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

After watching this website grow into what it has become, I decided that moving it to NateSiggard.com is the logical solution, and that WearTheMark.com should be redesigned as a tattoo blog for tattoo artists and tattoo wearers. The updated 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 the next year and the many opportunities waiting to be explored!

Now, on to the new

NateSiggard.com

I have been asked to join the MD Tattoo Studio crew and will be taking ALL of my appointments there from now on. The price is still $100 an hour, only now I will have the added knowledge and support of Mike DeVries who owns and runs the studio located in Northridge, California. This is a wonderful honor and amazing opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and understanding of tattooing.

Mike is a world-renowned portrait artist and has won countless awards and been featured in numerous tattoo magazines. His realism is out of this world and his tattoos are always unbelievably clean. After working at Art Junkies in Hesperia Mike opened MD Tattoo Studio one year ago. In addition to Mike I will also be working with Jeff Johnson and Josh Duffy.

The shop is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:30am to 6pm. I will be there full-time in about a month, and by appointment until then. If you would like to schedule an appointment please give me a call personally at 310-773-4399.

I will still be going out to Arizona and Santa Rosa but will be limiting my trips to biannually instead of seasonally.

I just came across this awesome interview with Bob Roberts where he says,

“If I want to be an artist, I can go buy brushes and I can go buy paper and make art. But, if I want to be a tattoo artist and nobody’s coming to get a tattoo from me, I’m not a tattoo artist.”

I spent a few years tormented by this very concept. No matter how bad I wanted to tattoo someone, or be a tattoo artist, it was never going to happen without my friends giving me the chance. Now that I’m taking the next big step in my career as a tattooer it seems fitting to give credit where credit is due: I never could have done this without you guys. Thank you.

My friend Eric told me to stop by his friend’s new shop in downtown Phoenix, Golden Rule Tattoo. It’s smack in the middle of the newly developed art community downtown. Phoenix has it’s fair share of tattoo shops, and the majority of them are nothing special. Golden Rule opened July 3, and provides a comfortable atmosphere and friendly artists with great portfolios. I got a tattoo of the day, from Christopher Roben on my way back to LA. If you’re ever in the area check it out, get a tattoo of the day, or buy a t-shirt.

There is nothing like the sunset in Arizona anywhere I have ever been. It is so beautiful in fact, I had to pull over and take this picture. I’m back in Thousand Oaks after a very successful week in Phoenix. I love traveling out there, I am never let down. Lots of tattoos to be done, and lots of good company. I just posted 6 new tattoos to the 2009 gallery from the trip. I need to slow down after I finish a piece and get a solid picture. Half the pictures I took were either blurry, bloody, or unusable in some other way. I’m excited to be starting some new big tattoos. A few portraits, and some realism. It’s getting warmer, and it feels like everyone gets antsy for work on the warm and sunny days. This is great for me, but means you’re going to have to wait a little bit before I can get you in. I’m scheduling the second half of April right now, and mapping out this summer.

I also posted a few new HDR photos to my photography portfolio from my recent trip to Oregon. I had the pleasure of visiting Silver Falls, where there are a ton of waterfalls in a secluded forest canyon.

I also spent some time checking out tattoo shops up and down the coast and found a few gems along the way. I had to dig through quite a bit of garbage to get to the good ones though, but they’re out there. I’m humbled everytime I walk into a shop and talk to the extremely talented and curteous artists out there. I have so much to learn!