Meet the Web Mistress, M.I. (A very satisfied customer)

Welcome to August Moon's new home on the net! I am Malicious Intent and will be serving as the Web Mistress or Goddess (pick yer poison) to the talented and colorful August Moon.

This blog is about August Moon, but I am sure you are going to be meeting some of his friends and clients (in some cases both.) This will be a place for him to share his thoughts, his art work, and his location, as he is somewhat of a traveling salesman or gypsy of sorts right now. I thought I would take a few moments to introduce myself and share the dreadfully boring story of how we met and how I ended up here, managing a blog for him and show off my new prized piece of artwork from August.

So, 38, re-married, mother of 2 boys (10 and 15) the eldest having severe autism. The autism part gives you a rather wicked sick and twisted sense of humor. Also makes you tough as nails. You sink or swim in this business of "disability" and I am not known for my wall flower skills.


I started to get ink when I was 36. I figured I was grown up enough to decide if I should make permanent marks on my body by then. Besides, the two pregnancies of giving birth to two gorillas already did the damage. I find it rather amusing when folks say, "Ain't you afraid of what yer tattoos are gonna look like when you are 80 years old?" SHIT! Do you honestly think I am going to give a cows crap what my body looks like when I am 80 years old? I will be amazed if I lived that long! Honestly, folks are so hooked on what is on the outside and not what is on the inside.

I am a graphic designer, and as my hands gave out years ago and I found the joys of computer graphics. I especially love to take photos and mutate them into something completely different. Photos are merely a canvas of color for me to play with. With that being said, I love art of all kinds. I especially love the surrealists, the rule breakers, the rebels. I like different and unique art and individuals such as August Moon fit right into my idea of "normal." (Whatever the hell normal is.)

So me and the family packed it up and headed to the beach for the 4th of July holiday weekend just like 300,000 other folks. We stay at my in-laws so we have a lot of freedom and move around more like locals than tourists on vacation. I read in the local paper about a new tattoo shop that opened up just down the street called Bewitched. Nice! I thought I would take a few minutes of time for myself (I know, I am a horrible mommy for doing that) and ask about a dragon fly on my foot that had faded and needed some sprucing up.

The owner John Minka was busy inflicting pain, er I mean art on another client when I walked in, but in the back was a unique looking gentleman who seemed available. Bright green crocs, an equally bright green Hawaiian shirt, hat, long white hair and beard and glasses loaded with rhinestones (which I secretly coveted.) I have a saying "If it sparkles, it is good."

Anyway, I started to talk to him about my foot. He advises me to go back to the original artist and gives advise on how to fix the issue. Well, I gotta tell ya. I liked the guy, he was easy to chat with and very interesting, and for some strange reason, I really wanted to get some work done buy this Moon man. I ran back to my in-laws, went to my site, printed out a photo of my original and first tat and doodled a few ideas I had been thinking about for some time. As I said, it was my first, so it was a bit conservative as I was new at making my own skin a canvas for art. Being a graphic designer I am use to handing in "ready art", so I work up the art and just hand it to the tattooist expecting him/her to produce as shown. (I know, major control issues....therapy takes forever!) Each part of my butterfly meant something to me, so I didn't want to loose those elements, but I definitely wanted to spruce it up. I really felt like I could just let this guy go nuts and do his thing and I trusted him. Believe me, that is not something that happens every day in my world.

I told him what I liked, he drew right on me. The first one didn't fly,but the second one did. It was just a matter of talking it out and him getting to know what I wanted. "Swirls, stars, color, I love the word Imagine, yeah I like water too!" Doesn't sound like something you could put together and make much sense of. So I sat in his
chair, pulled up my hair and let him do his thing, his way. I didn't look to much while he worked on me. I had a sense of peace and calm and my gut was telling me this was going to work out just fine. It was also telling me I was hungry but the bitter sweet pain of of getting tattooed subsided that for a while. After the first 5 or 10 minutes, this little freak actually likes the feeling of getting inked. I think folks just get themselves all psyched up about it and make it bigger than what it really is. An old saying is "The anticipation is usually greater than the event." and "Pain in inevitable, Misery is optional." I love quotes, in case you have not gathered that by now.

So this is the finished product. I stood up, looked in the mirror and I am pretty sure my jaw hit the floor. (Really sorry about drooling on your table dude.) Wow! I mean WOW!

So I go home, glowing. I post my photos and immediately start having folks asking me if they can see more of his work on-line and where do they go to see it. Gee, I don't know! I start looking around myself and he was a bit of a trick to find. Finally I give in and just call him. After a conversation or two this blog is born. So here it is and hopefully this will prove to be a nice home for August and his clients to talk, share, show and brag about the wonderful and often misunderstood world of tattoos.

Be sure to visit August Moon and shop owner of Bewitched Tattoos John Minka in Rehoboth.
19478 Coastal Highway (Route 1), Shoppes of Camelot, Rehoboth, DE 19971 (302) 260-9751

Thanks August!

An Introduction

Aricle from Prick Magazine - 2003
AUGUST MOON the boldly clad gentleman
by Joy Treacy

I first met August Moon at the 2001 Meadowlands Tattoo Convention. We were at the hotel bar when this gentleman walked past us, almost glowing, wearing a bright mustard hat and suit. This boldly clad gentleman was August Moon. He wore a solid 14 karat gold tattoo machine necklace, that he himself designed.

Charismatic and a delight to talk to, I sat down with August recently and got to know him a little better. August started out in the tattoo business in 1993, working with Philadelphia Eddie. With his artistic background, he picked up the skill quickly and in 1995, he decided to branch out on his own, opening his own shop in Delaware. He has since expanded to a larger studio, one of the largest I have ever seen. In addition to being a well-respected artist in the tattoo community, he is also a very revered businessman.

The respect that he has gained does not come undeserved. His good business sense and participation in helping with the new rules and regulations that govern the tattoo business, have helped establish legitimacy of the industry as a whole. He has worked with the health department and shed new light on current tattoo practices and safeguards in the industry. He credits Cliff Raven and Ed Hardy for taking the first steps to get the tattoo business out of the basement and give it a better image. "The business is more about the art and not just about being a freak," says August. He attributes the success of the tattoo business in the last 10 years to the the collaborative efforts of the community as a whole.