Fine, Fine Art.

This weeks featured painting from our collection here at Pulse, is from none other than the queen of pin-up art -Olivia! I have owned this piece for years and not a day goes by that it doesn't get looked at. I love how soft the features of her face are. I have been of fan of Olivia's since "Let them eat cheesecake" first came out, so it is a genuine treat to be able to own an original. It does not disappoint!

Also the piece looks at first glance to be watercolor, but I believe most of her stuff like this is done in gouache. It also adds to the depth of the piece. http://www.eolivia.com/

Also this week from kick ass artist Tom Strom. An amazing rendition of the "The Virgin of Guadalupe" but with a Pulse twist. You want to know a secret about this painting? It wasn't painted at all - it's all alcohol markers. Damn how fast do you have to work when doing a piece like this in marker. Have you ever tried to use them? Once you run over the same spot again it instantly gets darker, they are tough to control, but not for Tom. Our kudos to him, he has done some great art since his days knocking out this kind of stuff. http://www.thestromrefinery.com/artists/Tom_Strom/

Big Projects

The idea for doing a large Mag, tip & tube combo has been kicking with us for a bit. We have finally got around to prototyping a setup. This has been milled out of one piece of stainless stock. I would love to take the credit, but it's our machinist Mac who has worked out nearly all the bugs and created this one piece beauty! Nice work. We are almost there we need some retooling on the actually shovel numbers, but should be into a Beta version by the end of Sept, with a roll out by end of 09 early 10.
The grip will come in two sizes along with two maybe three tip sizes. Our plan right now is 25 and 35 mag. We will also be stocking the needles as well. We are still up in the air about 45 mag, that's a lot of needles. As soon as we see a Beta version we will give a try in the skin and post our results.

Detroit Art Friday

This week brings the real deal from Detroit, Bob Tyrrell. If Bob isn't on the top of your list of people to get tattooed from -check your list. The nicest guy in tattooing has been on the top of my Best black and grey artists for years. I was blown away when Bob drew this skull up especially for us.
His work is so detailed and soft. It's that same technique that Bob uses to create his feathery soft portrait work, building up light layers to create the great tones. Bob did this skull with just 1 pencil. ONE. Very impressive.
The T-shirt was also a great reproduction of the original and it's now a classic. Bob travels a ton, check his schedule and go get tattooed from him when he rolls through your area. You can thank me later. http://www.bobtyrrell.com/
I couldn't have a Detroit Friday without the favorite son of the big D -Jime Litwalk. I was looking for a Hula girl from Jime for a sticker. Somewhere along the way she lost her grass skirt and coconut bra. I wonder if the Tiki had anything to do with it? Jime rules, http://www.jimelitwalk.com/

Steadfast Is Holdin It Down.

The good people at Steadfast just dropped this all new Joe Capobianco "Bunny Girl" T. Wait till you see it in full color, it's a knockout. You are going to want to pick this up. www.steadfastbrand.com

The Poison Notebook

The sketchbook that never was. I had seen people on the Internet who created these great looking moleskin notebooks on their lasers and thought, "Hey that would be great for our new catalog". I had ordered up a bunch of notebooks and lasered a few. I than saw a posting that said moleskin notebooks were made of PVC and by burning the covers in the laser I was producing the highly poisonous gas hydrochloric acid. Since I wanted to keep living, alas we never had cool Pulse sketchbooks. See not all good ideas are good. Now that's one to grow on.

Friday...the Art is Fine.

Welcome, the spotlight this week is a piece from artist Eric Merrill. I have known Eric for many years. We started in this business together and Eric was very instrumental in Pulse's early success. He would always take out a dozen machines for us and sell when he was traveling. He hooked us up with many of the great customers and friends we have today. He also has done a fair job of hooking us up with some great pieces of art. Power thru Technology is an awesome painting. I love the golden age comic book feel.

The beam was the best detail, that and the coil set inside the robot. Back in the day I always wanted this to be a T-shirt but it would have been so many screens it would have been like having a bullet proof plate on you shirt, but printing techniques have come so far that we could print this up and you wouldn't ever feel it. This would be a great 10th anniversary shirt for next year. Maybe. http://www.hopegallerytattoo.com/ Check out Hope Gallery -they just moved to an all new location.

This piece is also connected to my past. It is a blue stone carving from tattooist Peter Coinin Sr. When he is not tattooing he carves all this amazing stone Celtic knot work by hand! People just don't do work like this anymore. The great thing about this carving is that Peter was the first person to tattoo me. He did my first three tattoos, back in the days when I would scrape together a couple hundred dollars and race to see him. Now 20 years later he stops in and hangs out at Pulse, he started me off and now created this great hand carved sign for me. Great guy -thanks Pete. http://www.thebeautymarktattooing.com/default.html

The Demi Is In...Pieces.

We finally have all the parts in for the new DEMI power unit. We like to do the final assembly in house so we can control both the finish quality and testing standards. The units look great and they should be available next week. Keep checking the website, as soon as we fill the waiting list we will post it up.

This unit has all the great features of our digital Mark2 unit but is less than half the size. It is the perfect thing for travel.

If you are on the waiting list we will be calling you this week. Thanks for being patient.

Yes that's it, that is the whole supply. No giant laptop battery pack, just the slightly over sized plug. Isn't technology great.

Super Special Workshop Guest -SOBA

I heard his bags are packed and he is booked for the Paradise Gathering in September. SOBA is going to be part of our "Build Your Own" Workshop. I am very excited because he has a grip of machine knowledge. He also knows a great deal about casting machines. I am always into another point of view from a builder, so if you are one of the lucky one's already signed up, you will not be disappointed with this years workshop. We are going to fill your brain up!

Fine Art Fri..oh Tuesday

Sorry I missed Friday but Tuesday works just as well. Another fantastic painting from L.A. artist Greg "Craola" Simkins. This piece is entitled "Ramona" and is super rich and refined. The details are great, the little skulls on the bow, the fur on her body, the carved pumpkin.I can't say it enough, but Greg is the most creative guy working today. Go examine his work, if you don't know him- get to it. http://www.imscared.com/

This painting hangs in my office and I love it, but I don't know who painted it. I bought it from a gallery that sells originals that were used for book covers. So this was the cover of a book at one time. I'm sure it had a title like "Murder on Ward One", or "Emergency Room Emergency" or "Nurse Dangerous" or "Murderer, M.D.". By the way when my mind wanders I do just stare at this painting making up titles.

BONUS- Cause I missed the deadline Friday I wanted to throw in a bonus. Here is a great skate deck from the "Abrasions" show from Chad Soner. It's a classic here at Pulse. Chad is a classy guy check him -http://www.myspace.com/sonertattoo