This business card came falling out of a photo album I was going through a few months ago. It was picked up at Cliff’s shop in 29 Palms by my friend Jack and tucked away in an album of convention photos.
This reminds me that I need a new business card.
Posted by Shawn Porter on January 11, 2012
http://occultvibrations.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/873/
Professor Bud Huizinga (the spelling could be off; I’ve seen it several ways) had quite a few amazing tattoos from Cliff Raven, including this avian piece that was completed sometime around 1982.
Cliff was an interesting figure in the history of Tattooing; an educated man (with a B.A. in Fine Arts) as well as being openly gay, Cliff pushed boundaries on a variety of fronts and left a lasting legacy that has influenced generations after his retirement. As such, I really hope that the ‘Cliff Raven licensing’ thing ends up flopping. Jeans. Wine. Bottled water. While Ed Hardy is still around to balance out the negative (at least by some of our standards) effects of Christian Audigier’s douchebaggery, the commercialization of Raven will end up being a soulless cashgrab with no positives.
Posted by Shawn Porter on July 13, 2011
http://occultvibrations.wordpress.com/2011/07/13/raven-82/
I inherited a large number of tapes from the Sailor Sid Diller collection when my mentor passed away; this short clip is from a video Sid and Ken Meyers made in 1974. (The year I was born) It features tattoo icon Cliff Raven working on a few pieces. At the time Cliff was guesting in “underground” shops catering primarily-if not exclusively- to gay men. The tattoos he’s doing go along with that culture.
These videos originally had no sound so I’ve chosen to keep them that way.
Another VHS rip, albeit considerably worse quality, is the first half of “Tattoo Take Two” featuring an older Raven. The audio is crackly and loud, but for the sake of history it’s worth watching:
Posted by Shawn Porter on March 3, 2011
http://occultvibrations.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/cliff-raven/
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