summer update

july 2026

CURRENTLY...
see: table clutter: 4 unfinished paintings at different stages of life, camera bits, glitter...
hear: deleted sp0tify, listening to a lot of full albums & dance music lately
smell: clean, haven't started sweating yet
taste: homebrewed cold brew...bitter but a little watered down
feel: lukewarm, hair touching my shoulders




new mexico summer 2025 - B
film takes a year for us to get around to process
maybe next year you'll see some film photos from France lmao

ok here's what's up



ft wayne tattoo fest * August 14-16, 2026

FRIDAY 1p - 10p * SATURDAY 11a - 10p * SUNDAY 11a - 7p
come find me @ fort wayne's tattoo convention @ The Painted Lady's booth!
wow....all weekend...Friday, Saturday, Sunday...
three great chances to see & meet hundreds of extremely talented artists all gathered in the fort

i'll have stickers & a couple original paintings for sale
plenty of flash to flip through
taking b00kings for tattoos all three days
& i'm always down for walk-ups !


ok & not chronological, but...

ft wayne pride fest * July 24-25, 2026


FRIDAY 5p - midnight * SATURDAY noon - midnight
@ headwaters park
never forget, fort wayne gets two pride months
we're so gay it lasts into july
not doing anything in particular @ pride
but i try to go every year even just for a quick pop in
see all the familiar faces, dance a lil bit, use the port-a-potties ...
all the gr8 pride classics



RAMBLING SCROLL BOX
ok shut up this is the sacred box where i talk about self indulgent bullshit
i coded this shit i make the rules

all i want to do lately is ride my bike
sometimes if it's so fucking hot outside i do it anyway
so if i show up to meet you & i'm red in the face...
sweaty & grinning...
its because i feel so alive
& my eyes have been scanning for wildlife
& i might have seen a groundhog by the river !!

for those of you that i'm keeping in the loop...
i'm on book 5 of the original warrior cats series

i haven't read a series this intently since (???) my hair was down my back & i dated boys tbh lol
spoilers for The Prophecies Begin (2004)...

i miss yellowfang. she's watching over me from starclan while i try not to die on the thunderpath

working on a painting of her beatin' the shit out of brokenstar ...
in the pile of paintings i started this year

acrylic on wood, let's see if it ever gets finished
i need bluestar to kick her last life bucket im sorry
this nihilistic attitude she's got...it's killing me...

of course im finding excuses to use real human money to buy the blindboxes out in the wild
if anyone is trading on the playground:
i want an army of yellowfangs & cinderpelts

we have an excess of brightheart plushies...
so i gave one to our dog...
PACK PACK KILL KILL PACK PACK KILL KILL PACK PACK...

loving graystripe x fireheart
& the weird triangle of fireheart x sandstorm x cinderpelt
& whitetail x his atheism...

check back when i have my warrior cat name figured out
that'll mark my break down into the next layer...
of being rly fucking irritating about warriors
that's all for now~

--i'll talk again in a slightly cooler month
wanna talk about a tattoo idea? click this...
BOOKING FORM

spring update

april 2026

CURRENTLY...
see: the curtains are drawn, spiderman 3 (2007) on for background noise...sam raimi, man...
hear: fan whirring
smell: hot black coffee, house smell
taste: bfast smoothie, cool and sweet
feel: favorite sweatshirt, legs are cold


long time no see !
woke up just in time this morning to get my garbage bin out to be collected --

ran out in my robe & looked a lil insane but !!
started my day with a success ~

ok here's what's up


are you sick of the ad-bloated...
ai-ridden hellscape of social media?

yeah...this shit sucks

the decay of social media spaces and their crappy apps just pushes me back to playing on here. my lil piece of solace in lines of colorful code and fun lil pixels.

outside of tattooing, the schooling i took on is getting fun! i'm learning a lot & love when i see my new skills overlap with what i love about tattooing. it's making me feel connected and useful...
and helping me focus amidst everything in the world bombarding all of us all of the time...

feeling lucky & giddy while i'm trying my best !!!
quick sidenote while this movie is still playing --
venom is so hot, even eric foreman 2007 venom is kinda sexy...

OK FOCUS... back on track here...
gotta wrap up & get packed up for a weekend trip -- my partner & i are celebrating 10 years in a couple days ??


we should get jerseys 'cuz we make a good team

UPDATES

listen up!

i'll be out of the country in May!

i'm attending a wedding & taking the chance to explore a lil more of france with my family
+ i want to go ghost for a little bit~

obviously being active and posting is a part of my job
& i'm no stranger to talking about the up & down relationship i have with being present online...
i want to take a step back while i'm away...want to be focused !
& save my phone battery for making sure i navigate safely!


that's all for now~
i'll set up an auto-response on my e-mail starting on may 4th

--i'll talk to you soon!
booking for june + july
BOOKING FORM

snowfall update

december 2025

CURRENTLY...
see: lights & candles
hear: heat is on, movie as background noise
smell: just peeled an orange, so my hands are citrusy
taste: coffee's cold, down to the last sips
feel: cold & stiff

hope your coffee cup isnt empty

despite all odds
we're here for a winter update
& a lightening fast

2025 recap


that certainly was a year

in 2025 we...


left comfort zones
of familiar spaces
...& found home in new places, faces & feelings

laughed, cried, & took plenty of big deep breaths
loved, lost, skipped & trudged through some parts...


made a lot of great art with really cool people
thank you all for your continued support

whether you see me at a market, at the studio, out and about in town, or even just here through your screen--
it's cool to make so many connections with y'all

UPDATES

UPCOMING EVENTS!

GUEST SPOT @ INKHAVEN

i've got time to tattoo you
saturday december 20th!
in indy next weekend!
shoot me an e-mail to set something up
or come on in to inkhaven for a good ole' fashioned walk in~


that's all for now~
i get a lil reclusive in the winter months
--get ready for refreshed energy & creativity in the new year!

if you want to book a tattoo for 2026
or want to tell me about a bug you saw outside...
e-mail me
& walk-ins accepted at the studio! come say hi!

an autumnal update

october 2025

CURRENTLY...
see: messy work space
hear: nine inch nails tron soundtrack album
smell: pumpkin hand soap...not much else, allergies are tough
taste: dry mouth, coffee
feel: grogged and bogged...stiff muscles

LONG TIME NO SEE!
it's gotten better since the last time we talked, right?
...RIGHT?
a change of season again. that's good.
time still works.

SPOOKY SCARY BLOG


TEETERING ON THAT TIGHTROPE
staying focused, sometimes i wobble...

there's still something good to see in every day

social media & being around my phone has a real negative impact on my brain & my focus.

but posting is part of keeping up with business...
part of keeping up on people i care for.
a thorned experience.

this kind of outlet-- a blog i can play with--

where there's not a million things vying for my attention or yours...
EXCEPT THIS GUY...
CHECK HIM OUT...


this how i like to exist out here best.


this was a question i got recently --
"WHAT WOULD PEOPLE NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU BASED ON HOW YOU POST ON SOCIAL MEDIA?"

it was my bestfriend who asked me that. leave it to her to give me something good to ponder & write about. galaxy brain.

i actually met her online!
THANK U INTERNET

we shared mutual friends through homestuck cosplay. the first time i drove down to meet her, i didn't know much about her. relying on tumblr "about me" pages.
have you checked your tumblr url on the wayback machine?
-- look at this shit -- 14 years later...


it used to scare the shit out of me to meet new people face to face,
adding up all these new traits and features of a person. they used to just be a quiet collection of pixels behind a screen.
WEIRD!!!!
being online is carved deeper into every hour of every day now. people share only as much as they want to be seen--whether that's what they create or what they show of their personal life.
there's a lot of control there...
face to face, you lose some of that.

social media is like cruising past selective tips of living and breathing icebergs. lots of icebergs. a fleet of them! a neverending feed of them.
this iceberg is drinking their 2nd cup of coffee.
and eating fresh baked bread.
and slept on their neck weird and it rly hurts today.

lots to take in.

blogging & yammering like this is just html journaling.
it's self indulgent and reminiscent of younger years online.
but you're skimming this!
what is this...? what are we doing here?

i'm navigating the world making a lot of cool connections, in all the little ways i know how.
the world keeps doing unhinged shit. the weight is constant.
i hope i can clown around from the bottom of my heart for a long time. whether online or in person or all by myself somewhere in the dirt.


if we're existing in the same space in the future, i hope it's fun. i hope you feel safe.
i'll trade weird words with ya...

this last froggy market i told a someone with a star wars tattoo that "when i see darth maul, i want to slam a beer."
and i replayed that moment over and over.
i asked myself,
".......why the fuck did i say that..."
(BCUZ ITS TRUE)

UPDATES

UPCOMING EVENTS!
+ PAINTED LADY 5YR ANNIVERSARY EVENT +

+ SATURDAY October 25th
+ NOON to 5p

+ i'll be there until 2:00p doing $50 tattoos!
...here are some photos from lately!



bob burgerween flash designs

nonrepeatable
e-mail 2 b00k


ye old froggy market success!
i love froggy market events 4 real --
it truly feels like hanging out~

UPUPUPUPU

figure drawing + modeling @ artlink

auburn fair came & went

haven't been in years~
there were a lot more people than i expected!
stumbled upon @caseykeepstrying's storm drain mural!

spotted on my walk back home from the landing~
emanates pure cuteness -- the colors are so vibrant!

that's all for now~
if you want to book a tattoo, have a question
or want to tell me about a bug you saw outside...
e-mail me
& walk-ins accepted at the studio! come say hi!

half of the year check-in

july 2025

CURRENTLY...
see: moved my laptop into the dining room...i'm not in love with my new desk space quite yet. working on making it function better.
hear: sinners (2025) playing in the background
smell: sugard snickerdoodle candle, hands smell like dog
taste: gnawing on the inside of my mouth
feel: eyes darting, lots of ENERGY!!buzzzzzz

how are you feeling?
i've got probably close to...forty-five different streams of conciousness right now.

BUT THIS IS A NEW BLOG UPDATE

GOTTA LOCK IN

there goes half a year

doesn't that feel fucking crazy. where am i?
life is a sprint lately.
but tired muscles get stronger
with a good rest & bit of reflection.

there are big milestones and challenges we've taken on this year so far!
...connections with so many cool new people, comfort in the studio, good energy from neighbors...
a small world feeling of overlapping and sharing...

I WANT TO SAVOR THE MOMENTS THAT FEEL GOOD
being connected charges me up to do the next cool thing...
and the other cool thing after that!


there's a lot of things fighting for attention.
the way this country is moving is disgusting.
my dad calls me and we try to cope with a joke about the world falling apart but even he seems a lil burnt out about it.
he's my frame of reference for endurance through all of this.

what does that mean?

it's a lot!
deep breaths

adding a couple classes into the mix this fall.

haven't done any schooling in a while, a lil nervous to share space in my schedule with something big like that. on top of this, on top of that, on top of maybe the other thing i'm probably forgetting?<
but i'm also really excited!
there's more i can explore & more i can do...

even with constant bombardment
& that lingering fear & feeling of doom in every new day
& that tug of it's never enough, you can't ever do enough...

...we can still pick our heads up!

look at us go...plugging along.
balancing the best we can.

UPDATES

+ there's a 2k follower giveaway for the month of august!

@SMELLSROTTEN IS MY ONLY ACCOUNT. PLZ DONT GET SCAMMED.
+ giveaway is through instergram only
doesn't cross onto other platforms
+ rules are on the post itself!
+ winner announced in the last week of august



+ fort wayne tattoo festival
is this weekend!
AUGUST 1st through the 3rd!
not personally participating this year
some fellow artists from the painted lady will be doing some sick tats there all weekend!
SAY HELLO TO THEM!
& the other artists in the industry from far and wide !!
planning to pop in late on friday to say some "hellos" & see the whole space~
tattoo conventions are a new concept i want to acclimate myself to a lil better

consider participation on the goal agenda for next year!


that's kind of it for now!

if you're missing a message from me, don't afraid to follow up.
some weeks are hectic than others, so my response time varies.
sometimes i'm answering effeciently!
sometimes things get lost or stuck somewhere in the machine of it all.


if you want to book a tattoo, have a question
or want to tell me about a bug you saw outside...
e-mail me
& walk-ins accepted at the studio! come say hi!

ABOUT MEL


this is my blog!
you're reading it!
tattoo artist in indiana...
does things...
says things...

FUNZONE









FOLLOW ME

@ smellsrotten
on most social media
or if you yell my name enough times i might hear you