Lose Yourself

Yea, I know...and your right...up to a point. Yes, I was thinking of Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from the movie soundtrack "8 Mile". I was thinking that one should never let it go...you only have one shot...:::hitting brakes::: "screeeeeech!!" to a (expletive) stop.

Back to reality (the really real...whats really real)

I have had many opportunities.

Whats really real?

You have to "Lose Yourself".

You have to hitch your wagon to something bigger than yourself to find something greater.

Lose yourself in the moment and never let it go. Become a part of the moment that is greater than yourself and embrace it and it will embrace you.

Okay, so I'm just voicing an opinion and not trying to punctuate a moral or ethic ideology to live long and prosper by...no 8 mile movie scenes here...its different...I could quote Mr. Spock from The Wrath of Khan - "The Needs Of The Many Outweigh The Needs Of The Few Or The One." I think that could open up a lot of social political debate. Personally, I do believe that one has to be selfish and selfless...and Mr. Spock did it at its highest level...We ain't gotta pull that one off to prove it. Lets just say, if we're all willing to put our skills on the field, working as a team can get things done.

I've been offered the opportunity of a life time :::checking my age::: and I'm not getting any younger. I've been giving the offer a lot of thought and the answer has to be "yes".

Its going to be a lot of work and I'm fine with that. How often do you get a chance to do something you love? I've asked myself the question of whether I'm ready or not...can my family adjust...can it be successful for everyone involved...and the answer is "yes". The positives outweigh the negatives and all that I am left with is fear of success and that is dismissed with every passing day. The answer to the question, "How do I deal with what I don't know?" can be found in an Henry Ford philosophy - "If you don't know then find someone that does." I know there will be a continuing learning curve...at my age, life has been a continuing learning curve. I had hoped to pursue my career under the guidance of another artist and more than likely at my own financial expense...as it is, standard in the industry. What greater opportunity could present itself than to define and set your own path. My only reluctance can be found in my skill level for the medium I work in. There are options. There are solutions. The answer is still "yes"...this can be done.

There is so much more I'd like to share in this writebite forum...but its enough for now. I'll take it a day at a time and see what happens as the days progress and I'll keep my eyes on the prize. Its a good feeling and for the greater good its not being done alone. So, go ahead Lose Yourself so you can find yourself.

...nuff 4 now, more later...

Ken "B Sting" Burney

To B Sting or not to B Sting...

To be, or not to be--that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles

And by opposing end them... - Hamlet

I've been an artist for thirty years now and counting. I've worked as a graphic designer, sign painter, Illustrator...I've worked for a couple of newspapers, design studios, printers...silk screened t-shirts, airbrushed t-shirts, backdrops for hair shows, retirement parties and for photographers...I've painted murals in homes and painted my kids faces on birthdays and halloween.

I have no huge portfolio, no hidden chest full of work that I've done...there is no scrap book of photographs. My career or better put, my life as an artist hasn't been filled with countless successes...no wall of awards and there is no big bank account. I suffered many things over those thirty years to be an artist; some things I suffered at the hands of others and some by my own undoing. I've quit, given up, thrown away, tore apart, cursed, cried and passed out in a drug induced drunken depression. I hated art.

I hated everyone I had ever associated with as an artist. I hated old employers. I hated those who would not employ me. I hated my clients. I hated myself.

I could spend the next six moths blogging about all that depression, hate and lost time, but that's not where I wanted to go with this. :::snickering::: I opened with an excerpt from the soliloquy "to be or not to be" spoken in Shakespeare's Hamlet to give the gist of my misunderstanding for so very long as an artist, as a human being. Regardless of having set backs, be they caused by others or myself...all is not lost. You could consider this blog as a continuation of an earlier blog "get busy living or get busy dying"...I'm not trying to be the existentialist, although I do believe that choice makes a big difference in what we do everyday.

Its not over and I'm not done. I love being an artist...I love being a Tattooist, a body artist.

I love ranting and the occasional use of the F word...well more than an occasional use of the word. But thats not important.

Its taken me the better part of five years to make the decision to become a tattooist. Since I've made that decision I've had the term "scratcher" tossed loosely around me, but not directly. I have been in many "entry level" positions and I've worked as an entrepreneur. On both levels of employment, first and foremost, I had to learn the job. I spent a year just to learn the proper equipment, health and safety requirements, I've talked to tattooist and I've seen a few work...not all professional tattooist are open to the idea of giving someone too much information and I can understand this. No professional wants to be liable for someone else's mistake by giving direction other than in a controlled, professional setting...basically, an apprenticeship or lessons. Even in the case of a professional setting the tattooist will only allow the student to work at his/her pace.

As a professional artist it has been a sobering and humbling experience to work at this slow pace. However, I have had the great fortune to have had a great deal of support...I have had major benefactors from friends to family...family to friends that have included financial support, moral support, artistic support and much more. I've earned an opportunity to at least be considered for an apprenticeship at a professional shop...I enjoyed the conversation with the head of the shop and I believe I can set some goals there. Most importantly I have had the support of clients that have trusted and enjoyed my work as an artist.

I've got one major obstacle to over come and we'll see if things will fly in a month.

I choose to be a body artist because I love the art form...I love the fact that most of the "professional" tattooist I've researched and or talked to are "artist"...they paint and design. I am a Tattooist and I choose to be.

more later...

Its the little things...

The little things make a big difference if you know what they are.

I like to have water and mints around my little office area for my clients. I fill a little ceramic bowl (its really square shaped) with life savers wintergreen mints...sometimes jawbreakers or tropical life savers. Unfortunately, my family thinks its for them and will eat their fill, if I let them. So, I fill the small bowl with small amount and if they finish it off I won't fill it again until I have a client. One of my teen aged daughters decided to take it upon herself to reach in my cabinet and help herself to some of that candy. I said, "Hey, that's not for you!" She replied, "Come on Dad, I need some candy, man." (yes Jokingly, she says "man") When one of my younger daughters overheard the conversation she went to get her candy dispenser...one of those plastic thingys you grab the side of and flip over and the candy drops into a dish...cool...well your supposed to fill the thing with m&m's but its better to offer individually wrapped candy...ya know. To cut to the chase...it was the gesture...that little thing to make my presentation better, thats cool.

We know that won't stop this house from eating up my candy, but its a cool way to put it out on the desk...ahem, well, there ain't nuthin' in it right now :::glance over shoulder to look for candy munchers:::

That little thing that my daughter did for me made my day...gotta have a support system.
nuff said, I'll holla later...

Get Busy...

Okay, here we go...my second entry into my blog. Get busy...well that's short for a line from Shawshank Redemption: "Get busy living or get busy dying." I've been doing both for so long that choosing one or the other made me disoriented. Art is not the whole of my life but it is one major factor in staying busy, and art is so full of life to me. Creating art and enjoying the art of others is such a joyous experience for me...incredible.

If you could just humor me for this moment in soundbite or is this readerbite :::shrug::: you get it...I'd like to make another movie reference...My life has been like a low budget version of Forrest Gump, with a few changes metaphorically. The character of Bubba has been many individuals I have met over the years that have shared with me detailed dreams and ambitions...some who have lost their lives in this war on poverty. As it is with the movie I have crossed the paths of many very influential individuals, I having traveled some odd course through life. All these experiences have been encouraging, empowering and enlightening...three words inspired through that course and I frequently use. I have my own conclusion regarding this film, as a metaphor, as it relates to my life, and that is - Life is Powerful.

If Art is my life (and not the whole sum of it) then Art is Powerful.

Get Busy Living, or Get Busy Dying.

Ken "Burnie Mac" Burney, Artist

Hello and welcome to my blog. This is my first posting...I haven't given it a great deal of thought to the direction and content of this post other than wanting to share with readers something about myself and why I am an "Artist".

I have been putting pencil to paper as long as I can remember

...hmmm :::Thought Bubble here:::

My third grade teacher contacted my mother and told her I was a good student but I spent a great deal of time drawing and daydreaming.

:::Thought Bubble burst:::

I'm still drawing and daydreaming.

There have been many bumps along the way and I can honestly say that I knew then what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, be an Artist.

It makes little sense in my world now the number of times I've been told to get a real job. I've had real jobs. I've had good jobs and I have had some real ish jobs. Nothing has made me more happier, created more opportunity and has allowed me to become a more accomplished artist than the people I have come across in my lifetime who supported and encouraged me...this has empowered me and enlightened me.

Becoming an artist has not been some wonderful dreamed obtained. At 48 years old, my life has been filled with ups and downs, success and failure, addiction and sobriety, good and bad relationships and last but not least :::pause...stare...slight grin::: children. So, I'm pretty normal :::thinking...::: Well, I'm pretty normal for the life I've been living; I am not a Sam's Club Republican and I am not a tree hugging Democrat...but enough about politics.

:::eye roll:::

So, here I am tonight typing my first blog on B Sting Studios...Yay! (anyway) Here's the soundbite run down on my becoming a Body Artist. My wife (Claudia Mair Burney - writer, blogs on ragamuffin diva...shameless plug) put the idea in my head three years ago or was it four? I wanted to create hip hop music with her nephew so I paid little attention to the idea. I pumped a lot of money into music equipment and took a few classes at a community college...I lost a lot of interest in the business when the nephew decided to use the bank card and checks to have his own private party (guess he thought he was Jay Z). Not much came of the music other than a greater appreciation and respect for hard working musicians. I learned to bang out tracks on an Akai MPC and a little piano skills honed.

A neighbor and friend in Ann Arbor, MI, who has many tattoos would encourage me from time to time to become a body artist, but I always thought it would be too much time and trouble. It wasn't until we moved this past year to Inkster, MI that I would begin an exhaustive research and study on the Art of Tattoing. A year had passed before I put my hands on my first tattoo machine...it felt akward in my hands at first. I talked to some very accomplished body artist for advice...some open...and some...hmmm...cordial.

It has been a difficult year in the pursuit of happiness. Physically I feel like the Sixty-Thousand Dollar Man, "We can rebuild him..." Having had some major surgeries spread out over a decade, I am in pain everyday...just tolerent of it more than I let anyone really know. Today has to be best I've felt about being an artist in a very long time and I am grateful. There were three major benefactors that helped me start this new and fantastic artistic career...and I am so very thankful.

I'm working on an apprenticeship at Tattoo Studio in Detroit. The owner has seen my work and is open to teaching me. I know that apprenticeships are not cheap, but I am confident that I can hold my own. I'm looking to turn this into something long term. Unfortunately, my good fortune does not come with obstacles...I'm in search of an :::ahem::: affordable vehicle. So as it has been with the beginning of my new artistic endeavor...slow.

Thats the sound bite opener for my blog and the adventures of a body artist. I'd like to continue to share with you some of my stories and much of my art. Thanks for reading and check back soon.

Ken "Burnie Mac" Burney