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Labels: Kannada, Kannadiga, karnata, Karnataka

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Labels: http://ramayanatattoos.blogspot.com/

Editor's note: I've been a big fan of the work of the Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon Tribe, a group made up of largely young Filipino-Americans seeking to revive the tattoo traditions of their ancestors. One of the founders of the Tribe, tattooist Elle Festin, opened Spiritual Journey Tattoo last year, which offers traditional, hand-poked Filipino tattoos in addition to being a full service studio of all tattoo genres. For more info on Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon and Elle's work, here's Tribe member Tina Astudillo-Ash's guest blog. 

By Tina Astudillo-Ash

In the past few years, Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon (Mark of the Four Waves) Tribe has been blessed with continued momentum in their efforts to revive indigenous Filipino tattoos. The Tribe's family has grown throughout the United States, especially in California, as more people have reached out to get in touch with their Filipino roots through tattooing.

The growing interest in the Tribe's work has allowed tattooist Elle Festin to continue to hone his skills at hand-poked tattoos. Elle utilizes several different hand-made tools, which he has been able to model after indigenous tools.

In 2008, the Tribe's work was further validated when Elle and other Tribe members including Zel Mayo and Jyroe (Jose Jimenez) traveled to the Philippines to participate in the Cordillera Festival and meet Whang Od, one of the last Kalinga tattooists in the world. Whang Od questioned and tested Elle extensively about his tattoos and the motifs behind the patterns. She was satisfied with his responses and she realized the Tribe was sincere in its efforts to revive the art form. Whang Od had confidence in Elle's skill and knowledge, and she invited him to tattoo her. Elle obliged, applying a simple yet beautiful centipede design on her upper back. Elle would later remark that even at over 90 years old, Whang Od did not flinch when getting tattooed. Elle also had the opportunity to meet Whang Od's apprentice, her grand-niece. Although still very young, her apprentice was eager to learn and continue the sacred tradition. An encouraging sign tattooing will continue to flourish in Kalinga culture.

In 2011, Elle opened the Tribe's official tattoo studio, Spiritual Journey Tattoo & Tribal Gallery. The art found throughout the shop and applied on the walls pay homage to many indigenous cultures and their tattoo traditions. The shop also has a special room reserved only for applying tattoos by the traditional methods. Although a great majority of clients are seeking Filipino tattoos, the artists also do traditional American, Polynesian, color and black and grey tattoos.

The opening of Spiritual Journey Tattoo has resulted in more positive exposure for the Tribe and Filipino tattooing. In recent years, Filipino tattoos have gained well-earned respect from other tattooing cultures. [Support and encouragement have always been given by respected artists like Aisea Toetu'u, Po'oino Yrondi, Orly Locquiao and Gilles Lovisa.] It is a testament to the significant impact of the beauty of Filipino tattoos. Perhaps the most important result of this is reflected in the growing number of older Filipino tattoo clients -- those who always wanted to be tattooed but avoided getting them because they did not want to be associated with the negative stigma surrounding tattoos.

Through Spiritual Journey Tattoo & Tribal Gallery, the Tribe continues to educate the community about indigenous-style Filipino tattoos, as well as offer other traditional work and contemporary tattoo art.

Spiritual Journey Tattoo & Tribal Gallery is located at 7159 Katella Avenue in Stanton, CA.

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The Sailor Jerry Pin Up Girl Tattoo Picture is courtesy of Legendary Classic, and It's from his great Sailor Jerry collection on flickr.
Copyright: Legendary Classic
“Sailor Jerry did traditional tattoos with the bold lines, the broken hearts and the pinup girls; those iconic images that you really associate with tattooing. They were dark, but they were more the ironic kind of dark,” notes Erich Weiss, a filmmaker who recently wrapped up “Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry,” a documentary on the artist.. Jerry’s humor was also salty as you might expect; some of his designs feature comic-book type characters saying things they couldn’t say in a comic book—or a teen-rated game. “He was big on slogans, lots of double entendres,” Weiss says.
Other designs have secret meanings that a sailor would recognize. Some, for instance, would wear a pig on one foot and a chicken on the other—that meant that the farm animals would help your safe return to land. Sparrows on the chest would represent the number of nautical miles you’ve travelled. A golden dragon would mean you sailed the Asiatic Sea, and a turtle meant that you’d crossed the equator in a submarine.
It was a natural evolution when the original 50’s rock’n’rollers, the greasers and bikers, adopted tattooing; and this was something Sailor Jerry had no problem with. The real shift happened during the 60’s, when tattoos became aligned with the San Francisco hippie culture. At this time a new school of tattoos appeared, coming directly out of the hippie scene
Sailor Jerry didn’t live long enough to see tattooing become mainstream, and he practically died with his boots on (he had a heart attack while taking his new Harley Davidson on a test run; and succumbed later at home). But he already had mixed feelings about tattoos crossing into pop culture. “He was really anti-hippie, hated the whole movement-- in fact he was a right-wing libertarian,” notes Weiss. “In terms of music, he was more into Chinese opera. So if he was around today, I think he’d have mixed feelings. But he’d be blown away by the level of artistry that’s in tattooing now.”

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I have developed an affinity and passion for Thai traditional mythological imagery and the realated artforms involved. In particular sacred yantra, Khmer Sanskrit sacred lettering and “Lai Thai” design as applied in interpretations of designing deities and characters from Thai Mythology such as the “Ramakian” (Thai Ramayana)
ramayana)

(I also am recounting the tale of Thai Ramakian legends on the above link on one of my many Thai Culture and Buddhism related websites, which is another of my activities)

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Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Last night saw one of the most intense Kathakali performances I have ever witnessed (and I have seen quite a few of those in the last few years of my traveling to India). As followers and readers of this blog know, I am leading my The Oracles of Kerala Photo Expedition/Workshop™, and a two day stop in Cheruthuruthy was planned for a photo shoot involving the performers of this ancient art form, as well as attending a private almost 2-1/2 hours performance.

The performance and the earlier 3 hours make-up session took place at the Kalatharangini Kathakali School, and I, for one, sweated so much at the intensity of it all that I had to wipe my hands continuously to be able to shoot. I almost filled 3 full 16gb CF cards during that one photo shoot which started at 3:00 pm and ended just before 9:00 pm. On top of that, I probably videoed some 20 minutes of the performance with my Canon Mark II.

We will spend most of today in class to work on our individual multimedia photo essays, since we need to catch up with that element of the workshop. With all the photography we do, we really need to set time aside to work on these projects.

I am also preparing an evening surprise for the group members, which I think they will find very interesting.

The above image is of one of the Kathakali performers, and was made with my iPhone4s.

Note: This post's actual date is March 20 as it's written in India.

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Labels: India, My Work, Photo Tours

Here's a blast from the past. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the The Dandy, the UK's longest-running comic, Royal Mail will issue a set of 10 first class comics stamps featuring Dennis the Menace, Desperate Dan, Roy of the Rovers, Eagle, The Topper And Tiger, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000AD. Stamps and first day covers will be issued tomorrow. Anyone sending a Dan Dare first day cover from outer space will have a collectible worth a fortune! Click the title link for the Royal Mail Comics Stamps page, CLICK for BBC News' graphics of 6 of the new stamps.

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To mark its 71st anniversary, The National Gallery of Art in Washington DC has launched NGA Images, a major online resource of more than 20,000 open access digital images, up to 3,000 pixels each, available free of charge for download and use. You can also create a "lightbox", your own collection of NGA images which you may share via e-mail or copy to social media sites. You will need to register to download pictures. I chose Jean-Honoré Fragonard's beautiful Young Girl Reading (c. 1770) which would be better entitled "Young Lady Reading", because she is nubile, literate and wearing an expensive dress. Click the title link for NGA Images.

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Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy-All Rights Reserved

Another quick post as to the progress of The Oracles Of Kerala Photo Expedition-Workshop. Yesterday saw us at a Vedic school in Thrissur. Despite the long dive from Kumarakom to Thrissur, the Vedic school's beauty and ancient learning tradition were well worth the trouble.

I was surprised to learn that the restaurant manager at our hotel was also an authority on all Keralite festivals....we're trying to convince him to join our workshop!!!

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Here are two news items about computer art that fit together nicely. Firstly, Valve's Portal 2 won best game and best design at the BAFTA Video Game Awards yesterday. It won the Golden Joystick last year. Above is Chell, your character who guides the escapee robot of Portal 2. CLICK for a list of winners. Secondly, the Smithsonian American Art Museum has just opened The Art of Video Games, which it claims is one of the first exhibitions in the world to explore the evolution of video games as an artistic medium (title link). This prompted BBC News' Washington correspondent, Jane O'Brien, to gush, "Video games represent more than an evolving form of entertainment. They are also a platform for innovative art" (CLICK). Strewth! The BBC has finally woken up! I've been saying this for decades.

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The visit of Prince Charles and his wife and daughter-in-law Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, to Dulwich Picture Gallery on Thursday proved a success. Local schoolchildren eagerly gathered round to show the royal visitors what they've gained from The Prince's Foundation for Children and the Arts. Here we see Kate showing the girls how to make ironing look sexy, while Prince Charles is obviously wondering what to do with this strange gadget. "Is this thing on?" he wonders. HRH would have been happier using traditional paint brushes to create art. He is a talented amateur artist, but tends to keep his light under a bushel. Click the title link for a BBC video of the visit.

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The website for Warner Bros Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter has pulled out all the stops, with roiling thunderclouds, torches flickering in the Hogwarts eatery and the stirring Harry Potter theme music by John Williams (title link). This 1:24 Scale Model of Hogwarts gives you an idea of the goodies on offer. CLICK for The Telegraph's slide show. Although Warner Bros claims the studio is in London, it's actually 20 miles to the northwest in Watford. You must book tickets in advance and, as you might expect, they cost an arm and a leg: £28 for adults, £21 for children aged from 5 to 15 years and £83 for families (2 + 2). The red-carpet Grand Opening is on 31 March.

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Seeing Paddington Bear after so many years reminded me of another TV animation series of similar vintage: The Mysterious Cities of Gold. This was a Japanese-French co-production which clearly had a much bigger budget than Paddington. Catchy theme tune too. I used to watch it with my five-year-old son. He had a crush on the Inca girl Zia (shown). If anyone fancies a nostalgia trip, the complete series is on DVD for around £30. Check eBay (title link).

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An online poll to determine the UK's Favourite Ever British Animated Character of all time was won by that illegal immigrant from Darkest Peru Paddington Bear, created by Michael Bond. The winner was announced at the British Animation Awards in London yesterday. I assume adult nostalgia dominated the voting, because the animation dates from the 1970's and 80's and was nothing to rave about, a novel but rather creaky mixture of 2D and 3D as though Paddington were an actor walking through his own storyboard. View the YouTube video to see what I mean. Michael Hordern's narration greatly enhanced these short animations made by Filmfair and directed by Ivor Wood. Click the title link for other BAA winners.

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Any budding animators out there? Among the many events at Somerset House this month is an Aardman Model Making Workshop on Saturday 24 March. There will be three one-hour sessions run by Aardman model maker Jim Parkyn between 11am and 5pm. Jim has worked on Gromit as well as on innumerable bunnies. This event is free and is likely to be oversubscribed. Tickets will be issued on a first-come-first-served basis on the day (title link). Go early in the morning to avoid disappointing your cherub. Or yourself.

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Last December I wrote two posts on the high-profile case of an Afghan woman known as Gulnaz, who had been raped by her cousin's husband and had been sentenced to two years in prison - increased to 10 years on appeal - for the "moral crime" of being a rape victim (CLICK). President Hamid Karzai came under enormous international pressure and pardoned Gulnaz on condition she marry her rapist (CLICK). Shown is a photo of Kimberley Motley, Gulnaz's lawyer, who was a US beauty queen before moving to Afghanistan four years ago. She is the country's only foreign defence lawyer and gained the pardon for Gulnaz. BBC News Magazine has posted an interesting article about Kimberley (title link). A brave woman.

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If you were thinking of visiting Dulwich Picture Gallery today, forget it. The gallery will be closed to the public all day for a royal visit in recognition of its educational and outreach work (title link). The Prince of Wales will be visiting in his capacity as President of The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts. He'll be bringing the wife, Duchess of Cornwall, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, to view the kiddie artwork on display.

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Photo © Tewfic El-Sawy- All Rights Reserved

 I barely have the time to post this today since the internet connection is somewhat iffy, but the day's photo shoot was at the Mahadeva temple for the Thirunakkara Utsavam festival. This is where I spotted this family of pilgrims. I'm uncertain of which sect they belong to, but I'll find out and edit this post shortly.

Note: These are members of a family on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala Temple, some 150 kilometers from Kochi, and they're adherents of Ayyappa.

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Labels: India, Photo Tours, TTP Show Off

Today the National Gallery in London opened its spring biggy: Turner Inspired: In the Light of Claude. The title refers to Claude Gellée, who was born in the Duchy of Lorraine, and is better known as Claude Lorrain (Claude of Lorrain). Turner was inspired by Claude's brilliant use of light in his paintings. Above is Turner's Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Night (1835). The bad news, as always, is the cost of admission: adults £12, silver surfers £11 (91.6%). Pensioners ripoff! There are so many free exhibitions in London that paying over the odds is foolish. Click the title link if you feel silly!

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Today a pre-auction exhibition by some of the worst artists in Britain opened at Somerset House. They have kindly donated their tripe to a sale in aid of the homeless charity Crisis. BBC News has posted a slide show of some of the appalling rubbish on offer (title link). Gillian Wearing's sculpture of Craig O'Keefe just about passes muster, but needs a placard to tell his story. Jonathan Yeo's The Park Bench is outstanding, capturing the essence of homelessness in a most artistic way; his subjects have dignity. But the rest...! Clearly there is a crisis in British art as well in its housing. The Crisis Commission shuffles along until 22 April. The charity auction takes place at Christie's on 3 May.
Correction: Somerset House, NOT Christie's (CLICK).

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