paul wiley

for gavin’s first tattoo ever, this symbol represents direction, a sense of self, and the support from other who love us... a touchstone as he moves forward on to great and wondrous things in the upcoming chapters.

steve returned for his second tattoo with me. we did a memorial to his mum on his right arm, with a stag from his family crest in 2023, as shown. this year he returned to do odin’s ravens, huginn and muninn, who represent thought and memory respectively, backdropped by a symbol for protection.

for rod’s first tattoo ever, these manta rays, celebrating the bond between dad and son. he wanted my take on traditional aboriginal art, an homage to his father’s side of the family, with a special kangaroo grass tail on dad..

for sergio, the phoenix reflects life’s struggles and the growth that comes from every one. and like fire, that spreads. it inspires rebirth and reinvention.

TBT to sunday when i got a little sun while working on the terrace.

we discussed the healing effect water has, how grounding it can be.
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keeping things minimal for this piece, separating his arm in a sort of wave shape, influenced by the weight of the circles. it’s a good solution for his form, and opens itself up to potential expansion later on.

squid, conch, and starfish join the work we did over the last few years—bulls and turtles—to fill phil’s arm.

from yesterday, this memorial piece for the client’s departed love, karl. we have karl’s initials at center, KH, and the greenstone / koru below, which honours karl’s maori background.
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at the top, simply because he likes them: this spherical op-art which shifts beautiful as he moves his arm.
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beautiful sunny sunday morning in sydney. doing some client communiques out on the balcony before it gets too hot.
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have a great weekend!
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to balance the work posts with non-work, here’s a little pic from the beach, i’ve been getting sun-kissed.

the fourth stage of owen’s sessions —and the finishing touch— was the hands. we had discussed various possibilities in our last marathon together, two years ago, and i’m so happy to see it come to fruition.

stage three for owen’s legs is the back calves. continuing with the stripe and circle motif, these concentric around to highlight his sturdy form, and just touch on the front design. the areas in between front and back will be completed in our next sessions.

the second stage of owen’s project is the shins. these start at the knee, cradling the patella, and race down the fronts, bypassing a ghost-circle that accentuates his calf muscles, to a small flourish above the foot.

four part bodysuit-in-progress posts.. we start with the thighs, these anchor at the top, accentuating his form and grounding what flows down to the feet. this will eventually wrap around to the back in our next session.

so, determined not to make bluesky all about work. here’s me at the beach today in coogee new south wales.

john and i started an upper arm piece using Intuitive Geometry, back in 2023.
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this time, we expanded that onto his back, which will continue this coming fall in palm springs, an eventually connect to the other arm.

for drew’s sixth tattoo with me, this lost soul from the video game “doom”. it was the game that initially piqued drew’s earliest interests in computers and technology. and of course, the lost soul looks badass.

returning client, drew, wanted “howl’s moving castle”.
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i loved working on this, reinterpreting details and features to be more tattooable. and as always, i got to spend time with drew!

michael has always been fascinated with space and science fiction, and the idea that we are very small and probably not alone out there. we are made from stardust and return to stardust eventually.
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so for this, we have the calf piece: a radio telescope ‘illuminating’ what’s out there!

for chris’s second tattoo with me, a companion piece to the alchemical symbols from two years ago. this time, with the ‘element’ symbols for water, fire, air, earth, salt, as well as life and death. six moon phases complete the picture as it descends towards the wrist.

for my first tattoo in australia, returning client brandt wanted a companion piece for his Intuitive Geometry tattoo from a few years ago. so this is sort of a yang to that yin, or vice versa. we just love how the straight vertical becomes so organic when the body bends.

so i was thinking about my first post on bluesky. as part of a potential migration from meta i figured i’d combine the personal and professional.. so ill start with the current work.