[View photos from the October 13 event, here: http://tuffsissy.com/blog/event-gallery/. Post-event wrap-up, is below...]

Celebs, Charity & Cheer: October 13 Event, “Boondock Saints Bike Reveal Benefitting Los Angeles Regional Foodbank/Feeding America”, Hosted by “The Boondock Saints” Writer/Director, Troy Duffy

– Melrose Avenue’s “Freak Chic Tattoo” and “Tuff Sissy & Co.” Welcomed Guests at Festive “Boondock Saints” Fan Meet & Greet, and LA Speed Shop Custom-Built “Boondock Saints”-Themed Motorcycle Reveal –

On Thursday, October 13, 2011, “The Boondock Saints” (www.boondocksaints.com) Writer/Director, Troy Duffy, hosted a bevy of the movies’ fans, friends, cast and crew, as he celebrated the reveal of his brand new, “LA Speed Shop” (www.laspeedshop.com) custom-built “Boondock-Saints”-themed motorcycle. The event, officially named “Boondock Saints Bike Reveal Benefitting Los Angeles Regional Foodbank/Feeding America”, was held at Mat Joseph’s Melrose Avenue art venue “Tuff Sissy & Co.” (www.tuffsissy.com) and his neighboring “Freak Chic Tattoo” (www.freakchictattoo.com), and benefited said local charity (www.lafoodbank.org).

“Boondock Saints” cast and crew in attendance – other than Mr. Duffy – included actress Julie Benz, actors Clifton Collins Jr., Daniel DeSanto, David Della Rocco, and Brian Mahoney, as well as additional celebs who came out to support both Mr. Duffy and the cause, actors Jack Rubio, Jonathan Schaech, Paul Alessi, Sam Macaroni, and actress Amie Barsky.

Fans of The Boondock Saints franchise had been following LA Speed Shop’s progress on-line, as owner Chris Richardson and his crew constructed Mr. Duffy’s bike. The event served as the official reveal of the completed machine. Event guests mixed and mingled, eagerly awaiting the actual bike reveal. At the conclusion of a brief announcement by Mr. Duffy, Chris Richardson pulled the cover off of the custom machine, spurring a flurry of flash photography.

The event also featured a Boondock Saints movie memorabilia auction and raffle, a portion of the proceeds of which benefitted Los Angeles Regional Foodbank. The auction included items such as an official “Boondock Saints II” movie prop painting, signed by Mr. Duffy and a number of attending cast members; clothing and accessories from the movies’ wardrobe department, actually worn on-set; and other signed memorabilia.

Inked Magazine (www.inkedmag.com) served as media partner of the October 13 event, where guests enjoyed a hosted bar courtesy of Sailor Jerry Rum (www.sailorjerry.com/the-rum), as well as the hospitality of Sailor Jerry’s fully-outfitted Airstream trailer, which was parked in front of the venue. DJ Ten Foot Rabbit (www.facebook.com/pages/Ten-Foot-Rabbit/129917050417665) entertained the crowd with intricate sound maneuvers like bits of the movies’ dialogue overlapping and intertwined in the evening’s playlist.

O.N.E. Coconut Water (www.onedrinks.com) was also on-site, as well as Magnolia Bakery cupcakes (www.magnoliabakery.com), and delightfully devoured hors d’oeuvres from soon-to-open Marcona (www.marconarestaurant.com), scheduled to open late-October, directly across Melrose Avenue from Tuff Sissy & Co./Freak Chic Tattoo. Marcona’s menu for the evening included sample bites of their Spiced Spanish Tuna, Gyros Espana, and Burlington Red Onion sandwiches, as well as their Ossi de Morti (almond cookies), Cowboy Oatmeal Cookies, and Spiced Marconas (signature bar nut mix).

For more information about the October 13 “Boondock Saints” charity event or to receive photos, please email1316 info [at] stilettomarketing [dot] com.

Tuff Sissy & Co. and Freak Chic Tattoo host

Boondock Saints Bike Reveal Benefitting Los Angeles Regional Foodbank / Feeding America

“The Boondock Saints” Writer/Director, Troy Duffy, Hosts Fan Meet & Greet and LA Speed Shop Custom-Built “Boondock Saints”-Themed Motorcycle Reveal

  THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011 | 7-10 PM

Tuff Sissy & Co | Freak Chic Tattoo
7367 | 7365 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046
Valet parking will be available.
 
Silent auction and raffle including:
“The Boondock Saints” signed movie memorabilia,
Freak Chic Tattoo gift certificates, and more.
Raffle tickets are $5.00 each*.
Cocktails and appetizers will be served.

RSVP/Info: rsvp@stilettomarketing.com 

In partnership with: LA Speed Shop, Inked Magazine, O.N.E. Coconut Water, Sailor Jerry Rum, and Marcona Restaurant (opening late-October 2011).

* To be automatically entered into the event raffle at no cost, stop by Freak Chic Tattoo at any point prior to the event and get exclusive, limited-edition “Boondock Saints” tattoos at a special discount! Just mention “Boondock Saints” to view the available, custom-drawn tattoos and to receive discount!

We’ve posted new photos from our Thursday, June 16 group art show opening and Japan benefit, ‘Tuff Sissy & Co. ♥ Japan’, as well as shots from our Monday, June 20 live radio show, ‘Tales of the Extraordinary’, and Goorin Bros. Hat Shop trunk show event! They’re all in the Tuff Sissy & Co. Event Gallery…take a peek to see if you made the final “cut”: http://tuffsissy.com/blog/event-gallery/.

And while we have your attention, we’d like to announce that our on-line shop will be up and running, soon…so you’ll be able to buy anything you see at Tuff Sissy & Co., from the comfort of your own digs – including any of the artwork in our exhibits. Stay tuned for the on-line shop’s official launch…

And don’t forget: Tuff Sissy & Co. ♥ YOU.

Frank Ball is a self-taught artist, extremely influenced by the punk rock skater culture of the 80s, and the powerful images of the outlaw biker scene and gang culture that litters the Los Angeles cityscape. 

Frank is also a tattoo artist, and has been tattooing for over 20 years. Frank started his tattoo career as an apprentice to Mark Mahoney, at the early age of 17, and has worked for many of the most famous tattoo artists in the world including Bob Roberts, Corey Miller and Gill Montie, to name just a few. Frank continues to wield his skilled craft to this day (now at Freak Chic Tattoo), and he also continues to paint, with acrylic, water color, pen and ink. 

One of the most notorious names in the tattoo business, Frank Ball has found a happy medium in his career, as well as his family life, as a proud father of three. Life couldn’t be more normal for this young, outlaw artist.

– Tuff Sissy & Co. Owner, Mat Joseph, Partners with Goorin Bros. Hat Shop to Host a Trunk Show and Silent Auction, Cocktail Reception and Live Broadcast of “A 1920s Pulp Adventure Radio Serial”, to Benefit Cancer Charity –

On Monday, June 20, 2011, from 7-10 PM, Tuff Sissy & Co., will host a live broadcast of “Tales of the Extraordinary”, a “1920s pulp adventure radio serial” performed by a cast of fully-costumed actors. The ticketed event, which serves as a benefit for Art of the Brain (UCLA Neuro-Oncology Program), will also include a cocktail reception, and trunk show and silent auction featuring the Melrose Avenue outpost of Goorin Bros. Hat Shop.

The Goorin Bros. installation at the June 20 event will reflect the aesthetic of the radio show’s era, as well as the décor of Tuff Sissy & Co.’s interior. The trunk show set-up will be a tangible “scene” in which guests can test-drive various Goorin Bros. hats.

The event will feature a hosted bar including vodka cocktails mixed with Dirty Sue Premium Olive Juice, O.N.E. Coconut Water, and sweets from the famous Magnolia Bakery. Those not in attendance at the June 20 event will be able to hear the radio show broadcast streamed live via the Internet.

Tuff Sissy & Co. was created by neighboring “Freak Chic Tattoo” (www.freakchictattoo.com) owner, Mat Joseph, and is meant to serve as a gallery and artist’s lair – a place for local tattoo artists and other talents to showcase their work, as well as mingle and share. Joseph’s motivation for the venue was to revive the Melrose art community and support both the local art movement as well as other community businesses, both old and new.

“We’re excited to host the talented cast of characters at this truly unique event, which will also raise funds for an extremely worthy cause. Our event partnership with the Melrose location of Goorin Bros. solidifies Tuff Sissy & Co.’s purpose, to strengthen the sense of community on the street, and to work together to give something back,” says Mat Joseph, owner and founder of both Freak Chic Tattoo and Tuff Sissy & Co., and tattoo and piercing industry veteran.

Tuff Sissy & Co. is located at 7367 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA, 90046 (between Fuller and Martel Avenues). Showtime is 7:30 PM, and tickets ($10.00 each) will be available for sale at the door. RSVPs/reservations are highly recommended, as space is limited. For more information about the June 20 event or to RSVP, please email1316: info@stilettomarketing.com.

About Tales of the Extraordinary

The year is 1926…and the Roaring twenties are in full swing, filled with excess and adventure. Wondrous new discoveries take place on a daily basis, be they of lost civilizations or miraculous super-science. Anything seems possible. In Tales of the Extraordinary, anything is possible. Ancient mysticism, robotic automatons, masked vigilantes, or a chimp who thinks he’s the Great Gatsby. Tales isn’t the way things were. It’s the way they should have been. For more information, please visit: www.emptysea.net/tote/index.html.

About Goorin Bros.

The legacy of Goorin Brothers is one that follows a timeless approach to the art of hat making. In its fourth generation of leadership Goorin Brothers continues the tradition of authentic family craftsmanship and is supported by a team of individuals who share the same passion for the cultural, artistic and hands on approach to this century old brand. Goorin offers timeless, classic styles with a unique flare and personality – hats that allow you to make a statement without having to say a word. For more information, please visit: www.goorin.com.

About Art of the Brain

Art of the Brain at the UCLA Foundation is a non-profit organization. Under the direction of Dr. Timothy Cloughesy, our mission is to raise money for the UCLA Neuro-Oncology Program’s brain cancer research, to raise public awareness of this deadly disease, and spotlight the talent, strength and courage of our brain cancer patients. Art of the Brain is a patient-driven organization, celebrating art for those who have confronted brain cancer, either through their own experience or through a family member or friend. Since its inception in 2000, Art of the Brain and the UCLA Neuro-Oncology Program has successfully garnered more than $2.1 million for brain cancer research. For more information, please visit: www.artofthebrain.org.

Sixx Taylor’s fascination with the arts began at the ripe old age of eight years old, when he began painting. He has studied art his entire life, and as his college years approached, his skill and talent landed him a partial scholarship to Otis College of Art and Design. Sixx eschewed school for the art of tattooing, which he began to practice at the age of 21.

In his paintings, Sixx uses mainly water colors as his medium of choice, and prefers traditional tattoo art. He never makes prints of his pieces; every one of his paintings is one-off, a truly unique piece.

Sixx currently holds tattooing court at Freak Chic Tattoo. To view some of his tattoo work, please visit: http://www.freakchictattoo.com/tattoo.php.

Bob Vessells is a very unique artist and person: A true eccentric, and a devout student of psychology, paranormal and all things occult. 

After many complaints by concerned parents who were writing his school administration about fear of “ink poisoning”, Bob was forbidden to draw on his fellow third-grade students. Eventually, he would go on to permanently ink friends in high school. In 1987, after two years of art school, he landed his first professional tattooing gig with world-famous founding father of modern tattooing, Mark “The Shark” Mahoney, at Shamrock Social Club on the infamous Sunset Strip. Bob moved on to open his own tattoo shop and art gallery in 1995, “Funny Farm Tattoo,” in Los Feliz, CA. 

Fueled by ADD and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Bob is an accomplished  mixed-medium artist. Mastering oil painting, pen and ink, he also carves Tikis, sculpts “3D” art and art brushes, and is one of the most fun – and funniest – people you will ever meet. Check out Bob Vessells at www.bobvessells.com or www.funnyfarmtattoo.com.

SEROE:

Angeleno with a lust for paint, grime, booze, and crime.
Started painting graffiti.
Still paints graffiti and other stuff.
Works furiously to silence the inner demons.
Likes long walks on the beach.
Blah Blah Blah…

{We’ll just let his famed art – street or otherwise – speak for itself.}

AXIS (born March 26, 1973 in London, England) is a contemporary illustrator/painter who emerged from Los Angeles’ seminal graffiti scene in the 1980s. He is most noted for his convoluted and hyper-stylized freehand graffiti, which has appeared in Los Angeles, Austin, Seattle, Baltimore, London, Tokyo, and Berlin.

As a child, Axis moved from London to Los Angeles with his family and developed a number of musical and artistic influences including Mozart, Black Sabbath, Rick Griffin, Norman Rockwell, and even Monty Python’s Flying Circus. An early convert to skateboarding and punk rock, Axis began experimenting with graffiti art in 1985. By the mid-90s he had cemented his reputation as one of the most prolific street artists working in Los Angeles. Though his career has largely unfolded outside of the graffiti landscape, his skate-punk origins continue to shape his engorged aesthetic and politicized black humor.

In addition to his artwork, Axis is also widely known as a musician. Having received formal music training (harpsichord, cello, piano) at a young age, Axis formed Los Angeles hard-core/Metal band The Pain (lead guitarist, songwriter) in 2004. He has recorded two full-length albums and has toured Europe and the United States. 

Axis lives in Los Angeles, CA where he continues to paint, skate and play music everyday. For more information about Axis, please visit: www.stylepig.com.

Konstantin Nossachev was born in Caucasus, Russia, where Konstantin’s family placed the utmost importance on his education. Konstantin traveled, studied and lived all over the world, including time in Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland and of course, the U.S., to which Konstantin received his citizenship, in 2005.

In 2007, Konstantin finally had the opportunity to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a pilot, and after three years of training, in 2010 he became a licensed pilot. This new accomplishment has allowed Konstantin to also express himself through aerial photography. Konstantin successfully leveraged this new form of self-expression with a hit aerial photography show in 2010, in a “SISTEMA”-backed Moscow gallery.

Tattooing is still Konstantin’s main occupation, as he has recognized within the art, a renaissance in technique, self-expression and most importantly, cultural exchange. For Konstantin, the lines between craft, art, psychology and physiology are blurred, all joining together to stimulate his thought process and vision. Konstantin feels that the high standards set in the tattoo world, make tattooing one of the most creative, contemporary, cultural art forms.

Konstantin’s tattoo art centers around life-like subjects, which help him to understand the cycle of being. To that end, in Konstantin’s down-time, he paints, with friends and lovers as his primary subjects. And with this new-found outlet of aerial photography, Konstantin has discovered that switching between mediums helps him to follow and study the different layers of lifestyle of modern society. For more information about Konstantin, please visit: www.noskos.com.