Brisbane Gamer, Video Game Tattoo Artist Blogs// 2026 can so far suck a d**k? Or good start to this New Year? Let’s find out 😤

Hey there returning reader/first time visiter/friend checking in for the latest in life goss’ ✨ For those whom are new here to reading my blogposts, I’ve been keeping this as a journal-type cathartic exercise that helps my brain & presence online.

Reflecting on how the year has started for me, it’s started as a new chapter in a few different ways;

Late last year I went through a break up, separating our lives and moving into my own place to heal, recover and find solitude as a handled my buisness & got on top of everything that needed my attention

I feel like I’m only just now catching my breath from all that and to be honest, from where I am now to how things have been since fresh out of Lockdown, (without tempting fate knocks on wood) I feel better than ever which as an enormous relief to say the least

I’ve been really putting in the hard work in the areas of my life that need it (especially since losing our eldest sister Kristy back in 2024). A lot of people in my life throughout that time really felt it was in their place to tell me what I was doing was wrong & misguided, I was fucking up and focusing on all the wrong things

It’s now more than ever felt SO good in hindsight knowing that I’ve left those dickheads and their fucked opinions behind and out of my life completely lol just kiddin’ … kinda

In all seriousness, I believe they meant well and only wanted what’s best for me. Also in saying that, I’m sure there’s folks out there reading this who can agree; sometimes in life you just need to cut people from your life and follow you heart

Even if you can’t explain it in a way that makes sense to other people, if you know what you’re doing is right, just be accountable, show up for yourself and steer the path. If you fail, at least you did it with sincerity & often failure is just the start of something new and beautiful

I’ve felt more blessed this year than ever so far with the tattoos, clients & workload presenting itself. If you’ve enquired with me this year and even got a session or two under your belt, shouts out to you. I appreciate you SO much <3

Tattoos is now more paramount to me than ever. I’ve never felt such a pure connection to this craft and understood my place in it

Aside from all this ‘Saddle Club’ bullshit that seems to be going on of cliques making exclusive groups to exclude others from their fold

I wanna applaud those in this SEQ tattoo community who rather work to bridge the gaps between us all and celebrate this artisan craft through inclusivity

I know it’s been a bit confusing for some folks as well on the peripheral of my life to understand this juggling act I’m doing between Garment printing/Merchandising and tattooing, rest assure it’s not there to be understood.

Currently the shirt printing hustle in my life is the beginning of a family business that is finding it’s legs as I regain fuller focus back into tattooing and the creative arts in my life

In saying that, if you need any clothes printed & pressed for your band, buisness, group activity etc, be in touch. Were currently taking orders and can meet most deadlines your situation may require 💫

I’m still on a mission to be drawing, pencil to paper an hour each day minimum, just currently that seems to have somewhat fallen to the wayside as I’ve taken on a massive workload until end of February so I can have some time off

‘Time off in February? How come?’ said no one ever, but I’ll still tell you why!! BECAUSE THAT’S WHEN RESIDENT EVIL 9 COMES OUT 🥳❤️‍🔥🍻

I am SO keen for this release, anyone who knows me, knows I FROTH Resident Evil more than most other things in life. Dodging spoilers has been really hard with how the internet operates these days, but I’ve managed to keep everything a mystery so far. I want to walk into this game blind and ready for anything

If you see me and wanna share this excitement; please, no spoilers 🙏🏻

Speaking of FROTHing, I am so gutted and Devvo that I missed Froth & Fury Fest in Adelaide 😫 I absolutely cooked my budget this year and I’ve had to cancel a bit to get myself financially back in the green & missing this festival was something that had to be sacrificed due to my 2026, financial, short sightedness. Despite this though, I caught Archspire & Aborted at The Triffid and JFC was it sick ❤️‍🔥

Archspire are INSANE, to finally see them live was surreal and extremely entertaining. I’ve seen Aborted quite a bit in my years over the pond in Europe, to see them in BNE this tight with an Australian crowd was awesome. I think Australians and Aborted go together like Peas & Carrots, so let’s all manifest a swift return performance from Sven & the bois in Aborted 🤞🏻

Otherwise in terms of updates in my life & music, my band Chief Irons recently got our drum tracks recorded by two very special artists in the heavy music scene I’m keeping secret for now, if you can guess, hit me up & let me know who you think they may be. It’s slow going in that world but this was the coolest thing to get under our belt, I’m so keen to finish this bit of art me the bois in Chiefs are crafting to share with you all

Lastly in terms of updates in life, a few of those who follow me on Socials recently saw my sister is in dire need of help right now. This happened at break neck speed for us in my family, truthfully were all still processing it

Essentially, there’s a highlight reel in my Insta bio called ‘PLS HELP’, if you care, please check out the details there. Our remaining sister and my Fathers only remaining daughter is in a insanely bad position in life right now, any help goes further than you can imagine

I’m going to put my next big concentrated effort into a shirt run to raise money as well for my sister, Bridie. This is just not going to equal funds raised for a fair while, so any attention or donations in the meantime to her gofundme is unbelievably appreciated. To those who have donated so far, I see you, & you are actually the best, thank you 🫶🏻

I know this year has been exceptionally hard on a lot of people in my life. It hurts for me seeing the people I care about suffer, moreso than I can ever feel for myself. It’s so easy for me to get caught up in my own bullshit that it can seem like I don’t care, when I do care, I care deeply and I understand a lot of us are at full capacity in life & at borderline breaking point

I hope relief is in sight for everyone I care about and those who need it, I really try to steer towards Stoicism in life, and it’s hard to not have an opinion on everything going on in the world right now. Just remember to water the flowers at home as well as tending to the gardens of others

Might seem like a crazy analogy, but I believe in order to care for others, you need to care for yourself first. A lot of us are fighting extremely difficult uphill battles, let’s just not make life any harder on each other than it needs to be while were all fighting for a bare minimum decent quality of life

Lastly I just wanted to publicly give a shout out to my studio and second home, Old Soul Tattoo. Old Soul has become not only my rock of support but my one of my most treasured things in life currently. Dan & Kim continue to look out for us in ways that I never thought a studio could, I’m incredibly lucky and grateful to have them as friends 🖤

Thank you for reading!

Catch up soon

Cheers :)