Eagles and Tigers and Coy Fish, Oh My
Thursday, July 31 2008 | Comments (0)
In this week's M.I. episode, Garver does a coy fish painting for a model home, Yoji tries to get his daughter to speak Japanese, and of course the crew hooks it up with some sweet ink while Ami & Chris look for a replacement for Kat Von D.
Weeks after Ami James fired Kat Von D, he and Chris Nuñez are still looking for a replacement. Unfortunately, they must find someone who can gel with the rest of the crew, stay out of James’ bad graces, and still do the kind of quality work for which the show is known. “Replace me and Darren,” Chris Garver said. “Who’s gonna do work here?” James asks.
Meanwhile, two bikini clad girls come into the shop looking for matching tattoos. The girls are lovers and want the Chinese symbol for “love” just below their bikini line. “Yoji, I got a present for you,” Nuñez says. “I unwrapped them and everything.”
As Yoji begins the tattoo, he asks the girls about their relationship. They had been friends since childhood, and after the horny high school boys started asking them to kiss, they decided they liked it, and became girlfriends. “We love each other…We do everything together, eat, sleep, shower.” Allie said. Yoji started getting nervous. “When they told me they took showers together, it was really hard to concentrate.” But the tattoos turned out good despite Yoji’s concentration issues, and the girls were happy with the result.
Next, a woman enters the shop looking for Chris Garver. She had seen the artwork in the shop, done by Garver, and wanted an artist to do some artwork for a model home. “Tattooing is like a real job, and painting is more like a hobby” Garver says. But before he gets a chance to check out the space, Santi and his mom come in looking to get a tattoo on Santi’s shoulder. Santi’s mom has a few reservations however, she doesn’t want the tattoo coming down too far on Santi’s arm. Santi explains that he wants a tiger on his left arm as a tribute to his mom, with whom he is very close. “This tattoo is really showing that I’m becoming more mature now.” Santi says. Chris does a stencil for them, and Santi likes it so they begin the tattoo. “The tiger is my mom’s Japanese zodiac, so it’s very symbolic to our relationship together.” Santi says. Garver finishes the black and grey portion of the tattoo, and Santi and his mom agree to come back for another sitting.
Next, Garver meets up with Solvimar, the woman with the model home, to check out the spaces where she needs some art. They find a nice spot above the bed, and Garver has the idea of a coy fish painting. He thinks he can bring out the oranges in the headboard. “I’ll call you in a couple of days whenever I get some drawings ready,” Garver says. “Perfect,” She tells him.
Christopher comes into the shop next looking for an eagle head on his leg. His father was in a motorcycle accident and is now in a coma. “The American eagle was almost extinct, and they came back, this represents my father, because I’m hoping that he’ll do the same, and he’ll wake up.” Christopher says. “So assume tomorrow at noon, I’ll have that drawn up for you.” James tells them.
Santi and his mom then came back then for Santi’s second sitting. At first, having gotten used to the black and grey, Santi was unsure of whether he should get color, but Chris convinced him that they should finish it the tattoo the way it should be finished. “I put a little surprise in there for you, I didn’t ask, but I did it anyway,” Garver said during the tattoo. “What’d you do?” Santi asks. “I made two pink flowers, one to represent you and one to represent your mom…some of my favorite things in the world are pink.” Garver says. At this point, Santi’s mom, who had clashed earlier with Garver because of disagreements about the size of the tattoo, became a huge Chris Garver fan. “Guys are gonna make fun of me with a pink flower” Santi said. “They’re gonna make fun of you anyway,” Garver joshed. In the end, the tattoo looked phenomenal, and both Santi and his mom left the shop satisfied.
Later on, a guy in a wheelchair named Simon comes in looking for a tattoo of three birds to symbolize the three biggest influences on his life, and Chris Nuñez was happy to oblige. “My grandmother was never one to say you can’t do this or you cant do that, she would let me do what she thought I could…against the doctor’s wishes, but I think that that was instilled in every area in my life,” Simon said. He explained that after college he decided to follow his dreams and move to Philadelphia to pursue a career in music production. The three birds symbolize his grandmother and his parents, who had been killed when Simon was young. “My dad would probably really love it, and my grandmother and my mom would probably be pretty pissed…but then they would get over it because they love me,” Simon said smiling.
Yoji has been trying to get his daughter to say the Japanese word for daddy, but so far the only thing she’s been repeating is Yoji’s foul language. Yoji brings her into the shop on his day off, and after a few chocolate smeared kissed for Garver and Nuñez, Yoji and his wife take their daughter to the park to continue the vocabulary lesson. After a few “Oh $h*#s”, the tiny little girl manages the “Oto” of “Otosan” and Yoji is satisfied. “It’s a good feeling you know? It takes time, but she’ll get it,” he tells the camera.
Next, Cristopher comes back to the shop to get his eagle tattoo for his dad. After hearing Christopher and his father’s story, James tells him that he had been in a coma when he was a kid. “When I was kid I got hit by an ambulance, and cracked my skull in half. I was in a coma—I don’t remember for how long,” Ami said. “You never know what could happen, people come out of a coma after 3, 4 years and to them it was just yesterday.” Christopher was inspired by Ami’s story, and hoping that his father will wake up sometime in the future, he leaves the shop emotional and happy about his new body art.
One of the last tattoos of the show was for Angela, who works as a mermaid at a water park. She wants a mermaid on her lower back, since being a mermaid has become so much a part of her life. As part of the show she’s involved in, Angela drinks and eats underwater, a skill she offers to teach the guys at the shop. When the tattoo is finished Angela takes a look at it in the mirror, gives Nuñez a hug, and leaves the shop happy that everyone will know that she is a real mermaid.
Finally, Garver shows up at the model home with a finished painting. “I’m not really thrilled with the painting; I know I could have done a better job. A lot of times there will be a painting that I can’t stand that I did and someone else will really love it, so who knows? Maybe Solvimar will like it,” Garver explains. Not surprisingly, she does. “You did a great job,” she tells him. Even Garver agrees when he sees it above the orange headboard. “You know we hung it up, it actually looked a lot better in this room than it did in my apartment, so I feel a little better about it. Mission accomplished.”
Even though the guys are still one man down at the shop, they seem to be keeping their heads above water, and they’re tighter than ever. Maybe next week James and Nuñez will find that perfect someone to complete the group and continue their fight to stay at the top of the tattooing world on Miami Ink.
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