Oh I had the idea of a spontaneous tattoo gnawing at the back of my head all week. Hallowe’en usually prompts some desire for ink and shops often do Flash art walk-ins. So I left work early on Oct 31st to hit up my local shop. Unfortunately they were wrapping up for the day and I didn’t want to be that guy, so I said my hellos and took off.

But the idea was still there and another local shop (new to me) was extending their Hallowe’en sale to Saturday. Waiting for ZombieFish to call me (she had a spooky sleepover at Moms) I went to check out Tempest Ink on the other side of the river. I’ll admit, I’m always a little nervous walking into a new shop. You’re not sure if they will be busy, if they’ll all turn and give you a look, ect. Plus, I didn’t want to go in, check out the art and then say “thanks! (but no thanks)”. So I ate my breakfast wrap in the car and saw another couple show up and head in. Perfect timing!

I love October themed stuff anyways so a lot of the flash art was appealing to me off the bat. One particular style caught my eye, what I know as “New School” (or Skool if you’re really cool). Found a nice little match stick (I was looking for gap fillers for my sleeve) but alas, ZombieFish messaged she was ready for pick-up. I told the artist I would be back (I’m sure they hear that all the time) and took off to do some parenting.

Fast forward to the afternoon. I’ve dropped her off at a high-school football game with her friends. I take a deep breath, be brave man, and head back over. Long story short, I hit it off the with the artist, Matt, and got this little match stick free-handed. I love it and expect I’ll be returning to him for several more new skool pieces.

They’re called Tempest Ink in Moncton. Several artist in a small house but very friendly. You should check them out.

As always, thanks for reading!