My friend Saskia requested photos, as surely she didn’t want to believe me that I’m surfing, .
Now, I’ve got something better, I’ve made a video from my yesterdays evening session.
As a beginner it’s been a hard work and constant battle with the ocean for me.
You have to understand, I’m from non-sea nation, so everything about deep blue is a mystery to me. Fortunately, I’ve been blessed by being able to learn Diving and now Surfing.
It’s so much fun and I can’t imagine better place on earth than Hawaii to do this.
Aloha and enjoy the video.
(warning, since I’ve simply kept my camera in hand, there will be some dizzy moments for you while watching, hahaha)
So, here I go. My first day at north, rented a board from Hawaiian legend Button – buttonsurfschool.com
Get out there with pretty strong wind, so every meter was a battle out there at open see.
Just a few surfers, me and ?
So, here I sit on board watching waves seeing one I could catch, I’m turning into position, lying down and suddenly there is a dark object moving next to me.
Suddenly head pops out looking at me and I realize it’s a giant turtle ( who knows me, we are talking about over half size of me, no kidding).
Then I look at my other side and there is another turtle, floating and catching the waves.
My time, my life stopped in this moment, everything stopped. I was accompanied by two giant turtles.
I mean, amazing new friends watching me just 1 meter away from me.
Special moment, wow, Hawaii special at its full.
Thank you my new friends, thank you life for this awe inspiring moment.
After 3 month I’m back on the road travelling alone again.
I just crossed border from Mexico today.
It feels like a right time to recover my blog and publish various posts that I have saved as Drafts.
Now what could I say? this really has been long time coming for me. For many years I’ve been thinking of getting inked and now I’ve finally got to it and it has been a journey of its own, trust me.
One thing that I always had clear in my mind was that I would get inked only if I would have designed my own tattoo. There was no other way for me. It had to come from my heart, simple as that.
So, let me take you through the process and believe me, for a designer there is not worse project or mission than designing your own website, for example. Now can you imagine how challenging is to design your own tattoo that will accompany you for the rest of your life?
How exciting!!!
Really special time and I’m so grateful for it.
All started in my sketchbook with pencil and desire to sketch. I had certain images, landscapes, icons, ideas and family on my mind, so just started with bit of verbal brainstorm on my own and nailed it down to paper.
Then I strongly felt to include my close dear family. I’ve started to scribble and play with my own handwriting and the initials of my mom and bro came to life. So, here was the birth of the first ever tattoo I’m carrying on my left-hand wrist.
Here is my first ever tattoo artist Alejandro. Appearance doesn’t tell how sweet this guy is and I’ve enjoyed every moment of his time and skills.
After this first experience that came out of nowhere really, I was ready to truly design my bigger piece that was always going to go on my left shoulder.
Don’t ask me why there, I just always wanted a tattoo on that spot. So, here we go. Meaning and all elements that came out of 2 weeks of tasting and digestion of design was tough emotionally. I am so happy that it worked out such a wonderful way and I’m thankful for every moment of it.
Here is the process of getting it tattooed.
Danny the Tattoo Artist who’s done a great job.
Time it took to get it done was 7 hours. I must admit that after 5 hours it really and I mean really started to hurt a lot. I guess just general skin aggravation and me being tired was taking its toll. When I’ve seen how Danny was into his work I decide to take the pain and stay there with him in his work in his zone and Yes, he was in it with all his soul. Me being a designer, I know how it is sometimes when we unconsciously slip into to this strange creative territory ‘zone’ when we just create and get things done.
So, here it is, my tattoo:
Here is my original & final artwork I’ve concepted and illustrated.
I am very happy with result and it feels very strong and familiar having it on my skin and shoulder. It’s me and it feels great to be inked for a life. Concept that spooked me for such a long time, but now it’s part of me and it truly feels right.
Yesterday I was slowly walking the streets of La Paz and enjoying market buzz. Stopped at one stand with small, cute dresses of all type and colours. Woman approached and me with big smile just told her, how entertaining and original some of this work was.
We started a random chat and somewhere in middle of it I mentioned. Oh, I can’t really buy any I don’t have children. She looked at me with tender smile on her face and told me. These all are for dogs.
Moment of silence followed by loud laughter. What a hell, daily embarrassment is healthy, right!
I carried on with my sunny stroll.
.
