2
Jul

Chris Moniz returns to Calgary for one week!

   Posted by: Moniz   in tattoo

Chris Moniz will be tattooing in Calgary, Alberta from July 20th to 25th. Dan Marshall is handling bookings. He can be contacted at Heroes and villains tattoo and piercings where Mo is doing his 5 day stint!

Heroes & Villains Tattoo & Piercings
1112 4 St SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0X6

403-984-3232

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20
Jun

fireman tattoo

   Posted by: Moniz   in tattoo

I like when a service worker walks in through the front door of Integral Temple. With a bit of reference help i designed this firefighter tattoo design from scratch and done in black and grey.

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12
Jun

a couple of koi

   Posted by: Moniz   in tattoo

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here are two koi tattoos that i have been working on lately. i’m proud to say that both of them are now complete!

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28
May

   Posted by: Moniz   in tattoo

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here is an ongoing tattoo that im working on of ganesh. its been pointed out to me that i havent been posting the progress of this tattoo! so here it is and in the most current tattoo session ive been working on tattooing the background. only the person getting the tattoo will get this but… je te plumerai!!!

25
May

a short session today for this half-sleeve tattoo

   Posted by: Moniz   in tattoo

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in this session, the bulk of the linework has been completed. so we are, for the most part, past any more drawing stages in this half sleeve tattoo design. the tattoo sessions from here on in will begin with a tattoo machine buzzing about instead of with a sharpie captivated in the design process! after throwing down some linework, i did some shading to fill the area that the client felt seemed most empty. a cherry blossom flower fills up the ditch of his arm and mala beads were added to buddha who’s face looks to be in contemplative serenity. we are still debating what tint of coloring we are going to do on buddha’s skin. perhaps a flesh tone more rich than the pale complexion of the geisha on the outer arm of this tattoo? dunno yet.. hmmm…

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26
Apr

koi and peony

   Posted by: Moniz   in tattoo

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I’m so very excited that this tattoo is approaching completion! I have completed colour in the area of the tattoo that is a cover up ( peony ). All i have left to do is colour in the koi!

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20
Mar

Piercer Dan Marshall is coming to Markham!

   Posted by: Moniz   in Uncategorized

Come see PiercerDan at Integral Temple on Monday, March 28th…

PiercerDan is one of Canada’s top Piercing/Body Modification Artists. Based out of Calgary, Alberta, he operates his own shop called Heroes and Villians. About 2-3 times per year he comes and visits us to take care of his Toronto based clients.

You can pre-book with Piercer Dan to get work done on the March 28th date. You can get in touch with Dan through his website www.piercerdan.net

6
Mar

ProductiviTEA becomes our number one tea!

   Posted by: Moniz   in Uncategorized

Out of our many blends of Tea created by Jayme, we have one particular blend that seems to have leaped in popularity. It’s called ProductiviTEA! So popular is this blend of tea, that we actually ran out of stock before we could get more blending components ordered in! To some of our regulars, it’s become the tea blend that they faithfully order and in one customers words, “Can’t do without”. We should really call it “populariTEA”, ha ha!

ProductiviTEA is a tea that has been created to make its drinker feel more alert and energized while calming nervous energy and increasing “on task focus”.  The herbs in this tea boost your energy levels far greater than a cup of coffee and without the ‘crash and burn’ that caffeine has. Its taste is unique… with a rich and spicy aroma, full bodied depth, light dancing tones and a tingle on the tip of the palate.  This effect is accomplished by a very unusual combination of ingredients and a very meticulous preparation method on Jayme’s part.  The best tea bases are carefully selected to start with.  Yerba Mate comes from a plant in the holly family and has a taste similar to but with more depth than green tea or black tea depending on whether you are drinking it green or roasted.  It contains 3 xanthines: mateine, theobromine and theophylline which have the stimulating and anti oxidant effects of caffeine without the unwanted side effects.  We use roasted mate in this blend to give it a smooth and rich essence.  Holy basil (a powerful adaptogen) and gotu kola are added to aid the body and mind in decreasing the physical side effects of stress and fatigue while helping concentration levels and avena sativa clears “mental clutter”.  Red Rooibos lingers as a natural sweetness and is known to cure head aches and digestive worries while providing copious amounts of minerals.  A toss of guarana (the most potent herbal stimulant known) is added to give the “kick” that we need to get our day going (and going and going….) and then joined by freeze dried banana (which when steeped, tastes just like fresh!), fresh toasted jumbo coconut flakes, large pieces of  mekong spicy cinnamon bark and freshly ground whole green cardamom pods.  If that’s not enough, we also add raw cacao pieces (yes! you CAN have chocolate that is healthy and loaded with anti oxidants!) and the reason we can’t keep it in stock; fresh ground whole vanilla beans.  Rather than use flavoring, we keep a limited supply of vanilla beans, why? Because if they are kept around too long, they go hard and loose their plumpness, thus loosing flavor.  When they are fresh, vanilla has a “juiciness” to it that you can only understand once you have tried this addictive blend.

Come find out why ProductiviTEA has become our best selling artisan blend! Purchase a weeks worth and try it at home… but I must warn you… it has converted coffee lovers everywhere!

6
Mar

All roads lead to… an Italian half sleeve

   Posted by: Moniz   in Uncategorized

caesar and colliseumroman soldieritalian sleeveI got creative on this one… I thought it would be different if I made the background of this tattoo full color instead of the objects in it.  Using reserve as an artistic device in this piece, all of the subjects are done in black and greywash and the background is a dark and reddish war sky. The end result being that the subject matter ‘pops out’ at you even though there is no color involved in the subject matter! Many elements representing Italy can be found here… Julius Caesar, the Colliseum and a Roman Soldier. Other elements in the tattoo would be the hand above in the form of a Cornuto gesture and a horn. Also there is a roman eagle coloured to blend into the background sitting on a plaque with intitials representing the soldiers of Rome.

5
Mar

One client… Two ribs…

   Posted by: Moniz   in Uncategorized

octopus and water on ribsdesert scene on ribsJust how big should a tattoo be if it’s a dedication to your sons? Mo’s client felt that maybe it should take up an entire rib cage for each son! How much more dedicated can a man be to his sons?!?!? A lot of hours went into these two pieces considering their size and the fact that they are full color. It takes will power, endurance and patience to sit through the many sessions it took to complete both tattoos… and wow, that alone shows his love for his children! … did I mention that these are his first tattoos? … just wow! Much respect!