The Brass Baby Cometh
Friday, August 22 2008 | Comments (0)
In this week’s episode of M.I. Darren’s baby is finally here, Ami starts promoting mixed martial arts fights, and Tim Hendricks, Chris Garver, and Chris Nuñez give their clients some sweet new ink.
Darren Brass and Talea have been waiting for their child for 9 months and it’s time to decide how to have the baby. “I don’t want to have a hospital birth, I would rather do water birth…the water’s really warm and they say it helps with relaxation…I think I can handle it,” Talea says.
Back at the shop, Tim Hendricks is getting ready to do a cobra on fellow tattoo artist Morgan’s back. “I’m getting a Cobra wrapped around flowers, the cobra is to symbolize protection,” Morgan says. “Actually, I’m terrified of snakes, but snakes coming to you in your dreams represent a lot of change…and just recently I had a dream where one bit me on my foot. I decided to start nursing school, I love tattooing but I figured I need a back up career.” The red and black twisted cobra on Morgans back looks great when Tim is done. “This cobra is going to help me get through nursing school, I’m so thrilled.”
Next up, one of Ami James’ friends from the fight club he trains with comes in wanting a tattoo. “I’m here to get a tattoo to commemorate the Olympic games in 2004 in Athens, Greece. I was a judo player. Going to the Olympic games, that had to be the most spectacular feeling in my life, there’s nothing like it.” The simple greek lettering and numbers are going on Rhadi’s back. “The journey to the games was a tough one…easily the most difficult thing I’ve done in my life, ended up fighting Korea and getting a silver medal,” Rhadi says. Ami is impressed, “This was one of the more meaningful tattoos I’ve done…I can’t even imagine training your whole life, my hat's off to him.”
Later on, Darren and Talea hit up the birthing clinic to get an ultrasound and prepare for the arrival of their baby son. The check up goes well, and the couple are anticipating what it’ll be like to be parents. “I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t a little nervous about the long nights and the sleepless nights, but just to see that beautiful little baby’s face sitting there crying for daddy, for mommy, come on man that’s worth it,” Darren says. “We both feel good about the water birth.”
Wade and his father have come all the way from Oklahoma on their motorcycles to get tattoos together. Wade’s dad will get an eagle, globe, and anchor to commemorate his time spent in the marine corp, and Wade wants a Kirin to represent his family ties. “In Japanese legend, the Kirin has very strong ties to family and my dad’s been a hero of mine for a long time. That’s kind of what the tattoo is all about for me, just paying homage to him and my family,” Wade says. “It was definitely a grueling trip.” Wade’s dad agrees, “It’s called the iron butt, you have to ride 1000 miles in 24 hours. And we did it with about an hour to spare.” The ride and the tattoos are all about bringing the two together, and father and son have great tattoos to take back to Oklahoma.
Ami James is taking his love for mixed martial arts to the bank as he tries to get a start producing fights. Since he trains with a fight club in Miami, he already has some of the contacts he’ll need to get his promotional career off the mats. “Mixed martial arts is the fastest growing sport in the world. We’re going to do the marketing right, we’re going to find the right venue. I definitely have a lot on my plate between the bars the new shop, the old shop, it’s going to be tough to find time to do it.” Time isn’t the only problem Ami has however, “I wasn’t really aware how much money I would be spending on lighting. In my head I was like we’ll put some light bulbs up, the guys can leave come back tomorrow to pick them up. It’s not really like that; I have to pay the fighters, the flights, the hotels, cameras, everything just piled up. We’re tens of thousands in the hole now. This was supposed to be fun, a VIP thing, and now if I survive this month I’ll be surprised.”
Meanwhile Audra, a homeopathic doctor, comes into the shop to get representations of air and water on her hips. She already has fire and earth on her back, so to complete the foursome she needs the two remaining elements. “We were going to do wind and waves on both sides so it would be easier to stencil it,” Chris Garver says, “Audra wanted it to be very ‘wispy’ and I couldn’t get it wispy enough for her.” “When I first went in to see Chris, he did a few sketches that were a little bit too thick, but basically he streamlined that down quite a bit and it came together really nice,” Audra says, “The four elements are kind of a symbolism of myself as a doctor. I chose to become a naturopathic doctor when I was in college; I was in pre-med and I had some kidney stones, and I was given medications that I was allergic to, and they kept giving me the medication despite me having reactions to it, they just wouldn’t listen to me.” When they finish, the 4 elements on Audra’s back and hips symbolize the kind of holistic and personal care Audra hopes to offer her patients.
With just a day left until the main event, and the expenses continuing to pile up, Ami James will have to pack the venue for his MMA fight just to break even. But the hits just keep on coming when a heavyweight fighter misses his flight and the crew doesn’t know if he’ll even make it to Miami in time. The next day however, the fighter shows up and everything is back on track. The fights themselves don’t start too well as the first fighter begins hyperventilating and they are forced to call an ambulance. The second fight doesn’t go too much better when a fighter gets a knee where the sun doesn’t shine and the match is called on a disqualification. “Let’s hope we have no more disasters,” Ami says. But his prayers are answered as the next two fights go off without a hitch, and the crowd goes wild. The heavyweight that missed his flight proves highly entertaining, and the whole event ends up a success. “I’m really proud of what we did, a celebration is in order.” James concludes.
In the last tattoo, Chris Nuñez gets a chance to help a cancer patient with his art. Scott is a fly fishing enthusiast that wants to get a trout on his chest. “What I love about fly fishing is the sense of connection and the sense of separation. The connection is with nature. The separation is where I don’t think about work, I don’t think about paying bills, I'm lost in that moment,” Scott says. “I had breast cancer so I had a mastectomy, so I have a scar.” “It’s not really great to tattoo over something that new,” Chris tells him. Since the scar is only a year old, Nuñez decides to do the tattoo just above the scar and finish the bottom of the tattoo softly so that Scott can add to it in the future.
When Nuñez is done with the stencil, Scott comes back and gives him the go ahead. “I’ve been fly fishing for about 8 years,” Scott says, “I’ve found it to be an oasis from work, from bills, and certainly this last year an oasis from breast cancer. It blows your mind because it’s just something that’s not in the minds of most men. The chemotherapy is four months every other week…as they said, they bring you as close to death as possible and then let your body come back.” Hearing Scott talk about not having nose hairs and eyelashes, hearing him talk about his eyelids sticking together moves Nuñez. Scott finalizes the exchange, “The tattoo really symbolizes an end to one part of my life and the beginning of another, from what was to what could be. I’m just thrilled.”
After several trips to birthing classes and multiple ultrasounds and conversations with the midwife, the time is finally here for Darren and Talea’s son. After hours of labor, their son is perfect when he comes, and the happy couple are riding the emotional wave. “You know,” Talea says, “I really couldn’t have asked for anything better, it went fast and smooth, it was beautiful, it was weird, it was unexplainable, because here he is.” Cassius Aveory Brass arrives at 6 a.m., 7 lbs 6 oz., 20.5 inches, and the whole team of artists at Miami Ink stops to honor the work of art that Darren and his wife have created.
“We made that,” Talea says. “I love you, baby.”
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