PHARREL WILLIAMS IN 'GODOY' T-SHIRT - THE VOICE

https://www.instagram.com/p/BF1mbI-pPCP/?igshid=y6dekujyonxh

The Graphics that you see on the above image are from a shared GODOY pro model deck from 1986 and here, it is worn by Pharrell Williams. Click on the link to see the short clip. 

The iconic graphic and lettering that appeared on the deck appeared FIRST on our skin(s).  Below are some images of us, and the decks, though several years apart, the Left photo was from a skateboard article which appeared in ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE in January of 1987, the magazine shot on the right, which clearly depicts the 'Old English" lettering (which was tattooed on us by Robert Hackney in Dallas Texas), appeared in THRASHER MAGAZINE and was taken by Mofo, who also wrote the 1990 article "Tattooed Dudes" This magazine issue changed the face of tattooing forever. We were the heaviest tattooed professional skateboarders of our generation and the first to make careers out of the art form. This issue, redirected tattooing from a biker dominated stronghold to a more youthful and equally as radical group, skateboarders, punk rockers, and metal fans. There was still an edge back then. It meant something.  

It is an honour to have someone as famous as Pharrell Williams wear our shirt in mainstream media TV program!!! We don't know much about him except that he skated or may still skate and went by the name "Skater P", oh and that he has a popular song called "Happy"...  If you saw this episode of THE VOICE,  and wondered where that cool shirt came from? Now you know!!

Godoys, Rolling Stone Magazine January 1987 photo unknown

Godoys, Thrasher Magazine 1990 photo: MoFo

Steve Godoy learning the McTwist, Dallas TX 1987 on Godoy deck.

Art Godoy's Left forearm, Godoy Gargoyle Graphic tattoo.

JULIA GNUSE - JANUARY 18, 1955 - AUGUST 11, 2016.

From a publicity photo shoot before appearing on a long run of T.V. shows we were on .

In 1991/ 1992, there was so much going on! We had been living in Encinitas California, a beach town in North San Diego and commuting to work at Newport tattoo, a solid hour away! The shop was new, and semi slow. The rainy days were dead. One day Julia came into the shop asking about tattooing as a remedy to cover the scars from blisters as deep as 3rd degree burns, resulting from a 'skin condition'. She's been trying to find a solution to the condition for a very long time and had followed the advice of doctors which only left her with a permanently purplish face from chemical peels and derma-brasions, and the beginnings of "everything going dim" from experimental drugs being tested on her, whose side effects included the "small chance of blindness"!!!  

Skipping from legs to arms to back to chest...etc.

She had tried skin pigment matching done by a 'plastic surgeon'... which left unnatural looking pink dots on her arms, hands and legs.  She felt that she had no choice but to cover the areas with art work. Nothing subtle, there would be themes with mermaids, underwater creatures, cartoons, portraits of family and people who were important in her life, it was to be a full body project. We booked appointments, weekly... she showed up to the first one, then the second one and pretty soon she was consistently getting tattooed 1-3 times a week. Projects like this usually don't materialize into solid work. Sometimes life gets in the way. People may lose jobs, or move, maybe they have kids, or just get lost in the shuffle with re-booking and booking appointments. This one didn't. I started with the legs and we worked our way up. At about 4 - 5 years in, Julia asked if i would tattoo her face. I said, "YES!" 

The very beginnings of the facial tattooing. Notice the purplish scarring fro peels.

I had known her for that long and knew that she was stable mentally and financially and could handle such and extreme kind of tattoo. In the process of tattooing her we had found that the tattooing formed a type of barrier against the sun, her blistering had become less frequent and was only worse on the hands and face. The disease was cutaneous porpheria. Her liver produced too much iron for her blood and her skin reacted to the sun's UV rays, leaving her with blistering on the skin even after minimal exposure. After the tattooing, she could have more sun, and actually come out more in the daytime and enjoy walking in the sun. She was a walker and was sponsored by Nike shoes... she'd walk distance, huge distances... miles and miles in the inland Irvine heat. 

Art tattoos Julia in 1994, Venice beach during filming for Pro Sieben Television.

The face tattooing alone took a long time to do. Every part of the face, into the eyelids, lip lines and even the small strip of skin between the nostrils. The healing was weird. Because of so many peels and derma-brasions, sometimes things would heal lighter than normal and would have to be touched up until they healed dark enough.

After 7 and a half years of tattooing her, we had contacted The Guiness Book of World Records to enter her as a nominee for Most Tattooed Woman. We got calls back and soon had the opportunity to appear on Guiness Prime Time, an evening TV show which showcased record holders or people attempting to break current world's records. There was a bowling ball stacker on the set... took him forever to stack 13 balls! We/she had appeared in so many magazines, and publications and the TV shows were countless! Guiness Prime Time, Larry King Live, Fuera de Series (Spain, Mexico and South America), Pro Sieben (Germany), You Asked For it, Ripley's Believe it or not, Mike and Matty Show... Clips were shown on Oprah... it was an incredible time.

click to view Guinness clip. 

Steve continued tattooing Julia for years after I had moved to Canada. I would see her occasionally on trips to California. There is so much more to tell... she was a very interesting person. Her background did not seem consistent with the type of person she was. She was definitely a black sheep of the family.. one of a kind. 

A few years ago, I found out about her passing. We had not expected that to happen to her. She always seemed full of energy. She was always thin and we had speculated among ourselves that she may have had an eating disorder and that was confirmed as the cause of her death. 

To have had the chance to tattoo her whole body exclusively was one in a million. Me and Steve worked on her maybe 2-3 times a week 2-4 hours at a time! imagine constantly healing tattoos! 

WEBSITE UPDATES etc.

                           

The site has been modified and updated and updates will continue. Look carefully to find contact information, shop bylaws, booking/deposit requirements and other information on how we operate. 

Artist portfolios will be active soon on this site; in the meantime, please go to our Istagram page to see the most updated pieces as well as to link to the artist's personal Instagram portfolios.

WE ARE AND HAVE BEEN A CUSTOM TATTOO SHOP, IN VANCOUVER BC, SINCE 1998, SPECIALIZING IN EVERY STYLE OF TATTOOING. WE HANDLE ONE OF A KIND CUSTOM PIECES AS WELL AS THE HARDEST OF THE HARD - COVER UPS AND SMALL DETAILED IMAGES WHICH THE REST OF OUR CITY'S SHOPS WILL NOT TOUCH.

THE PROCESS TO PRODUCE THESE PIECES TAKES TIME, SOMETIMES MORE THAN ANTICIPATED, RUNNING BEHIND SCHEDULE, THOUGH RARE, DOES HAPPEN DUE TO THE METICULOUS WAY WE WORK. WE DO NOT RUSH TATTOOS... SO BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE STRICT TIME CONSTRAINTS. BOOK YOUR DAY AROUND YOUR TATTOO AND NOT YOUR TATTOO AROUND YOUR DAY.

WALK INS - WE OCCASIONALLY HAVE TIME FOR WALK INS. BEST THING TO DO IS SHOW UP WHEN WE OPEN, AT 12:00 NOON, IF WE HAVE TIME, WE WILL TAKE YOU IMMEDIATELY, IF NOT, WE WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN TO COME BACK.

CONSULTATIONS - WILL BE DONE IN PERSON - NOT BY EMAIL. WE DEAL IN SPECIFICS WHICH CAN EASILY GET LOST IN TRANSLATION THRU EMAILS OR PHONE CALLS. EMAILING IS LAZY… SO PLEASE COME IN PERSON WITH A CLEAR IDEA OR DIRECTION YOU WANT TO GO. BRING ANY REFERENCE, IT MAKES BOOKING EASIER FOR US AND YOURSELF, WE CAN'T READ MINDS!!

WHEN YOU BOOK, PLEASE REALIZE THAT WE TAKE A DEPOSIT TOWARD YOUR TATTOOING, THIS DEPOSIT WILL BE APPLIED TOWARD YOUR FINAL COST / TIME.

WE ARE A CASH ONLY SHOP. 

IF YOU BOOK AN APPOINTMENT TAKEN OVER THE PHONE BECAUSE YOU LIVE FAR AWAY, PLEASE COME EARLIER THAN THE TIME YOU HAVE BOOKED. IF YOU ARE LATE, WHOEVER IS HERE BEFORE YOU WILL GET THE SPOT. PLEASE BE DECENT AND CALL IF YOU WILL BE LATE.

H-STREET - MAGNIFICENT 7 SOIREE - NOV. 26, 2016

On November 26, Tony Magnusson held the H-Street soaree in  Encinitas to commemorate the release of the Magnificent 7 series of skateboards and the release of a few new shoe models from Osiris. For those who rode for H-Street and were involved in it's evolution, it was more than that.

H-Street was, in it's time, a ground breaking company who's rise and industry  take over seemed to happen overnight. The late 80's climate, in the industry was perfect for a new company like this, who showed what could be done with what you had in front of you.  Before it's rise, the magazines showed images of pros that were inaccessible and unapproachable due to egos or geographic location, pros who were doing tricks on the current terrain (half pipes) in California that most of the kids in the world could not and would never be able to do or travel to.  Not every city in the world, in those days, had a skatepark with a good vertical half pipe.. H-Street made skateboarding accessible. A kid could open a magazine and see a street skater in an H-Street ad, or pop in an H-Street video and realize that there was no need for a half pipe and that there was no need to admire pros who would not give you the time of day. The pros and riders on the team were the best, the most original and down to earth. They skated the streets because that's what they did. They were cool and approachable and accessible. 

From our perspective, being directly involved in skateboarding as recognized professionals, we could see that for us to fit as pieces into this puzzle was going to be virtually impossible. This meant conforming to the hollow painted representation of what skateboarding was at the time, being put out there by the 3 main industry controllers.They controlled the magazines, the contests, the fashion… some innovation but mostly the fashion based mid to late 80's style that contaminated what WE and many others recognized as a naturally rebellious and aggressive way of life.

At the time Steve was riding for Circle-A and I was on H-Street, yet we BOTH contributed to the graphics which helped shape the direction the company would go, artistically. We remember ideas just coming to us, we'd draw, submit and the'd use.the images. or not.. other pros -  Danny Way, Elguera, Ron Allen and Schultes asked for graphics, Tony did too…

We had just come off a very unsatisfactory relationship with a company who's views were not consistent with ours and there wasn't any choice but to leave. I (Art) heard from Jason Jessee, that Tony Magnusson was starting a new board company, so i got out to California to see if there was any opportunity there.  A meeting was set up and as usual, not expecting any positive feedback, I went to meet Tony and Mike Ternasky. They told me the plan, told me who was on the team, what boards will be coming out and when… We skated Andy's ramp, this was sort of part 2 in the interview process… I did the best I could. I got the job! I couldn't imagine having to peddle a resume which would have been rejected by either the big 3 or any of the smaller companies who were trying to fit into the stereotypical image format of the time. So many virtual "no name name professionals" with no ability were being mass marketed to the kids by huge companies.. Huge undeserved royalty checks being paid out and profits made… if only you were able to suck the right dicks.

WAY, SHULTES, STEVE, ART, TONY, ELGUERA, HENSLEY, ALLEN

H'-Street accepted us.. Gave us all purpose and livelihood. So many years have passed so quickly that until that night, it was hard to find time to stop and realize what H-Street was and what it meant to all of us.

That night, in attendance were the magnificent 7, should have been the called magnificent 8; Tony Magnusson, Ron Allen, Matt Hensley, John Schultes, Elguera, Danny Way  and me and Steve.
We also saw Steve Ortega, Michael Crum, Cookie head, Alphonso Rawls… hung out with Daniel Cuervo and lots of other old associates.

There was a museum of sorts, with rare boards, shirts and memorabilia, live music… the Fuckin Godoys killed, like we always do. Matt Hensley, Steve Ortega and Danny Way joined us on stage to play one song. There were speeches and finally a Cake… 

Speeches: Danny Way "They got me a plane ticket..."

ALL MAGNIFICENT 7 DECKS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH H-STREET.COM

THE ART GODOY SHOE IS AVAILABLE THROUGH H-STREET.COM AND OSIRISSHOES.COM

ORDER NOW!!!

GODOY INTERVIEW - SPANISH MAGAZINE. INK ON SKY

  

Lo primero de todo, muchas gracias por colaborar con Ink on Sky, estamos encantados de que hayáis aceptado esta entrevista. Esperamos que la comunidad de tatuadores comprenda todo el trabajo que hay detrás de vuestro libro y todo aquello que conlleva. 

• ¿Desde cuándo tenían este proyecto en mente y qué les llevó a escribirlo?

•

El primer libro fue escrito en Ingles en 2004, salió en 2005. Fue traducido a Espanol y salió un ano después. El libro fue traducido a francés,  italiano, alemán, y portugués… Cuando sacamos el libro en formato PDF para que la gente que habla espantos podrían pagar para descargarla y no pagar flete, se rompió los métodos de seguridad y todo se fue al internet… taringa, mercado libre, y miles de sitios torrent. Todo fue escrito con la intención de educar a los tatuadores para prevenir las problemas que acompañan la ignorancia. La ignorancia entera - de la calibración correcta de la maquina de tatuar hecha con un estándar científico comprobado. Te digo lamentablemente que esta entrevista es 10 anos muy tarde. Con la educación, no hay ego. Con la educación podemos reclamar NUESTRA industria, prevenir k gente entra con intenciones de contaminarla, y que podemos sacar los que valen mierda. Ustedes tienen que entender que si alguien tiene titulo de "suplidor", no es decir que conocen los productos que están vendiendo, tampoco los fabricantes. Habian muchos que estaban contra esta educación porque pensaron en "ahora" y no en el futuro de la industria, pensaron que es mejor guardar secretos… ellos ni conocían los "secretos"! Compartir información que actualmente no es superstición ni mito es algo que beneficiara a TODOS. 

 Nosotros teníamos la salud de la industria en mente. Teniamos la reputación de la entera industria en mente. El problema de esta ignorancia es lo siguiente - los artistas ignorantes compran de suplidores ignorantes que compran de fabricantes ignorantes. Ellos dejan que los impostores siguen vendiendo sus cagadas y se satura la industria con equipo inferior. Tanta ignorancia deja que NADIE sabe cuales son las caracteristicas necesarias, con respeto a funcionamiento de una maquina electromagnética. Entonces… ya. Todo se fue a la verga. Estamos en 2015. Muchos trabajan en maneras no higiénicas - no ponen bolsas en sus maquinas. Revistas muestran fotos de tatuadores trabajando sin barreras en sus fuentes, maquinas, clips…  eso dana nuestra reputación, pone a los clientes a riesgos… da un nombre malo a todos nosotros que tenemos respeto al tattoo y al cliente. 

• ¿Cuánto tiempo trabajaron en él?(Recopilación de información, redacción…)

•

indirectamente… toda nuestra carrera. 31+ anos.

• ¿Por qué crees que ha tenido tanto éxito?

•

En general, esta industria no es profesional. Hay millones de personas, no solo tatuadores que les faltan respeto a todo que fundió el mundo del tatuaje. No hay éticas… se fueron por el cagadero. Este libro tenia mucha demanda. Cuesta dinero para imprimir, cuesta tiempo para escribir y costo muchos anos en aprender todas las cosas que compartimos con todo el mundo. Este libro fue descargado ILEGAMENTE acerca de 900,000 veces ese numero lo calculamos en 2008. Nadie quería pagar por descargas. Este libro fue imprimido ilegalmente también en varios países. Espania especialmente. SIN PERMISO DE NOSOTROS, los autores. Tenemos derechos en el mundo de copyright pero nadie respetaba eso. Si se define éxito por medios de ser conocidos por escribir este libro, bien había éxito. Pero en cuestión de dolares… fallo. En cuestión de educación y abrir los ojos de la industria de la invasión de los chinos, la invasión de la ignorancia, la invasión de las programas de tele y revistas que muestran actividades no higiénicas como fueran un estándar… fallo. 

• ¿Tenéis algún proyecto futuro? (seminarios, presentaciones, nueva edición)

Realmente, hemos hecho muchas entrevistas que no han cambiado nada. Ya no vendemos el libro en papel. Se puede comprar la descarga por Amazon. NO tenemos planes de seguir fútilmente tratando de educar a un publico que solo le interesan tener todo gratis sin pagar sus derechos para ser profesionales, ya es muy tarde para eliminar los suplidores que realmente no respetan a nuestro arte profesional, ya es muy tarde para convencer a todos de que si nos unimos, podemos reclamar a nuestra industria y limpiarla. Limpiar la reputación de que no somos vagos, de que el cliente es numero uno y no sus identidades de "rock star". Ahora que la maquina rotativa ha ganado… yo creo que ustedes llegaron 10 anos muy tarde y todo va seguir en la misma trayectoria. 

Hemos viajado por todo el mundo patrocinando los mejores de los mejores. Artistas de países obscuros que tenían habilidades increíbles! Hemos hecho tantas cosas.. se puede leer todo en nuestro blog… 

godoymachines.com

Apreciamos lo que están tratando de hacer, no hay nada lindo en esta industria. Hay trabajos de muy alta calidad, hay muchos que están chambeando a niveles tremendos. pero al mismo tiempo hay tanta ignorancia y no se que pueden hacer ustedes ni cual es su trayectoria, su dirección. Para nosotros, el orgullo de ser reconocidos, respetados por lo que hemos hecho para este mundo, no hay precio. Somos inventores artistas que conocemos toda técnica desde la maquina hasta la aplicación de todos estilos de tatuar. Tenemos 5 patentes relacionados al tattoo, hemos tatuado exclusivamente a la mujer mas tatuada del mundo y hemos mantenido nuestra reputación y hemos tratado con todo corazón ser ejemplos de como se manejan las cosas con éticas y respeto a esto y por hacerlo tratar de mostrar al mundo que esto beneficia a todos. Lo demás, ahora, en estos tiempos… nos vale verga.

Una cosa más, si tenéis alguna foto vuestra con el libro, me gustaría mucho para poder acompañar la entrevista, a ser posible mayor de 950 px.

Muchas gracias chicos, os publicaré como muy tarde el lunes. 

Y sobre todo ¡felicidades por vuestro trabajo!