Meet Shane Walkem of  Amityville Ink the most amazing tattoo artist I have EVER met, not only does he have an amazing artistic ability but he’s a genuine, down to earth, honest, guy with a great sense of humor (Thank God!) I tend to go a wee bit over board with my humor and some people just can’t take it! Shane by far is not one of those people, in fact he’s quite the opposite. A truly rare gem these days to be honest!

Anyway let’s get back to the Art of the body, I personally have 3 pieces Shane not only tattooed but literally brought to life! When you get a tattoo you generally (well most people at least) have an idea of what they want and usually the picture of it is pretty clear in their minds. (I will touch back on this, funny story so just keep reading).

The first time I went to see Shane this was exactly the case for me I wanted a tattoo and I wanted it NOW (a few of mine were quite spontaneous decisions, still I regret none!) more specifically I wanted a music note with the bottom bubble part in the shape of a heart on my wrist with some meaningful words to me at the time inside, the trick was I wanted the wording to be my skin not the tattoo (basically colored around the words instead). He kindly pointed out the flaws in my plan, it would need to be much larger than I had planned or the ink would just finish filling it in for me eventually, yes probably not for years but “A tattoo is for life, the design should be too!”

I was amazed, I mean I know there are a lot of people out there who wouldn’t tell me this in fear of losing a client. With Shane he really would rather not have a client than to have an unsatisfied client! I really wish more companies, even people were as sincere and honest! He even pointed out the fact that the way I wanted it was actually backwards. LOL! That part really didn’t bother me so much, I wanted it to “go with the flow of my body” I had said.

What he came up with is SOOOOO much better than the image I had in my head, he called it “shading” at the time. Coincidentally it  looks like (to me at least) crashing waves with mountains and storm clouds in the background. Which is me 100% that’s all I’ll say about that for now, if you have read some of my poems you already probably understand. This post tho isn’t really about me….well at least I don’t want the MAIN focus to be on me.

The first of my Amityville Ink collection by Shane Walkem

My second piece I wanted a ladybug behind my ear with its wings open. This time tho  Shane had a  lil bit of time to actually design it, well go figure just seconds before he is about to show me what he’s come up with I decided it would be wicked if he can make it in the shape of a heart! No problem a couple more minutes and I have a few of his ideas mapped out in full color and amazingly accurate! The winner was a simple choice tho and the funny part is he had thought that would be the one I wanted too! I love it!!! The process was great too, call me crazy but I actually really enjoyed it!  So much so that I decided my next piece would go behind my other ear.

2nd peice at Amityville Ink by Shane Walkem

This is the funny story mentioned in the beginning, I ran into Shane Walkem at a mutual friends house on my payday! “Oh what luck” I had thought, “I want another tattoo!!” Well I could see he was in the middle of his artistic process on a guy who didn’t seem to be having the same awesome experience I did. (I have heard women are built to endure pain a lil better than men, considering they give birth I have a feeling that is a somewhat accurate statement.) I won’t say getting ink doesn’t hurt, tho I will say for ME it really is almost the exact opposite! Now I realize I am extremely terrible with money, so I asked Shane Walkem if I could possibly pre-pay him for my next tattoo, his obvious next question “of what?” My ridiculous answer? ” I don’t know yet, something behind my ear!” and the “wittiest response of all time” award goes to….Shane Walkem “Oh ya, I’ll put something behind your ear no problem” 😉

The nauticalness was an idea he almost regretted mentioning! I’m so glad he did! My third tho NOT my final peice from Amityville Ink by Shane Walkem

Please keep in mind Shane behaves in an extremely proffessional  manner when with clients, to be completely fair, I definitely was the instigator behind the way we now interact, and I love it! I don’t only consider him my amazingly talented body artist but a close friend, whom I am very thankful to have met! Now I thinnk it’s time I share him with the world! Enjoy!

Here are some truly beautiful examples of his original body art:

Find him at any of the links above or this one here –> Amityville Ink by Shane Walkem These are some examples of his Cover Ups: