The Last Interview With Norm 'Love Letters'
Skin Deep|Issue 309
October 11, 2019—Norm dies. “Norm Will Rise” aka “@normloveletters” was an acclaimed tattooist and owner of Love Letters Tattoo studio in Los Angeles. It was surreal, and it’s hard to believe that he is no longer with us. The outpouring of comments came in countless numbers for Norm across the internet from family members, friends, colleagues and people who he deeply inspired…
- Adriana De Barros
The Last Interview With Norm 'Love Letters'

It was just two weeks before that I had talked to him at the London Tattoo Convention, where he was smiling and tattooing a walk-in client, sitting in a tight booth next to his friend, Grace Neutral. She sometimes called him Eric (his real name: Eric Rosenbaum), who was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved to the West Coast of California in the 1990s, and became a member of three distinguished graffiti crews: AWR, MSK, and TSL.

Norm spent his last year living-the-dream, traveling to tattoo events, bringing his graffiti and-Chicano-lettering style to locations like China and England. On the 7th of October, he commented: “I’m almost back from around the world. Wanna thank everyone for making this amazing trip”—he gave special thanks to Big Sleeps, El Whyner, Miki Vialetto, Jack Rudy, and others. Norm was grateful for the opportunities he had and the people in his life. Here’s what he had to say for himself just those few short weeks ago now:

You started doing graffiti in the late 90s. How did you get involved in that scene?

この蚘事は Skin Deep の Issue 309 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Skin Deep の Issue 309 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

SKIN DEEPのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
Ask Here Part Two
Skin Deep

Ask Here Part Two

With the release of Tattooing Ask Here—a collection of original and traditional flash, interview, stories and photographs detailing the tattoo history of Felix Leu—we took the spectacularly well-timed opportunity to speak to Loretta Leu about the book and her life with Felix. The following concludes our time well spent


time-read
9 分  |
Issue 311
The SERPENTS of  BIENVILLE
Skin Deep

The SERPENTS of BIENVILLE

SEAN HERMAN’S TRANSFORMATIVE TATTOO

time-read
8 分  |
Issue 311
SAVED BY INK
Skin Deep

SAVED BY INK

Carlos ‘Loz’ Oliveros has never had any shortage of passion or drive. Inspired by his father, a pro fighter and DIY tattooer, Oliveros started boxing when he was just six years old, then picked up tattooing at 16. All the while surrounded by the realities of Miami’s Mexican gang culture. Saved by tattooing, Oliveros chose to follow a different path than most of his peers. A path he’s now sharing on a VH1 docu-series called Cartel Crew

time-read
5 分  |
Issue 311
THE PRODUCER
Skin Deep

THE PRODUCER

It’s no surprise at all to run into a guy like Russ Russell. Pretty much every tattoo artist I talk with cites music as a massive influence on their work and lives in general. But while, for most of them, music is a passion—an inspiration, even, for their day job at the tattoo shop—for Russ it’s almost the other way around. Music is his day job, Russ having worked as both a producer and musician for many years, with tattooing coming later on down the line

time-read
5 分  |
Issue 311
Why Is That First Tattoo Encounter So Terrifying?
Skin Deep

Why Is That First Tattoo Encounter So Terrifying?

There is something about getting that very first tattoo that will always make you feel a little bit sick when you walk through the door

time-read
3 分  |
Issue 310
The Serpents Of  Bienville - Sean Herman's Transformative Tattoo
Skin Deep

The Serpents Of Bienville - Sean Herman's Transformative Tattoo

“There is probably nothing more menacing or dangerous than an individual who is devoid of compassion or empathy. When this individual is permitted by community apathy and bias to successfully cloak himself in the attire of one who claims allegiance to his or her Creator, it becomes the moral imperative of those who lay witness to the peril to step up before it is too late. Until such a time when domestic violence and sexual assault are eradicated for good, the perpetrators of these deplorable acts will continue to cause unspeakable harm as Evil’s welcomed ambassadors and Tyranny’s strongest ally.”

time-read
8 分  |
Issue 310
Skin Deep

The Eternal River

Through impact-laden encounters between ornamental and figural imagery, tattooist Aron Dubois has developed a self-sourced visual language that openly explores symbology, spirituality and surrealism in an effort to “drink from the eternal river” and return to what the Colorado-native defines as “the source”. Drawing much of his inspiration from esoteric literature, mythic archetypes and the natural world, Dubois has spent his decadelong relationship with the craft “digging for the grail of tattooing”. Here, Dubois demystifies his “optimistic escape attempt” from the addictive dangers of digital tools, and the answers he finds in nature when allowing the walls that stand between himself and the world to dissolve

time-read
9 分  |
Issue 310
Skin Deep

Palm Reader

For centuries we have looked to our palms as a valuable source of information, a complex blueprint of one’s identity, both physical and spiritual. The latter has seen the palm as a bodily map for instigating premonitions, with its many criss-crossing lines foretelling either a joyful life or a foredooming resolution

time-read
10+ 分  |
Issue 310
Japanese Whispers
Skin Deep

Japanese Whispers

He is one of the most gifted Japanese tattooers of his generation. From the region of Niigata in the North-East of Japan, he's spreading the beauty of Japanese tattoo culture. All tattoo lovers praise his complex and very detailed compositions which adorn the bodies of some very lucky collectors, but after 20 years, Tomo is ready to move on


time-read
4 分  |
Issue 310
Rule Breaker
Skin Deep

Rule Breaker

Esther Garcia plays by her own rules — she always has and always will. Even with two decades of experience, the Chicago-based artist still finds ways to push herself and innovate. Whether it’s juxtaposing two unexpected styles (she fuses blackout work with botanical imagery inspired by Dutch Masters beautifully) or offering a unique tattoo curation service in which she doesn’t actually tattoo, Garcia isn’t afraid to take risks. What else is up her sleeve? We tracked her down to find out.

time-read
7 分  |
Issue 310