When designing this years t-shirts for my college sailing team, (logo on left) I took a stroll down memory lane for inspiration from the very thing during my college experience that emptied my wallet and gave me morning headaches.
His name is Norman Collins, aka, “A Big Brute with a dirty mouth” or as most of the world may know him,
Sailor Jerry. That's right, "Sailor Jerry," The popular 92 proof Navy Spiced Rum with the pin-up girls decorated on the outside label, and if you drink more than half of the bottle, on the inside too!
Norman Collins is the most established pirate I have ever heard of. Here’s why:
Born in Nevada of all places, he used to jump trains where he met a tattoo artist that taught him the tricks of the trade. How you learn the art of tattooing on a train is mind boggling to me, but so is the rest of the Collins legacy.
At 19, he joined the Navy, fell in love with sailing and never stopped sailing until the day he died. In the navy he was deployed to Southeast Asia and became inspired by their style of art where he then decided than upon his return to the states he would open a tattoo parlor appropriately named, “Sailor Jerry’s Tattoo Parlor.” And he did just that. He moved to Hawaii, and took on his two professional endeavors- tattooing and sailing. I have to concur with the man because he shares my two favorite passions as well (art and sailing). Maybe I've found a mentor?
One of Collins greatest professional missions was sterilization (this was the part where I thought the rum came in..apparently not the case). He was tired of the bad criticism and mis-representation that tattooing received and later became the 1st to utilize single use needles and hospital quality sterilization when tattooing. A process that made tattooing a little less painful and much cleaner.
Besides tattooing, sailing, and being a hero, Collins also played the saxophone in a local band that he started. He hosted his own radio show KTRG- where he lectured on the downfall of the U.S political system by infiltration of liberals. What a pirate.
Collins regarded tattoo’s as “the rebellion against squares.” His bold line style corresponds with the Southeastern Asian style art. In which he has referenced several artists from that region. He is a fan of using monkeys, sparrows, pin-up girls, nautical stars, dice and sailboats. Collins entrusted his artwork to two prominent proteges: Ed Hardy and Mark Malone.
If I were to ever get a tattoo it would be from Norman Collins. But since he died in 1973, it looks like I have lost my window and I think asking Ed Hardy to give me a tattoo is out of the question, not to mention it would probably cost me an arm and a leg, no pun intended.
Besides working on my annual Halloween costume, (photo's to be posted soon..) my current project is the image on the top right. It's the current map of my apartment complex: Watergate Village. 
