I know its been a while since I have updated here. So much Ive wanted to  write about and update  you all on,..but Ive been SO incredibly busy , and have a WHOLE  LOT going on.. so maintaining an online persona doesn’t hold the same importance it once did.

Regardless, Ive been doing and involved in some  really cool stuff lately and thought Id share. things  as they happen.

I will be  touring Europe  once again  this year and anyone  interested in getting  work from me , or attending classes , message me ASAP!!

I know I will be  teaching at BMXnet exchange this year once again. This year it will be in Essen Germany from October 14- 17.  I will also be working in Prague, Vienna, Rijeka, Copenhagen, and Stockholm as well. Dates and studios TBA very soon! ot a few other things in the works too but for now that’s it.

Recently i was moving and found and old box of hi8 mm tapes from my involvement  with TSD and suspensions from the early and mid 90′s. This tape was broken and busted, and all it said was rotisserie – june /99.. I knew i HAD to at least attempt to have this tape fixed and digitized!! I m pretty sure this is the only remaining footage of this suspension installation.

For those that don’t know much about me or my involvement with suspensions,  my interest was always with high tension, kinetic suspensions. after  long brainstorm sessions  at IHOP ,  drinking way too much coffee we would brainstorm  and find ways to make  ideas we had happen.  This piece was engineered by Allen and  Oliver.I remember it like it was yesterday, sooo hard to believe it was 12/13 years ago. We all looked so young and good looking then  lol

This was the first attempt at any version of  the high tension , kinetic suspensions and the stepping stone before  the 360 rotating suspension you saw in Episode one . TSD recreated this suspension once more, with the same model and I believe it was the last time  David Martinson (model) ever suspended. I wonder what happened to that guy.. hrmm..

Ok.. hope you guys enjoyed that.. Ill try to post more often here..

Anyone intersted in work contact me ASAP!!

praise hell -Say -10

-R

I know its been a while  since Ive updated on here. These last few months have had my life  a little topsy-turvy.. Ive been keeping myself super busy  and trying to stay sane with the many curve balls life has been throwing  in my direction.

This time, Im trying to decide if i want to stay in the US  any more,  or move elsewhere.

Ive been toying around with the idea of moving to Berlin, so much so that it seems REALLY REALLY feasible to me to do it. I want to just  fall out of it all and just continue to develop my artistic passions there, in ALL their facets..and just create. There is a reason SO many people i know  live there.  No other place i have visited ANYWHERE in the world has a modern art scene like Berlin does..  I  LOVE  IT there..  the only thing i dont think i could stand is the winter weather there.. Berlin gets COLD!!!   Ill probably  head down to the south of Europe  into Croatia maybe ( Ana this means you ) for winter.. and re up my visa.  I just  cant wait to be immersed in the amazing artistic culture that is so much more prevalent in Europe than here in the USA… let alone the food, the wine and  yes of course.. the ART.

Other than that.. Ive been keeping myself busy .. haven’t been drawing that much or tattooing.. been covering at the shop , working for  Mckinnon (other piercer) for like a month straight and  havent had much time for much else, .. except one of my other passions that Ive been exploring more once again.. PHOTOGRAPHY!!! Namely.. fetish photography.

Years ago i used to really be into fetish photography and  was much more into the fetish scene as well .. then i dropped out of it  for whatever reason.. I think it was because i didnt like the ‘fashion fetish’ scene  which  seems to dominate  so much of the balls and conventions.. I have never been into  dressing up in the fucked up make up and latex/leather clothing..  I was always more into  just going and doing what i do .. and  participating in scenes and hanging,cutting or burning people.. not just hanging on the sidelines  dressed to the nines and  looking like i WAS part of it.. id rather just BE part of it.. who gives a fuck  what im dressed like..  well obviously it mattered to others and for whatever other reasons as well, i dropped out of all those scene.. but lately.. ive been having a little fun again..

Here is a couple pics of what Ive been  trying to stay busy with  when im not working in the shop. These are out takes and just  showing what i can in a work safe  public forum, as most of the stuff Im shooting is NOT Work safe.

Im always looking for  models.. especially ones with body art of any sort! If your interested in Modeling.. Hit me up! Im always traveling and  might be in your area soon!  Id love to shoot you!

and thats about all I can show you .. I like to work with color.. this all done with halogen lighting and  not photoshop. The rope work is done by myself. Id also love to shoot your scenes or dungeon or slaves!

Interested models please email – Ron@rongarza.com with  MODEL in the subject line.

Ok.. thats all.. Ive rambled on enough .. Ill try to update more often..

until then,

Say – 10,

-R

Wow its been a minute since I  last  wrote here.

As always , been super busy with piercing at the shop,  and tattooing as much as I can when Im not piercing. Been feeling pretty good with the actual tattooing part, although I seem to be doing more traditional style stuff which although doesn’t show much versatility , does show I can do a good , clean solid tattoo. Now that Im feeling better with all that part of inserting pigment into the skin,  I’ve also been drawing a lot as well,  really working on my composition and flow. Things are going well and I can see myself progressing artistically. Its pretty sweet!

In addition to color  work which I really prefer , Ive also playing some with Black and grays which aren’t as intimidating as I had previously thought. Black or darker tones  are needed in almost EVERYTHING the eye sees  to show depth and for the eye  to be able to differentiate between objects and colors.  Once you are able to understand and do  things in black and gray, it seems  much easier  to be able to do truer, richer tones of colors  to do more photo realistic stuff and not so traditional or new school-y  with using color.

Obviously I’m light years away from even attempting that sort of thing, (plus color portraits dont interest me), but its nice to be able to be progressing  enough to be able to understand  somewhat these things and actually know where to start and have an idea for the methods for the madness. Before seeing things with a much more untrained eye , I dont think I could  even understand what  I was  seeing other  than it  just being pleasing to the  eye.

Other that that,  Work on Vol 2 is coming along nicely and should be done within the next couple months at the latest.

Planning out European trip for later this year, and gearing up for my Texas trip next month!

Ill hopefully  be In  Dallas, Austin and Corpus for  short periods of time  and will be available for appointments

ill leave with a cute little black and gray hello kitty  skeleton I did a couple weeks ago that I thought was really cute.

I promise Ill try to get on here more, but cant promise I will

praise hell

say 10

-R

Well, another year has passed us and  so much  has gone on.

For many this  was a hard , rough year, for others it was an amazing one filled with opportunity and chance for  growth and development.. for some it was  both.

I had a good year.. Lots of love, travel and work.

This year  I was fortunate enough  to  have been asked to teach again in Germany and Mexico city amongst other places,  and did a little 6 week work tour in Europe while I was out t here. I worked/traveled through- Berlin , Germany,  Prague, Czech ,  Krakow Poland, Budapest , Hungary , and Rijeka , Croatia and some other little cities/towns in between.. So amazing to have the chance to see all of these places.. I just wish I had more time there  so I could have continued  onward with my travels into Eastern Europe. There aren’t too many counties left  to visit in eastern Europe, and Id like to do it  before they  fully convert to the euro. Seems to me you get more of a feeling of the country and culture when you see their money and the people that were important  in making the country. That is one thing Ive noticed from collecting money from all over the world. It says  so much about a culture and it’s peoples.

I had  great classes and students In Europe and I cant wait to go back and  see what they are up too!!  Im always infatuated with  the idea of moving  elsewhere.. and  lately.. Berlin or  some other eastern European city sounds amazing.  The things keeping me here ( aside from my significant other and our 2 dog and cat  children) , is the fact Ive been apprenticing tattooing for a while now.. and  I feel pretty comfortable with my progression and where Im at now. People are coming back and  bringing their friends and I know its just a matter of time before Im tattooing full time. Once i get better and feel more comfortable with that and I can rely on doing that, teaching and cutting for a living.. then  the big move to Berlin or Croatia will come Im sure.. or who knows  where I will want to  live and work  by then.. and  maybe Ill making machines and whatnot. So many passions and directions.. so little time.

Lets see,  this last year I also started the LTD productions   fully. I succeeded in putting out Vol 1 in English and Spanish , and have a  nice scar DVD out  as well to accompany  classes I give. The European  kids already have this. Its not for US  sale either. No you cant order it without  the class.  Don’t ask.

I had a hardware failure and all my files were lost and I literally  have to start ALL OVER again on volumes 2 and 3.. and I no longer have any of the files for my previous DVDS.  So basically Im starting all this over again this year. As a result  the release dates  for Volumes 2 and 3  have been pushed back into the year Very  glad and lucky  to have friends  helping and contributing  footage  so I at least  some  stuff  to work with  while re digitizing all the stuff again.. so lame! at least I have back up on mini DV tapes.. and it wasnt  just digital  files on a hard drive!

Lets see other than that..  this year  I just expect  more tattooing, cutting, traveling, cultivating  my artistic self more,  and  just being happy with  family.

I hope all of you had a great new year and  hoep this next year kicks a whole lotta ass for you ! Remember .. next year is 2012…

Got to make this year count!!!

Ill try to  update more often..

praise hell Say -10

-R

Thanks for noticing  I’m old (er).

Its this  day of the year  that Im reminded how old I am.. and how many of you people I miss  so much!!

They say your as old as you feel, and if thats true.. then im still 19… but  I wake up in the morning.. and I dont  feel 19.. I get tattooed  and  I dont heal like a teen ager anymore… I look in the mirror and this isnt   the 19 year old face I should be  seeing.instead a greying older man  peers  back  at me trying to understand where his  youth  went.

Either way  Im glad to have made it thrugh another year,   and  as  tough  as this year ..  it would have  so much  tougher without all of your support!

Thanks for everything  guys!!

Since  it  has been repeatedly  brought to my attehntion  that I dont have a wishlist up  or  a way for people to know what I want..

I present  to you . My  wishlist of sorts..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/32O49WOX9IFX1

I know its a bit late for my Bday (   late  gifts are still ok ), but  Xmas is  right around the corner too!

Dont  be scared…Buy  my love now!!

Ok.. Thats all..Back to the grindstone..

happy holidays

-R

-R

Been super busy and haven’t really been writing about Europe like I wanted.. But Ill get to it!! Just have lots of other irons  in the fire right now, and deadlines to meet!

One exciting  bit of news,  I will be hosting a round table on piercing with plastic surgery in Vegas this upcoming year for APP, as well as speaking on Phuket veggie fest and what it was like to pierce there, as well as hosting another travel log night wher eI will be showing videos , pictures and stories of some of my travels!!  That is exciting!! but  is yet another deadline  I have  now :-/

One deadline I didn’t meet, was  having Vol 2 of the DVD out by the first of November.  Things were looking pretty good, then my hard drive crashed and all the work I had.. gone like that.. I have been feeling  too bummed about it to  go back  and start it all over again like i know i have too..

In the mean time, having all this video editing stuff around here, I re edited  this older video  shot in 2005 and 2006 at scar wars 1 and 2 in Philly and LA.

For those who don’t know –   Scar Wars is the worlds  first  and so far only  scarification convention.  I have had the honor  of working the first  2 they had, but  was in Asia  when they had the 3rd :-/,

I re edited this video , shortened it and took out  some controversial stuff that seemed to offend people.  Forgive the sloppy editing,  my computer isn’t working with this  file very well. I did try to clean it up and literally did it  over 2 dozen times!!   Im over it and just  posting it as is so i can do other stuff. So weird to go back and seem with facial piercings again.

Hope you enjoy anyway!

Ill resume the travel logs soon..

until then – Add me on Twitter – (rongarzamods), and when your viewing the video on youtube.. subscribe to my channel!!

Praise hell,

-R

Been super busy with  life.. haven’t had much time online..

Been acclimating myself to home life and working again. It gets harder  and hard to go back to a shop after traveling for a while.  Don’t misunderstand me, I love being in a studio,  but I hate the rigors of actually working during normal  11- 9 business hours.

In a perfect world, Id get paid to travel  and live  life.. but  alas,  We don’t live in perfect world, and I’m very fortunate to have lived the life I have thus far, and have been to the places I have been too. This fact isn’t over looked or unknown to myself. I’m a lucky mofo.. but this is the reality I created for myself, and I have given up A LOT of things to be able to live  life this way. Im SO lucky to be in a great shop that understands and allows me to travel like I do, and have an amazing woman behind me that also understands this and has many of the same drives and passions as myself. Who knows where I would be now If it wasnt for those  two grounding things in my life!

SO in lieu of an actual update, Im just going to update with more pics from Prague. I LOVE that city!!!!

Here is just a funny face with a mouthful of pipe hahah

this is taken from the St. Charles bridge over looking the Vltava river, looking from the castle side  back into  old town.

This amazing Rose window is carved from stone and is but one of the beautiful art pieces in the St. Vitus Cathedral in the castle walls in Prague. It was consecrated in 925 AD,  made larger in 1344 and was finished  in  1929, almost  600 years later!!  it has such a diverse architectual style encompassing all of the many artistic styles throught the century. Alfons Mucha (from Prague) painted this window .

Im such a fan of Muchas work. i left the file big so you can see how awesome this thing truly is!!

Under the rose window, the architects  who finished the cathedral added themselves to the design underthe rose window… isnt that  some crazy shit!

This was just a rad statue I found, where it is good luck to touch a certain body part on this guy.. can you guess which part?

This is the window where the second defenestration ( someone gets thrown out of a window)  occurred in Prague in 1618 I think, where  two Catholics were thrown out the window because of  some beef with the protestants I think, and  that started the 30 year war in Prague .. Religion always seems to fuck things up.. no?

Here is the St Charles bridge which has 30 statues which mean all kinds of things. I just remember is was a lot of saints , and one saint who was a bishop who was thrown off  the bridge and drowned because he pissed off the king. Ive got a picture of that statue as well  as most of the other ones.

Here is a view of the bridge from afar.  INXS  filmed the ‘tear us apart’ video on here. Watching that video not only takes me back to my youth, but also seeing Prague  in the video…. just takes me back. I am SO in love with that  city.. I WILL live there at some point in my life.. and then probably  be  so over it and hate it and all the tourists , and  then  move.. to Berlin.. hahahah

This was  cool ..The John Lennon Wall.

John Lennon was a hero to the pacifist youth of Central and Eastern Europe during the totalitarian era. Prior to 1989 when communism ruled, western pop songs were banned by Communist authorities, and especially Lennon’s songs, because they were praising freedom that didn’t exist in former Czechoslovakia. Some musicians were even put into jail for playing his music!

When John Lennon was murdered in 1980 he became a hero to some of the youngsters and his picture was painted on this wall, along with graffiti defying the authorities. The Communist police tried repeatedly to remove the portrait and messages of peace but they couldn’t manage to keep the wall clean. The day after it was full of poems and flowers and paintings of Lennon. Even the installation of surveillance cameras and the posting of an overnight guard couldn’t stop the opinions from being expressed.

I will end with  a pic of me  shirtless at the Ossuary  – just another one of my shirtless around the world pics to add to the collection

Next time I  will write  about Poland and Auschwitz next time… Budapest after that  and then  CROATIA and  then…Mexico city. Whew, Ive had a busy couple months! Im tired just thinking about writing .. much less actually  going those places!

ok..more later!

praise hell

-R

Whoa its been a busy  day.. so much  life  going on.. but im trying to get  caught up somewhat  on my journals..

so back to the travel log

From Berlin, I took the train to Prague, where I had a scar appointment waiting for me.

An old friend , Scott Ellis from Austin, Texas who used to live in Prague, hooked me up with Tribo Tattoo and Body piecing, the oldest piercing and tattoo shop in Prague.  Im SO GLAD  he  did.. this shop has SO MUCH talent.. Not only do they have  Peter Bobek and Musa on tattoo duties, but also  has a PLETHORA of guest artists at any given time . Mikal, one of the owners of the shop was kind enough to pick me up at the train station and give me a ride over to the guest artist  flat they were letting me use for the duration of my stay.  AMAZING little place with cobblestone streets over looking this church built in the 1600′s.

I met my old partner in crime. John Durante at the train station, along with Steve Truitt and  his girly, the always lovely Miss Crash. John and I were going to be traveling on from Prague to Krakow together.

John and  I chilled at the house as I had an early appointment for the scar.

After the scar  ( Id post  pics, but  am working on a book so no new scar pics for you!), we went out and were touristy  for a while. Although  john  had been there for 3 days already,  he hadnt done  1/2 of the touristy things to do it Prague It truly is amazing city with such a rich history.

This is the Týnský Cathedral, i dont remember the whole story but i remember  that  one of these spires is bigger than the other one, and they are reffered to as male and female spires.. made by brothers.. one killed the other one and made his larger.. maybe?

_______

This  is old astronomical clock.. which is still a working clock  since the 1410 when it was built.  The clock was so amazing back in its time.  the king had the builders eyes poked out  so  he couldnt build another clock  like it anywhere.. hows that  for gratitude?

It says the times of day , and night, the seasons, when is the best time for planting and harvesting, also there are 365 different days .. and the name for your child if its born on that  day.. hence a name day . You needed special permission to not name your child its nameday name.   So wild!

Franz Kafka was also a Czech citizen and the city , as much of the rest of the world, still has a very deep mark left  by Kakfa. This statue is from kafakas ” description of a struggle” short story where  he envisioned himself  riding a healess man dressed in a suit, which he was able to guide around teh streets of Prague when he rode him.

This is right next to the Spanish synagogue , next to the Jewish quarter

________

This little thing is the poweder  tower and is the only  one of teh citie sold main city wall towers to still be standing.  This used to house the cities ammunition  and hence was referred to as the powder tower..

_

This is the  very modern and up to date  metro station… which i would use to get take the train to

KUTNA HORA

also known as the Ossuary or the church of Sedlik. Built it 1,112  this church was a cemetary at  first.. before it became a church.

Having soil from Golgotha, the  cemetery  soon became the  “in” spot to be buried .

A few hundred years later, many wars  and the plague..  there were an abundance of bones in the cemetery.

After 1400 one of the abbots had a church of All -Saints erected in Gothic style in the middle of the cemetery and under it a chapel destined for the deposition of bones from abolished graves, a task which was begun by a half blind Cistercian monk after the year 1511.

___

The charnel-house was remodelled in Czech Baroque style between 1703 – I710 by the famous Czech architect, of the Italian origin ,Jan Blažej SANTIM-Aichl. The present arrangement of the bones dates from 1870 and is the work of a Czech wood-carver, František RINT (you can see his name, put together from bones, on the right-hand wall over the last bench).
Our ossuary contains the remains of about 40 000 people. The largest collections of bones are arranged in the form of bells in the four corners of the chapel.

___

The most interesting creations by Master Rint are the chandelier in the centre of the nave, containing all the bones of the human body , two monstrances beside the main altar and the coat-of arms of the Schwarzenberg noble family on the left-hand side of the chapel.

SO AMAZING.. and this  outside of Prague about an hour.  Prague  still has many other AMAZING sites,  like the estates theatre , which is the only theatre  still erected that Mozart perfromed in. He loved Prague and perfromed regularly for the then  Bohemians .

I also havent even touched on the ST. Vitus church, or the castle there ( which the largest in Europe), or the st. Charles bridge and  its amazing sculpture, the national museum, the memorial to Jan Palach ( a student who set  himself on fire in protest of the people doing nothing to fight the goverment – and said ” May these flames  rise from my body like the hopes of the Czech people”  and lit  himself  on fire!!) ,  the many other churches and cathedrals, Alphons  Mucha museum, and SO MUCH MORE!! I LOVE that city!

I was honored  to have Mikal and Tribo take such great care of me/us, and I CAN NOT thank you guys enough!

It was my second  time to Prague, but i know it will not be  my last! I have the strange feeling i will be living there at some point in my life.. Even if its not for long..  but I will call that amazing city my home at  some point!

I was only in Prague for 4 days and then John and myself took the train to Krakow Poland!!  more later,

praise hell

-R

wow..  that  was  a little  while I was gone there.. 6 weeks never sounds  that long.. until you  are gone  for  6 weeks,  then its a LONG  freaking time!

Sorry I didn’t update once while I was gone..  I was busy! I took the HPmini with me and had every intention of updating from the road, but it was just  more of a hassle than it was worth. I got a hold of those I had to , and  visa versa.

Since I was gone for  so long, and visited and did  so many things, Ill break up entries and countries at least a little and start with just Berlin.

BMX  was once again  an amazing conference that I was honored to be part of  of and that conference is so awesome , it needs its own entry. .. (coming soon)  for now  let me just  say this…

BMX  was held in Berlin this year, and Im glad it was! This  gave me the chance to not see some of  Berlins sites, but it  would also be the starting  point for my Eastern European trip this year! I knew  this journey was going to be a much different trip than  others Ive gone on before.  I was going to the eastern  side of the wall and see how much things have changed since the fall of communism in the 80′s.

There  has been a lot of  violence and war  there over the last 40 years (not  even  taking back to WW 1 and 2 which also had a lot to do with Eastern Europe)..  a lot of stuff we don’t hear about or really get taught to much about  in the USA.   SO MUCH  RECENT  war  and violence  by  people  our age  who remember  some horrible atrocities… All  in the name of politics and freedom  and people  just  wanting a better life… and it can even be taken  further back,..  but  before  the fall of communism… and  you still have Auschwitz and  alot  more war.. Eastern Europe has been thru alot , and getting to travel though it  was  pretty amazing and eye opening.

So much  of those countries are  developing at  different rates and in certain cities it REALLY  feels like different time periods going on there in relation to our own time periods  here in the US thru the last 40  years Ive been alive.

In Berlin after the conference, I stayed  with My  dear  friend , tattooist Chandler  Barnes who has  lived there  for the last 15 years, but was born in the US. He also  leads the extremely kickass Superfly Suspension Troupe. He lives in this awesome little artist part of Berlin called Friedrichshain  in which is the art scene is alive and well there, especially street art.

It  really feels free and the artist  is allowed to  not only exist , but  flourish there.  It  definitely  feels  very much in the late 70′s going  into the early  80′s in terms of social  mentality as well. Corporate greed  still hasn’t consumed  everyone there and people are  actually following their hearts and  just creating  art for the sake of  creating art!!  everywhere I turned there was  art… And the  people  allow it!    There in certain areas, there wasnt police telling you  you cant  paint there or hang  your  signs up. The  entire  neighborhood was full of artists and just  allowed thinsg to be ..  power in numbers!  Here are some pics  of the awesomeness

I know , there is  so much more to berlin.. I didnt even have time to do any of the museums, or check point charlies,  or see whats left of the  wall,  or  any of that  stuff..  All  I did  was work at BMX,  then hung out  with Chandler who gave me  the low down on the city and whats it been like living there  during  such an amazing  change taking place.  I wish i had more time there… but I know Ill be back..  Berlin is  so amazing.. I could REALLY see myself  just dropping out of the body art industry and just  moving there and  focusing on growing as an artist…   Its SO amazing the vibe there!! The only thing keeping me from actually  doing that move  is the  cold… Dont know if I could handle the winters there..

My  final 2 days there I was doing  some scarification appointments out of Naked Steel ( thanks again Dirk!). and from there, Chandler  called me a cab and off to  Hauptbahnhof  (main train station in Berlin) I went! There I was to catch the train to Prague  where I had an appointment bright and early at 11 the following day!

BIG thanks to Chandler and the entire Super Fly Suspension group, Fur Immer tattoo and piercing, and Naked Steel Body Modification studio and of course BMXnet . I couldnt have done it without you guys!!

Ok.. more later

To be continued…

-R

p.s  oh yeah . I got one o f those twitter things.

Rongarzamods add me if  you want… should be funny  trying to figure  out  how to use that  damn thing!

The day is here and Im Off to Europe once again . This time Ill be working more than traveling, but I will hopefully still have some time to enjoy myself.

Berlin  is going to be AMAZING this year   as  the BMXnet conference get sunder way. Im  really overjoyed  at the progressiveness of the European community and collective consciousness.

Im sure  alot of it  is because of cultural difference and upbringings, but  it is still refreshing to see and not only experience, but to be able to experience as an educator assisting this fledgling community build up and  come toegther.

This years  conference is to be the largest  conference BMX  has had.. and although I dont  see how  they could improve on last years conference..  I Have no doubt  if anyone can do it.. Its   Ze Germans!    Looks like Ryan Ouliette and Myself  will be  giving an advanced Scarification class and workshop,  along with Brian Skellie and myself  giving a class and workshop on freehand piercing, as werll as I will be lecturing on what it was like to pierce at the Phuket vegetarian class.

All classes have  lot sof videos and Power points..  and  so much  info!!  I know Im  a little biased.. but  I’m really proud of these classes!

I still have 2 days  open for scar work in Prague.. although I won be  bummed If I dont  get  scar work..  Ill be in Prague!!

Croatian dates still have some seats  available  for classes..  Get ahold of Ana Laco at Badaku  In Rijeka, Croatia.  The number is on the flyer   2 entries down.. along with her email.

Ok.. got to finish getting ready!!   More updates from the road!!

Praise hell

-R