On the road and Off the Map

Sometimes you have to let go....

Ever since my move to England and the...untimely return, I've been dying to make another move. However, my English adventure taught me (among other things) that if I couldn't be happy in the spot I was in, I wouldn't find happiness somewhere else...I had to become happy with me and my work ...pleased with my contribution, I guess. No ONE and no WHERE could do anything FOR me... end of the day, you have to be able to do work...and figure out how to make that work, satisfactorily, enough.

So, after dealing with pride and hard lessons, I let go (like two years later, but hey, better late than never) I focused on my craft, took up painting, and tried to smile more often. Then one day while looking through tattoosnob.com for inspiration I came across an application to be the fifth full time artist at Off the Map Tattoo! Creators of tattoonow.com and the Paradise Tattoo Gathering and Artist Retreat!

It should be noted, this was also really bad timing to think about a move, or a quick trip to Massachusetts ...THREE weeks before my wedding! so to my wife and my mother in-law....OOPS! HAHA! Really, very sorry for the extra stress.

Needless to say, I gave it a shot....to my joyful surprise I got a response the next day!

That was October...since then I've been to Massachusetts twice, totaling a little under a month and a half worth of time, Getting to know, living with, and working along side some of the most humble and inspiring people I've met in my nine years in this industry. I am truly honored to be a part of the Off the Map family, and so excited for April, to fully begin this new chapter...eager to grow.

Until then I find myself back in Kentucky, trying to bring that chapter to an end...For the rest of the month I'll be doing private sessions on customers with large ongoing work (expect a new episode in the body suit series) as well as three guest spots at the shops of some of my favorite Kentucky tattoo artists. Bleed Blue Tattoo- March 15th and 16th, Studio Ink Tattoo-March 22nd and 23rd, as well as After Forever Tattoo- March 28th and 29th. I have a couple spots left If anyone is interested, at both Studio Ink and After Forever. Email me at theartofjoeking@gmail.com

Okay, so I've covered where I've been, and where I am...on to the future!

I'm working on two new blog posts...After the first video...I had several people asking about the process, and one guy, I promised I would do another video accompanied by a sort of tutorial....in retrospect I shouldn't have done that HAHA! But, I did say I would, and have begun shooting the footage. Expect that within a week.

The other is an article I've decide to do about distraction and how it affects the artist.... Something I've been dealing with and spending a lot of thought on for the last couple months.... A time when I was completely free of distraction....I pondered the concept of distraction...that seems kinda messed up now that I think about it.

Anyway, I'm gonna do this more often...I've been enjoying it, so I'm planning things to do monthly as well as regular updates. I also see a personal website on the horizon.

Still uncertain of exact date of return but I am booking appointments as early as the first week of April at Off the Map Tattoo in Easthampton Mass. If I missed you this month in Kentucky, I'm sorry...stay in touch and I'll get you the next time around! I'm still in the United States this time!


Thanks for all the support!

Joe King

"The Great Cycle" revisited...

A week or so ago I tattooed my roommate Brittany. She gave one of the coolest request I have I have ever received...brittany asked for a version of one of my own paintings, "The Great Cycle" from a series I started last year called "The as above so below series" I had so much fun I had to share...

Now, I never intended to tattoo that image, so for our purposes I needed to reevaluate my original concept and format it to be a lasting tattoo with flow to the body. At the end of the day the only blatant imagery from the painting I used was the skull and keyhole but I do feel that my original idea is still in tact just with a slightly different approach. So keeping true to the title of this blog here's the rundown of the image.

1) The skull: I use skulls quite a bit in my art. And the reason I do this is...well, to me the skull is a perfect way to represent humanity in a universal way. I's a unifying feature that can be free from racial, or sexual stereotypes. It also seems to have an "edgy" appeal that gets reaction.... sometimes positive sometimes negative depending on the viewer. As far as I can tell, good or bad, reaction is a win.

2a) Oak Leaves: On a personal level, I LOVE to look at leaves! and if I love it it should be in my art. The beauty and perfection of nature moves me on a daily basis. Trees in particular remind me of a sort of nervous system of the earth... Gathering information from above to feed below. At the end of every branch a leaf reaches to the heavens to grab the infinite bounty and splendor of the universe and give it back to it's source. Mediators to the conversations of celestial bodies.

2b) In different occult studies the oak was a representation of God.

3)The Golden Spiral: In the background I used a sort of halo/ flourish that I built from the golden spiral. Here's a fun little video I found a while back that illustrates the golden spiral/ ratio very well....



4) The Keyhole: To me the keyhole represents mystery but it implies that there is accessibility to the secrets of the other side. All are shut out... unless you obtain the key.

So to summarize, man is surrounded by divinity from birth to death. We are cradled by our source. Yet understanding is locked away... If we seek the key, we fall into an infinite spiral of creation and universal truth.

I got to put a lot of myself into this project. and I am very proud of the result. In the future I hope to be given more opportunities to be so immersed in my work.

Earth: Chapter One

I have received a great honor...to be honest, recently, I've had many great honors. All of which, I feel, deserve their own individual time in the spot light so for now I will focus on just this one.
As a tattoo artist I am continuously amazed at the amount of trust our (the industry's) clientele give us on a daily basis. Unlike a painting, there is no, hang it on a wall for a couple years and store it away until you wanna see it again...no resale value. No collector waiting to scoop it up when your done with it. Our customers commit to our individual products for the rest of there lives. For me it's...well, moving really.
My cousin Phillip has recently committed to one of the, in my opinion, biggest honors that a tattoo artist can receive...a full body suit! there are no obstructing pieces to work around, there is nothing to cover up, and no limitation to creative control. The idea of such a task leaves me speechless.

I have decided to document this process.

The concept is a basic one, each limb is to be a representation of the elements. Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. All converging into the ethereal realm of Consciousness on the back. the front will be limited to just a chest piece representing the balance of all of the above. Artistically, my job is to translate that into a grouping of images and symbols unique to his and my own understanding of these concepts.

I haven't done any sketching to prepare for the the project as of yet. (that will change of course a little further down the road) Because of my relationship with Phillip and our mutual interest in many of these topics we simply discussed the idea to paint mental pictures and potentials.
This first sitting was to be the Earth element. We decided to represent this with stone carvings based off of mayan sculpture, and nature overtaking theses structures. Here is "Chapter One" of this long journey.