how the ocean speaks to each artist.