Knowing that you lied, straight faced while I cried...

...still I'd look to find a reason to believe.

Thanks for stopping in to my blog, here are some new tattoos, a few photos from around the studio, and some street photography to wrap it up.

I've been making a fair amount of chest tattoos lately, and I'm super hyped on the opportunity and the results i've been getting.  Chests are, in my opinion, about the most powerful and elegant tattoos one can wear, and it feels dope to be entrusted to do them.

Symmetrical Cedar bough chest tattoo - Winter 2025

American Bittern 

Canadian Goose

I love this grasshopper tattoo - that is all...

@boreal.cowboy_ on Instagram

And the homie Ky added this spiky floral tattoo to the back side to round out this forearm.

Wisteria

My favourite crow tattoo to date for sure! On a great old client, thanks Artemis!

My books are open, and if you'd like to come for a tattoo or a consultation, email me at bram_adey@hotmail.com . 

@ladymyes on Instagram

This is Myes, my apprentice.  I'm excited to see her begin to make tattoos the last couple weeks.  Learning to tattoo is definitely a humbling experience, especialy for someone like her who is so cautious as her.  She focuses on fineline tradition tattoos in a European, turn of the century style.

The Future looks bright for this one!

Thanks for looking, you can find me at my studio:

Ritual Winnipeg

Tuesday-Friday, 10-6

420 - 70 Arthur Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba.

We've been open for a year and a half now, and it's really a dream come true.  The studio is big and bright, absolutely full of original art, and we have a big crew of all kinds of different people.  

Ritual is mainly about trying to elevate the standard of care in tattooing in Winnipeg.  I've worked really hard to try to put into place processes by which people can begin to expect client-centred care, and a true informed-consent model in a tattoo studio in this city.

@ruthtattoos on Instagram

This month we have Ruth coming on to join us.  They have been tattooing for three years, and do mainly colourful neo-traditional work.

@alyssamayart on Instagram

Alyssa has been with us for a few months now and it's been nice having someone who is a little more like I was when I was young in my career, exploring all types of styles and images.

@yourbuddyholly_ on Instagram

This beautiful piece by Holly came through my room the other day too.  Holly is going to be working flash-only a couple days a week at the studio for the next little while, keep your eye on her Instagram profile for booking information.

I'm still having a great time shooting with my new camera, here are some photographs from around my neighborhood and my daily commute.

The starlings were on the block for that really rough cold-snap we had last week.

Someone on Insta asked what I shoot these nature photos with, It's my Nikon zf with a Tamron 500mm Reflex lens.

I'm pretty much sick of this lens by now, cause it's just pretty soft all around, so I think I'm gonna invest in a 600 come spring, but I'm sure I'll miss how compact the reflex lens is.

My kid Sam shot this one with the new Nikkor Z 50mm f1.4

I've never had a new lens, much less an autofocus lens, it's been fun checking it out.  It looks so much like the Ai-s 50mm f1.4, but close focuses just a little closer, so I took the plunge, cause I wanted a native autofocus lens for video stuff... 

This is the close-focus on that 50.

Spring is comin!

And this one shows the vignetting on that 50 pretty well.

Thank you so much for looking,

-Bram

 

Late January - 2025 - Tattoos, Studio and Winnipeg Winter Streets

Hi, welcome back to the blog.  I'm going to keep with the format I've been using for the last few posts, tattoos, studio, then street stuff to finish it off.

This heron tattoo is a few years healed now, four or five I recon.

On that same client we did this set of knuckle tattoos a while back as well. Looking back, this is such an iconic set for someone from these parts; Cattail, Wheat, Feather, Pine tree.

Then I did this full set of knuckle tattoos on a new client.  We reworked an old, pretty busted piece they already had, then put on the full set.  Some of the notable symbols include the "ma" and "pa" syllables that resemble a stylized hammer and butterfly, A table, meant to invite prosperity "that you will always have to eat". a seed, and a sun, that could also symbolize many other things including the inner and outer lives, or a woman bearing child.

details

This one is quite dark, please do click on the image to expand it to see the details.

A recently healed elbow.  Peonies.

Some wild roses from my book of available designs.

I'm proud to have freehanded this snake tattoo on an old client.

I have tattooed this client many times, this lettering might have been the first time, the rabbit head is more recent, a couple years ago or so I recon.

And another healed one, a snake from some years back.

The only way.

Ten years ago or so, I was spending a bunch of time researching signs and symbols, early languages and pictographs.  I put together a big set of them, and made a 'zine.  Unfortunately, I was really struggling with chemical dependencies at the time, and the zine came out completely incomprehensable.  Finally, I am feeling well enough and have started the work of revisiting and expanding the set.  Here is a little preview:

These and many others are available to be viewed and adapted to tattoos at the studio.  You can stop in and see the work Monday-Friday, 10-5 at Ritual Winnipeg: 420 - 70 Arthur street.

I made this design in 2020 or so, and it has been a really successfull one, I've tattooed it many times.  It is meant to represent abundace, and to bless the wearer with divine protection, that they may never want for water.  I'm posting it now because I just gave the design a once-over, based on the lessons learned tattooing it the first few times.

If you'd like to be tattooed, please email me at bram_adey@hotmail.com 

And if you'd like to come see the studio I work at, you can visit Monday-Friday, 10-5, though I am only there Tuesday-Friday.  The Studio is:

Ritual Winnipeg

420 - 70 Arthur Street

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Canada

Here are a few images from around the studio

I've repaired these so many times...

By Lady Myes

By Alyssa May

By the Boreal Cowboy

By J.R. Harper

I'll never not photograph these cranes by DoxThrasher

On friday evenings, I say goodnight to the studio.

I've been walking to and from work lately, it was a tough sell, I don't generally like walking, but with this new camera of mine, I'm inspired to shoot the way I've always wanted to.

Like all skateboarders, I love seeing evidence of skateboarding, this waxed up parking curb near my house reminds me that even though kids have these phones in their pockets, they're still driven to go out and create the world that suits them.  

My first foray into street skateboarding happened when I was twelve or so, I took my board over to the Snak Shak near my house, where they had parking blocks, and I didn't know much about skateboarding, but I knew i wanted to go over it, and that it was possible, so I just rocked up on that curb under the streetlights night after night, and eventually figured it out.  

Now that I'm writing this, I wonder how much that experience of being under the streetlights informed my entire aesthetic.

Kenneth Lavallee's "The Square Dancers" 

Out with the old:

These Ave II's were cool, I liked them.  It took a while to get used to the cup sole, and the toe seam was super uncomfortable, but once they got broken in and I got used to the narrow sole, they were sick.  They're all mesh all over, and that did make them way more comfortable sweaty-foot-wise than sk8-hi's. 

In with the new!

But ultimately, I like the sk8-hi's best, they just are really durable, and the vulc-sole is really wide and stable.  I really recommend cutting in the lace protectors, I just nick the stitches between the suede and the canvas liner and run the laces through the canvas and under the suede, then super glue the remaining stitches.

Another thing I'll never-not photograph!

I was finally out with the 105mm f2.5 lens and shot these great shoes that have been hanging in the hood for a while.

Casualties of snow removal are always interesting to me.  The streets can get to looking pretty rugged during a big snow year.

I forced myself to block off a day last week to visit my Alma-Matter and make use of my library card.  The symbols project I was mentioning earlier was mainly made up of material I found in the various libraries at the University of Manitoba.

The Familiar doors of the Architecture building where the Fine-Arts/Architecture library is found.

Legend

I stopped in and walked around the new Fine-Arts building and found this little gem... So good.

This photo is worth looking at large.

Thank you so much for stopping and checking out the blog, I hope you enjoyed it.

-Bram