Happy 2012! This past year was a pretty good one for my tattooing - I started at Rain City Tattoo last March, and I'm loving it! Here's a small sample of the fun tattoos I got to do on some amazing clients in 2011:

Rain City Tattoos is proud to sponsor Save the Brains, an Annual Rock n' Roll Fundraiser for brain cancer reseach for the BC Cancer Foundation!

The next Save the Brains Rock n' Roll Fundraiser is scheduled for Friday, August 26, 2011 at the fabulous Biltmore Cabaret, featuring music by The Black Amps and The Stag Reels and burlesque by Ruthe Ordare, Burgundy Brixx & Camero Luvroc! There's also an amazing silent art auction & more. Hosted by Burgundy Brixx & The Purrrfessor of Kitty Nights fame, Save the Brains 2011 will be a fun night of rock n' roll & burlesque you won't soon forget!

-Kirk

My hours at the shop are changing starting July 17th. I will now be taking Sundays off but will be working Tuesdays, so I will now be in the shop Tuesday to Saturday. Come on by Rain City Tattoos and see me!

Also, it's summer time so that means it's time to do fun walk-in tattoos like this one Curtis got the other day:

-Kirk

Lots going on lately... Here's the rundown:

Things are going great so far at Rain City. Mark and I are having a good time tattooing and making art. The amazing Chris Johne painted the signs on the windows and they look fantastic. Come on down and check it out yourself: 101-223 West Broadway, Vancouver. I'm taking walk-ins daily on a first come, first serve basis so you can come say hi and get a quick tattoo. Here are a couple of photos of the new shop.

My lovely web designer/wife just added a bunch of new photos to the TATTOO and ART pages. Check it out...

If you want to check out ongoing projects & other random things in my life, check out my blog: www.kirksheppardtattoos.blogspot.com

My first shirts are in! $20 each. Pick them up at Rain City Tattoos, or contact me if you can't make it in.

I have brand new flash sets for sale for $150. The sheets are 20"x14" and full of easy tattoos that can be banged out all day long. Contact me for more info.

As of March 10th I will no longer be at tattooing at Adrenaline. I'd like to thank Dave, the crew, and all the people I tattooed there over the past 3 years. I had a great time - thank you!

One of the reasons I went to work at Adrenaline in the first place was to work with Mark Ainsworth, one of the raddest people I know. So it is a great pleasure to say I will be working with him again, at his brand-spanking-new studio Rain City Tattoo, located on Broadway at Columbia here in Vancouver. His new shop is a bare-bones back-to-basics tattoo shop: just tattoos, art and fun times.

So after March 10th you can find me here:
Rain City Tattoos
101-223 West Broadway
Vancouver BC
604-569-1522

Hope to see you all soon!

photo by Jessy Junior

You don't have to worry about missing out on swimming, your cozy winter clothes hide the yucky flaky stage, and best of all, it'll be healed by the time t-shirt weather comes around! To that end, I am currently taking on new clients.
I'm tattooing at Adrenaline 5 days a week: 11-7 Tuesday to Saturday. Call the shop for an appointment – 604-699-6800 – or come on by 1014 Granville St.

WEST COAST TATTOO SHOW

I'll be tattooing at the West Coast Tattoo Show on April 15th to 17th at the PNE Forum in Vancouver. I am booking appointments now. Email me to book your appointment before my schedule fills up.

HEY SASKATCHEWAN PEOPLE

On May 13th to 21st I'm going to visit my friends over in Saskatoon again. I always have a good time out there doing fun tattoos. I will be tattooing at Tantrix Body Art in Saskatoon all week. Come get tattooed! Contact the shop to book an appointment:
Tantrix Body Art
#10-705 Central Ave Saskatoon, SK
306-384-5454

Thanks to all my great clients that helped make this past year awesome. Hope to see you again in 2011!

Here's a colourful review of some of the fun tattoos I got to do in 2010:

And we're having a party!

Come down to Pat's Pub on Friday, November 26th to celebrate my thirtieth birthday with me. There's three great bands and the cover is only $8!

See you on Friday...

-Kirk

Did you know I have a blog? Well, I do. You can check it out at www.kirksheppardtattoos.blogspot.com. I try and keep it updated with new projects, ongoing projects, paintings, and just other stuff I find fun. Read it, follow it, comment.

Also I now have a Yelp page, so love me or hate me, you can now review me on Yelp http://www.yelp.ca/biz/kirk-sheppard-vancouver

And finally, a big thanks to Clint, Dax, and everyone at Craftsman Tattoos in White Rock for showing me a good time while I tattooed out there earlier this month. I did some fun tattoos, learned some stuff, and generally had fun.

-Kirk

I'm super excited to be tattooing at Craftsman Tattoos in White Rock on September 1st through the 5th. It'll be great getting out of Vancouver, being right on the beach and tattoing with Clint Danroth & Dax Brunet. I'll be covering for my friend Hugues, who is globetrotting to Montreal and Paris.

If you're in the neighbourhood, come by and get tattooed, or call the shop to make an appointment! See you then!

Craftsman Tattoo
#7, 15782 Marine Drive
White Rock, BC
778 294 0708

-Kirk

August has been a busy month so far, and people are asking me for some great custom designs.

Check out these fun tattoos I've done recently:

-Kirk

Summer has FINALLY arrived in Vancouver! You know what that means - the beach, long motorcycle rides, beers on patios, and time to get more tattoos. Summer's booking fast, so contact the shop soon if you want to get in.

Check out this awesome Lions Gate Bridge tattoo and this cute li'l eagle tattoo that I've done in the past couple of weeks...

-Kirk

I did these fun neo-traditional foot tattoos (to the right) of a lock and skeleton key on a pair of room-mates this week. We had a good time and the tattoos came out cool, if I do say so myself!

I also got to tattoo this awesome cupcake skull design (below) on a foot this week. I was the foot guy at Adrenaline this week!

We got the new Sailor Jerry Flash Book, Vol. 3 in the shop this week. I love tattooing all that old timey flash, so come on down to Adrenaline on Tuesdays through Saturdays and get some fun traditional flash tattoos! They're bold , look good and hold the test of time.

-Kirk

Stephanie, Cara and I had a good time at the National Tattoo Association Convention this weekend. Thanks to Flo, Aaron and Melissa for putting on a great show once again in Seattle. My good friend Hugues Lauzier won Best Traditional Tattoo Award - Judge's Choice at the show. Check him out if you haven't already.

Also, check it out my friend Chris' blog - it's a fun blog about mostly motorcycles! He wrote about me this week. My friend Jr. blogged about me this week too!

I did this rad little fly tattoo on Steph's hand this week.

-Kirk

Check out these rad tattoos that I got to do on some motorcycle enthusiast friends this week. On the left is a crest tattoo that I did on Rob. It incorporates elements from his whole family in a new kind of family crest. It was a challenge to design, but came out pretty well. And on the right is a shovelhead motor/heart/skull thingy that I tattooed on my old friend Darren. This kind of tattoo is right up my alley! I also got my motorcycle learner's license this week. Soon I'll be ripping it up with Rob & Darren on my very own bike!
-Kirk

Thank you once again to the good people of Tantrix Body Art in Saskatoon: Mike and Leanne, Tyler and Lisa, for putting up with Kirk for the past week while he tattooed in their shop. They were great hosts and showed him a good time in snowy Saskatchewan.

Thanks also to all the clients, new and repeat, who came out and got tattoos from Kirk. He did some really fun pieces this trip and he'll be out again soon, but preferably not during the winter!

It's about time! www.kirksheppardtattoos.com has finally received a facelift, courtesy of Cara Sheppard. Check out the TATTOOS page for lots of new tattoos that Kirk has done over the past few months, and visit the ART page to see some of Kirk's new paintings.

Got any feedback? Want a tattoo? Contact Kirk.

From February 17-22, 2010 Kirk will be escaping Vancouver during the Olympics by tattooing at Tantrix Body Art in Saskatoon.

Appointments are filling up fast, so contact Tantrix ASAP to book your tattoo appointment with Kirk in Saskatoon.

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
-Winston Churchill

On September 4-6, 2009, Kirk will be attending Art Tattoo Montreal in Montreal Quebec with Hugues Lauzier from Craftsman Tattoo, Vancouver.

On October 2-4, 2009, Kirk will have a booth at The Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth in Las Vegas with Mike Thompson-Hill of Tantrix Tattoo, Saskatoon.

Come on by at either show and say hi!

...but only a few doors down!

As of June 1st, 2009, you can catch Kirk and all his cohorts just south of their current location, at 1014 Granville St, Vancouver. Come on by, check out the fancy new digs, and get a tattoo.

Holy cow, Kirk's online tattoo gallery has been updated! Yes, it's about time!

Click on the tattoo gallery page to check out some of the fantastic tattoos Kirk's done over the past few months, as well a few old favourites.
Wanna get a tattoo from Kirk? Call Adrenaline Tattoos on Granville Street here in Vancouver (604-669-6800) to book a consultation with Kirk so he can design a custom tattoo just for you.

Holy cow, Kirk's online tattoo gallery has been updated! Yes, it's about time!

Click on the tattoo gallery page to check out some of the fantastic tattoos Kirk's done over the past few months, as well a few old favourites.
Wanna get a tattoo from Kirk? Call Adrenaline Tattoos on Granville Street here in Vancouver (604-669-6800) to book a consultation with Kirk so he can design a custom tattoo just for you.

Thanks everybody at Tantrix Body Art in Saskatoon!

Mike, Leanne, Tyler, Andrew and Lisa made Kirk feel welcome and showed him a good prairie time last weekend. Thanks also to the Tantrix customers who came out and got tattooed while Kirk was there. A good time was had by all!

Kirk made it through the snowstorm, and is home safe in Vancouver again... for now...

Tickets for the SAVE THE BRAINS! fundraiser go on sale on Saturday, January 10th.
The British Columbians
Grand Theft Radio
The Yams
The SOME x6 Band
**great music, raffle, door prizes & more - only $15**
Visit www.savethebrains.com for details.

Thank you to Tattoo Magazine for publishing Kirk's tattoos in their last two issues.

Thanks also to Tatuajes y Perforaciones from Mexico for the feature article and 6-page spread of Kirk's tattoo photos.

Join us for the launch of The Tattoo Colouring Book II!
Music by The Vicious Cycles
Burlesque by Miss Rosie Bitts & Miss KT Couture
Special pricing on both books
Tattoo colouring contest
Prizes for the best dressed cowpokes
Friday, October 3, 2008 at 9:00pm, Anza Club: 3 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver
$10 at the door

At long last, Kirk's online tattoo gallery has been updated!

Check out the tattoo gallery page to see some of the fun tattoos he's been doing here in Vancouver over the past few months, as well as some oldies but goodies.
Like what you see? Call Adrenaline on Granville Street (604-669-6800) to book a consultation with Kirk to come up with a custom tattoo just for you.

Many thanks to Between the Cracks for their prompt and throrough plugging of The Tattoo Colouring Book and The Tattoo Colouring Book II, as well as all their other coverage of music, art, culture and transformation in Vancouver, BC and beyond.

Check out www.btcracks.com

Kirk had a ton of fun at the Seattle Tattoo Expo this year. Thanks to everyone who came by the booth to say hi and pick up some artwork! The crowd was awesome, the bands were great, and a good time was had by all.

Kirk is already registered for next year's show, and he hopes to see you there.

Kirk will be attending the Seattle Tattoo Expo on Aug 8-10th, 2008. It's at the Seattle Center in downtown Seattle, right next to the Key Arena and the space needle. You can buy tickets at the door, or in advance on their website, www.seattletattooconvention.com.

KIRK WORKS AT ADRENALINE ON GRANVILLE

Kirk is now tattooing at Adrenaline Professional Body Piercing & Tattoos, 982 Granville St, Vancouver, BC. Call them up to make an appointment to be tattooed by Kirk: 604-669-6800.

See you soon!

KIDS PLAYING WITH SKULLS!

Check out Kirk's new site - Kids Playing with Skulls: the art of Kirk & Cara Sheppard. It features exclusive original paintings, limited edition art prints, tattoo flash, books, badges, postcards and more, produced by Kirk and his lovely and talented wife, Cara. Keep checking, as the selection will be changing constantly.

ABSOLUTE UNDERGROUND

Kirk is the featured artist in the newest issue of Absolute Underground, a bi-monthly magazine distributed in Vancouver, Victoria, Vancouver Island, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Seattle. In the article, Kirk talks about his fine art, as well as his life as a tattoo artist.

TOP HATS & MONOCLES CONTINUES...

The tattoo art show is at the gallery for the entire month of November - come on down and check it out! There are paintings, limited edition art prints, tattoo flash sets and copies of The Tattoo Colouring Book for sale.

Top Hats & Monocles - The Fine Art of Tattooist Kirk Sheppard
2514 Douglas St, Victoria BC
9am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday

TOP HATS & MONOCLES

You are cordially invited to the opening party for:
Top Hats & Monocles - The Fine Art of Tattooist Kirk Sheppard
Friday, November 2nd, 2514 Douglas St, Victoria BC
An evening of art, tattoos, music and entertainment.

KIRK IS DISPOSABLE

After months of testing, Kirk has officially switched to sterile disposable (rather than autoclaved surgical steel) tubes, making an entirely disposable tattooing set-up. Visit Kirk and ask him about the benefits of disposable tubes for tattooing.

NEW ART PRINTS and TATTOO FLASH FOR SALE

There are a few left each of Kirk's limited edition art prints and they are available for sale on the Kids Playing with Skulls site.

Also, there's a new set of tattoo flash for sale and a great deal when you purchase both tattoo flash sets.

SKIN & INK REVIEWS THE TATTOO COLOURING BOOK

Check out the Feb 2007 issue of Skin & Ink Tattoo Magazine. There's a fantastic two-page review article on The Tattoo Colouring Book by Mr. Bob Baxter himself.

Then buy The Tattoo Colouring Book on Kids Playing with Skulls...

URBAN BABY RUNWAY REVIEWS THE TATTOO COLOURING BOOK

Check out the review of The Tattoo Colouring Book on Urban Baby Runway! It's a fantastic site with reviews of products for babies, children, moms & dads who want something a little different than yellow duckies and teddy bears.

Then buy The Tattoo Colouring Book on Kids Playing with Skulls...