“Everyone is OK. Shop is gone.”
I posted this message to social media on the October morning a gas explosion ripped through our shop decimating it and everything it contained. Almost 10 years later, it still feels like an apt summation.
This book and art show is my personal document of the tattoo flash I lost that morning. Everything That Burned.
The show opens Thursday May 21, 7pm at the Jupiter Hotel, room 104 as part of the @voidtattoofest , and will be up all weekend.
The book is available for order on afterlifepress.com (link in bio)
@voidtattoofest@afterlifepress@tattoosmilepdx
💥💥NEW BOOK ALERT💥💥
Ten years ago, an early morning gasoline explosion rocked northwest Portland, sending a huge fireball into the air that was visible for miles around. When the dust settled, one of the casualties of this catastrophe was Art Work Rebels, a focal point of the local tattoo scene. Lost in the rubble were years of memories, hard work, and priceless pieces of art including original pieces of flash drawn by artist @jeffpdoes (now a co-owner of Tattoo Smile).
Ever since that catastrophic night, Jeff P. has spent countless hours rebuilding his trove of lost work by digging through old photos and re-drawing sheets of flash from memory.
Everything That Burned is Jeff P.’s reflective soliloquy presented through old photos and new illustrations; it is his remembrance of work that was lost for a time, only to rise from the ashes.
Now available at afterlifepress.com
****EU customers will be able to order copies from Coenen Publishing
@jeffpdoes is a Portland-based tattooer whose practice is rooted in traditional flash handprinted on watercolor board, hung in the shop, designed to be re-traced in the way flash has always moved through the trade. His imagery draws from the full vocabulary of the form: skulls, pinup girls, snakes, botanical motifs, cartoon characters, and quietly iconic designs that feel as though they have always existed.
When a natural gas explosion destroyed Art Work Rebels Tattoo Studio in 2016, years of Jeff’s handprinted flash was destroyed. Using photos he had taken before the fire, Jeff remade what he could.
Everything That Burned is the complete archive of Jeff’s pre-explosion flash, arranged in reverse-chronological order from the last piece of flash he painted to the first. It does not pretend to be more than it is—not a polished retrospective, but a document of work that lived in a shop, on a wall, in a drawer, in the hands of someone who spent years making it and one morning lost all of it. The book is what remains.
Get your copy now at afterlifepress.com
Flash is not made to be preserved. It is made to be used-pulled out for a client on a Tuesday afternoon, raced over until the paper wears thin. That is the entire point of it. That is what @jeffpdoes and so many tattoo artists love about it.
Everything That Burned is a complete archive of the flash that was destroyed alongside Art Work Rebels Tattoo Studio in a natural gas explosion in 2016. It is the first and only document of Jeff’s pre-2016 work. A body of flash that now exists solely within these pages.
Get your copy now at afterlifepress.com
🌹⚡️🌹⚡️🌹
Luke brought in some Polito/Picture Machine flash we reworked to cover up some laser removal. Really stoked I have clients who love this look. Thanks, Luke! Always a pleasure.
NEW BOOK!
From me, Jeff P, and @afterlifepress
All my flash that was destroyed when a gas explosion decimated Art Work Rebels Tattoo Studio in October 2016.
Book release + Art show to kick off this year’s @voidtattoofest
Thursday May 21, 7pm at the @jupiterhotel Room 104
Books and prints for sale!
Thank you @otohpetihwdj
I’ve been tattooing JD since way before the Art Work Rebels on NW 23rd blew up. He’s the one who shoots our family photo every year that you guys all love so much. He’s the best. For all your photo needs, always a great time. Thanks, JD!
