Brave New World

Brave New World, Lakewood, Colorado
Originally uploaded by ppfalcon.

The day before we left Colorado, Rachel and I spent about three hours at Brave New World Tatooing & Piercing in Lakewood. Jim was kind enough to drive us there, skirting a major tractor trailer accident on I-70 to get us to Lakewood in time for our noon appointment. We met Eric, the tattoo artist who inked Matt's beautiful tarot card tattoo. Eric gave us the photos of Matt he had in his portfolio, which was a big thrill for Rachel and me, since he had told us about the tattoo but we had never seen it except in a photo Steve Mares gave us, in which you couldn't see the entire design. Eric tattooed the Horus falcon design from Matt's urn onto my forearm and Rachel's bicep. We both felt that it was important to have this powerful symbol as a permanent reminder of Matt's impact on our lives. Anyway, Eric was great, meticulously careful and considerate, and very informative as well. He played music while he worked, an eclectic mix of politicized hip-hop and rock.


Even though he is a good-looking guy, Eric wasn't crazy about having his photo taken, perhaps because of his wicked sunburn from playing horseshoes all day in the sun.

Brave New World is a classy place, and Eric, a true artist, does beautiful work. He showed us some large designs he is working on, including one for one of Matt's friends. Eric said he had considered removing Matt's photos from his portfolio because he didn't want to capitalize on his death, but we encouraged him to put them in again, because Matt really loved his tatts, and we want people to remember him.


Here is the outline of Matt's tattoo, which required hours of concentration, and a very steady hand. Check out the large size on Flickr to see the intricate detail. Mom (Georgia) noticed the ram at the bottom, my Aries zodiac symbol, which is pretty neat.


Here's the design after Eric added the colors. Eric told us that the development and availability of new colors has revolutionized tattoo art. The date on the photo is 01/04/05, one of Matt's final artistic projects. Eric said he and Matt had been planning to eventually cover his arm with more designs.


Newest member of the ppfalcon club.

O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in it!
-Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 5