larch needles newsletter 2/25
PROLOGUE
Hello everyone! It's been a strange February (although a strange February seems to be the norm now). Winter has been teetering on the edge of spring since it began, and the wet ground is now dotted with snowdrops and crocuses (although since beginning to write this, temperatures have plummeted and a carpet of snow has materialized). A period of transition approaches, as my studiomate Liev (@trinketkeeper) prepares to move back to their hometown of Portland after a year in Beacon. As much as I will miss their presence here, I'm also very excited to be welcoming my new studiomate Adria (@adriamercuri) into the space! She'll be working here beginning in late March.
It's been a while since my last newsletter (six months to be precise, yikes!), and about a third of you just subscribed in the past couple days. The purpose of this newsletter is twofold - to deliver announcements and updates related to booking, and to share selections of my recent work. I can also give myself permission to be a bit more long-winded than I would be on Instagram. My rough plan for this newsletter going forward is to publish a new issue every month, alternating between a roundup of recent work and the announcement of a new booking period opening up.
Currently, my books are always open, and scheduling appointments is a continuous process (which involves a lot of repetitive Instagram stories about how desperately under-booked I am). I'm hoping to eventually transition to a model in which my books open for a short window every two months via this newsletter, after which I fill out my schedule for the next two months all in one go, but I'm still quite far that being viable. At any rate, the more people join this newsletter, the less dependent I can be on social media for communication, which is a wonderful thing!
BOOKING
My current booking period is March and April!
March appointments are limited to: 3/7, 3/8, 3/15, 3/26, 3/28, 3/29.
April remains mostly open.
You can find my booking form here, and all my available flash designs here.
RECENT WORK
Here are some favorites from the past several months!
sky swirl, 9.24.22 - The largest color piece I've done to date. I haven't received much interest in color work since I started offering it, although there was a brief stretch of time in the fall when suddenly that was all anyone wanted!
earth ligature, 10.1.22 - This was the last in a streak of color pieces, and I think the accumulated experience in both color mixing and color application really shows. I think this earthy color palette suits my work very well and I'd love to use it more.
nerve endings, 10.9.22
glyph gauntlet, 10.18.22
tangle of roots, 10.30.22 - This is a bit of an odd one out! I did this custom piece for a close friend of mine, who was generous enough to let me explore some very unfamiliar territory. I've grown to like shading and texture quite a lot, but I'm still figuring out how to incorporate it into my practice, which has been so heavily linework-based since I started tattooing.
whorl dance, 11.18.22
circuitous path, 11.20.22
mystery trinket, 12.5.22 - Another odd one out - this piece was designed by my studiomate Liev as part of a trade in which I tattooed their design on them and vice versa. After completing this, I feel immeasurably more confident with these shading techniques (which I've learned are somewhat unorthodox - I just tried my best to use my machine like a pencil and then approximate my own drawing method).
cambrian explosion, 12.7.22 - This custom piece was designed as an expansion and mutation of an earlier piece I had done for the same client (the healed tattoo in the center of the chest). This proved to be quite a challenge, but an incredibly satisfying one - definitely up there in my all-time favorites!
ferrofluid streams, 12.9.22 - This coverup piece was done freehand, although I did prepare a sketch ahead of time which was incredibly helpful. I wanted to make use of the existing negative space in the old tattoo as much as possible. I used to do a lot of freehand work, but the pressure of coming up with something entirely on the spot was just too nerve-racking for me.
unstable synapse, 12.16.22
extended archipelago, 12.18.22
signal overlay, 1.17.23 - Astute viewers will notice that this is the same design as in "unstable synapse." I've opened up recently to repeating flash designs, since one design can manifest in so many different ways depending on placement (as well as modifications and adjustments). I'm not interested in doing multiple tattoos that feel identical, but as long as it feels like a fresh take I'm all for it. Side note: this piece was part of a trade with the brilliant Adria Mercuri, my incoming studiomate!
filigree, 2.5.23
turbulence, 2.10.23 - I'm so glad this family of designs is finally catching on!
nerve implant, 2.12.23
unstable current, 2.15.23
translucent eddies, 2.17.23 - Rather than solid black, this piece was done in a range of transparent grey tones. I would definitely love to do more like this, and came home with a lot of notes on how to execute this concept even better next time.
sprawling synthesis, 2.19.23
cellular biome, 2.21.23
open eddies, 2.24.23 - The client here requested that this design be tattooed with outlines only, no fill. I'm certainly happy to take this approach for anyone else with a similar preference.