...half a year later...

...busier than ever before. lots and lots of stuff has happened from the last news update until now. mainly just more of the same, but with some twists.

"SCRATCH ART"

guy aitchison and michele wortman's new book project "scratch art" is out and awesome! i did a few scratchboard pieces for it, including this one of my wife, christine. it was a super fun experience, and it was incredible to see all of the work that everyone did for it. this is a definite must have for any tattooer's collection of art books.

"christine" scratchboard, 5 x 7" 2007

i did a larger format scratchboard piece for the "skin vandals" art show in san jose. it was a version of an earlier piece, rendered with the same scratches as the other boards i did, but with the addition of subltle colors.

"blemish 2" scratchboard and watercolor, 16 x 20" 2007

"UNDERWAY IS THE ONLY WAY"

grime and horitaka's new book, underway is the only way is out now. i was honored to do an interview for it, and i found myself in incredible company. it kills me that i forgot to mention guy aitchison as one of my favorite artists...hopefully he reads this, because he most definitely is! there were also a couple of embarassing misspellings: albert paley and robert venosa, two of my favorite artists...apologies sirs, i ended up doing the interview in my normal last-minute-crunch method and did not have time to proof the text. it was great to see my tattoo stuff in print after a 10 year absence from published work on skin. awesome book!

new CUSTOM MACHINERY...the fancy stuff.

as far as fancy machines go, i have made so many killer new custom machines, i don't even have the time to start posting them now. that will prolly be my next blogging project. i started a flickr page and put up most of what i've done, machine wise, in the past 8 months, there are almost 200 pictures up! so i might just leave this link handy and not post the older stuff, just focus on the new junk. i'm also going to get my web genius, aaron nagel, to update my galleries with all the new stuff. in the meantime...check out the flickr page.

!!!!!!BIG NEWS!!!!!!

workhorse irons is taking a break. follow this link to the official statement. soba's little business got too big, too fast, and we are all experiencing growing pains from the incredible success of WHI. we'll all be back in six months, bigger and better than ever. i have four new models on deck for the relaunch, and the other players will be coming out with some kick-ass stuff also. this is the best possible move that soba could make. after the restructure, he will be able to focus more on creation rather than administration. thank you all so much for the incredible support of workhorse, and big, big, big thanks to soba for making me part of the workhorse team!

i am on full-on scramble to get all back stock of frames built up, tuned and out the door, so if you've been waiting for one of my WHI machines, now is the time. i won't be making the bottle opener or the roundback at all after the break, they are being discontinued...so don't miss out.

IRAQ SPECIAL EDITION MACHINES FOR CHARITY

up on ebay right now! 100% of the money from the sale of this pair will go to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, a 4 star charity providing assistance to the families of fallen and severely injured specialists. my best friend henry is over there and he ran into an interpreter with a fresh tattoo. he asked where the dude got it from and dude told him about some iraqi tattooer/interpreter/soldier guy doing tattoo work over there, so i'm sending him a completely new set up...the works! henry and his buddies are going to get souvenir tats by the guy, and hopefully i'll get some pictures of the tat action and post em here. make sure to check out the listings for more details. Tony Ezzell, another american soldier over in iraq, saw the listings on ebay and made this kick ass poster with the photos!!! click on the image for the full size poster.

henry->

REMEMBER, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUPPORT THIS WAR TO SUPPORT OUR TROOPS.

TATTOOING TO SAVE BABIES

Krooked Ken Motter and his wife Colleen have organized a great fund-raising event..."tattooing to save babies"...they are recruiting tattooers to donate their profits for the day on august 2nd to the march of dimes to assist premature babies and their families, educate people about prematurity, and prevent premature births whenever possible. i will be making a sick pair of machines to put up on ebay that will close on the 2nd of august while everyone is tattooing away for the cause. 100% of the money from the sale of the pair will go directly to the fund-raiser.

please get involved.

great job ken and colleen!

NEW MACHINE BOOK PROJECT

i'm ramping up for the machine book project with brett from presto art and pulse tattoo. i've been compiling everything my-machine related that i can, but i'd love to get some help from the people who actually use them. i am looking for artistic, well-framed photos of my machines in action. like a close-up of you tattooing, with machine/hands/tattoo/face in frame, with an interesting background. maybe a picture of your machines set up on your station, mid-tattoo. maybe a shot of your collection in your drawer...anything you can think of. just imagine what YOU would be stoked to see in a coffee-table book about fancy machines.

high-res preferred, and large files should not be emailed (my connection blows).
email med size files, or semi-large ones one at a time to ac@aaroncain.com
or send prints or discs to:

aaron cain
p.o. box 1300
cedar ridge, ca 95924

i will be eternally grateful!

.....................................................................................................
that's all i can handle for now. my brain is starting to hurt. i promise i will be updating much more often now that i'm on a blog specific site. the way it was before, i had to write code for everything, and i am NOT a programmer.

thanks to all of you for everything!