Since Friday I’ve had the chance to meet and learn from a ton of amazing artists. Guy and his wife Michelle Wortman who does some of the most beautiful feminine tattoos I have ever had the pleasure of viewing were there for the weekend. Mike DeVries, Jeff Johnson and Josh Duffy from MD Tattoo studio stopped by Friday, Adrian Dominic came Saturday, Dan Plumley and Adam Aguas drove in from Illinois for the weekend, Kenny Morris, and Ty Mc Ewen was there the whole time getting down on some killer sketches and paintings.

On Sunday morning I was asked if I wanted to get tattooed by Guy, Carson, Dan, and Ty in a single collaborative piece. I instantly agreed. Steve from Neuma was also worked on 4 way collab style, with the artists working in 20 minute rotations. Each artist had a chance to draw a portion (or erase) the piece and then they all took turns using a large variety of tattoo machines tattooing both Steve and myself. It was an amazing opportunity to be tattooed by these artists, to learn from their years of experience this weekend, and to have a lasting piece of art to remember it by.

A special thank you to Carson, Steve and Neuma tattoo machines without which this never would have happened.

Guy Atchinson tattooing my foot, first in collaboration

Ty Mc Ewen was next, tattooing my foot.

Dan Plumley went third, and spent an extra two hours finishing my tattoo at the end

Carson Hill went fourth and then the cycle started over again

Guy Atchinson finishes up his second round

Last week we had beautiful spring-like weather here in southern California and I spent the better portion of the week out hiking the local mountains. First was a trip up Sandstone Peak to take a spherical panorama picture. Next we spent two consecutive days at Wildwood Park at sun down and into the evening. Then we finished it off with a trip Saturday to the waterfalls at the end of the Winding Way trail in Malibu. See the view from Lizard Rock in Wildwood Park at sunset in 360º panorama.

My new photography website, BigBeautifulPictures.com is almost finished, and I am finally adding new galleries to the site as I create them. I am working to add only the very best of my existing landscape pictures, but more so to add new photos to the site as they are created.

One last note: After more than 2 years since I published my ebook How To Take HDR Photos, I am going to be offering the ebook as an online tutorial for free. It’s going to take some time to translate the ebook onto the website, but it is important to me that people have access to information that is free elsewhere on the internet without having to pay for it.

Michelle, Luna (the tuna) and I hiked Sandstone Peak after a week long storm that kept us trapped in doors. We hike regularly and I usually take lots of HDR pictures, so this is a new and exciting way to share our experiences with you.

Of course, I am coming up with all sorts of new business ideas using this technology and I will be marketing these services locally in the Canejo, Simi, and San Fernando valley’s and all of Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

View the panorama: Sandstone Peak 360º

This year has brought the most significant growth to my art and my life then ever before. The most significant of which was building and working night and day in my first art studio, enabling me to share my passions and talents with countless people. Included were over 500 hours tattooing, 10,000 photos, and a handful of paintings.

I would like to focus mainly on my artistic development, however it stands to be noted that my personal growth over the last year has surpassed my artistic improvements by leaps and bounds. I see these as being interdependent of each other though as the emotional and physical stresses have been eliminated, my freedom of expression has benefited conversely. Living behind an array of half-truths, manipulations, and fear created an atmosphere of anxiety that I have freed myself from with nothing more honesty and respect.

Now it’s a new year and new beginnings. Picking up the pieces of a handful of art projects that I’ve imagined and started but somehow were forgotten. In the next few weeks I will be launching my online store. I’m working on new pieces to include as I write this, but already slated for sale are over 10 original drawings and paintings framed, a limited edition linocut print, photography prints, and a few special hand-made items.

This is my second year, unemployed by “the man” and surviving on nothing more than your direct support of my art. I can not thank you enough for making this dream a reality and helping me spread the passion and energy that goes into creating art nonstop. So, tell your friends, become a fan on facebook, save up your hard-earned money to buy some art, and make every single day a work of creation.

Also, while I’ve been taking and posting these pictures for almost 4 years now, I have never had a website dedicated to them, until now! I present to you, BigBeautifulPictures.com! I will be designing and building this website in the next few weeks, as well as publishing a book of my photography from the south-western United States. I love this country and it’s unimaginable beauty and am excited to share my collection with you.

Over the last year Wear The Mark has matured into a full featured portfolio of my work which includes more mediums then just tattooing. I have always envisioned Wear The Mark to be a tattoo “destination” rather then a catalog of my work.

The new WearTheMark.com website will include a range of different artists, styles, and people who appreciate tattooing as a powerful transfiguring art and lifestyle. I look forward to all the new opportunities with this new project and invite you to explore my work on this beautiful new website.

http://www.wearthemark.com/tattoo-blog/?p=372 I had the opportunity to tattoo my lovely girlfriend November 4th at My House night club in Hollywood. It was the Verizon Samsung Rogue launch party in LA and to our surprise they put us out on the red carpet. I also tattooed Courtenay Semel who was happy to get another star added to her wrist. I can’t say that the event was very “rogue”, or that I wasn’t at least a little apprehensive about doing a corporately sponsored event. But the pictures came out pretty good. (Photos by Scott Tejerian)