The Brookside Bulletin
Hyper-local journalism from Tulsa's Brookside neighborhood
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Brookside Tattoo Artist has Stories to Tell
But after spending time with Wright, it's obvious that he is a friendly and kind person with many great stories to share with a willing listener. Many of these stories start with, "One time at the tattoo parlor."
One of Wright's works
Asked what his own last tattoo was, Wright couldn't remember. He hasn't gotten a tattoo himself in ten years. One would expect a tattoo artist to have a process for choosing tattoos, but Wright said he never really followed a pattern.
"At some point, if you're in the industry, you're not getting tattoos of your mom or your kids' names. You're just having fun with the art," he said.
But Wright says tattoos shouldn't be taken lightly. "You're changing someone's body forever. One little movement can change everything, and if you mess it up, they'll be the first to tell you that they think you're s***. I don't want to be told I'm s***."
He shared the story of an art teacher that came to the parlor with a friend getting a tattoo. She told Wright that his job looked easy and she thought she could do it. He challenged her to give him a tattoo if she thought she could handle it. He set up the tattoo gun and ink, handed them to her, and prepped his leg for a tattoo. Centimeters from his skin, the art teacher gave up. She admitted that it was a lot scarier than Wright made it look.
Wright shared a variety of other stories while tattooing customers. One of the most thrilling was the time he stabbed a man in the forehead with a penknife. "That dude had tattoos on his face though, he could take it," Wright said of the incident.
Although Doyle Wright's casual demeanor in the tattoo parlor may make some customers nervous, his are the experienced hands that one would want changing the appearance of his or her body for the rest of time. So whether your need for a tattoo comes from rebellion, mid-life crisis, or inebriation, Doyle's steady hand can do the job.
Wright gives a customer tattoo care information.
For more info on Brookside Body Piercing and Tattoo, chec out their website at http://brooksidetattoo.com/ or look them up on Facebook.
A Day in the Worklife: Chet Thomas
Kim Fonder: Aberson Exhibits
Artist and gallery owner, Kim Fonder, has turned the vaulted ceilings, cold cement floors and long, white walls of Aberson Exhibits, at 3524 S Peoria Tulsa, Ok. 74105., into a welcoming space for artists to show their work and connect with their audience.
I attended the, two, most recent openings at Aberson Exhibits, November’s artist, John Brainard, and December’s, Romy Owens. Fonder’s approach to gallery openings is “intimate receptions rather than sending out a thousand invites,” which works perfectly with the size of the gallery.
Kim Fonder and John Brainard at Aberson Exhibits during Brainard's Gallery Opening
At both openings, Fonder worked the room, facilitating conversation and interaction between the guests, artists and art. As an artist, I know how exhilarating and satisfying it is to experience someone else interacting with your work, Fonder, creates this environment for her artists. By intimately interacting with artists, people can be more aware of sophisticated work, and think about acquiring it.
Fonder’s intention with Averson Exhibits is to bring people, that were raised or born here, back and give them “an international space to exhibit their work.” This vision was embodied with November’s opening. John Brainard, is a Tulsa native who now resides in Paris. His work can be seen at abersonexhibits.com.
I caught Kim calling Exhibit “the hobo art gallery,” though this, upscale, space is far from “hobo”. Her and her assistant, Corey, do everything from climbing up on a ladder to change light bulbs to hand writing 600 holiday letters to friends. “Owning your own business is very demanding,” Fonder told me.
Kim Fonder (left) and her assistant, Corey (right) working hard at Aberson Exhibit
Fonder is a determined, hard working woman who knows exactly what she wants. I had the opportunity to have breakfast with her, without any hesitation or looking at the menu, she spit her order out “I would like two scrambled eggs, hash browns and pancakes.” This is how she approaches her work as well as her life.
As well as owing Exhibit, Fonder is an excellent artist. “I’m also a painter, I can put my work in the gallery, and develop clientele here. It works both ways,” said Fonder. Some of her work is currently shown at Exhibit; the rest can be seen at kimfonder.com.
Fonder, started out as a photographer, “I got a camera in high school from my dad.” She got hooked up with a photography group who encouraged her to participate in a dark room collective.
Fonder got a job with Joseph Gierek. She worked for him for five years.
After working for Gierek, Fonder used her undergraduate in elementary education from Oral Roberts University and Masters Degree in applied behavioral studies with an emphasis in School Psychometry from Oklahoma University. She taught and was a contract school psychometrist. “I was teaching, and in my other time I was painting,” said Fonder.
Fonder, started doing pieces for friends, they would ask her for a specific piece and she would create it. A friend of Fonders, showed her work to some people in New York, as a result, she did a show in New York and another one in Chicago.
Fonder decided to “do art all the time.” In 2008, she opened Aberson Exhibit. “Little did I know how much more I would work.”
Fonder, told me, “I don’t like to do things for long periods of time, I think that the art situation affords you a lot of different options.”
Fonder now uses organic materials for creating her pieces of art. With some education in interior design, Fonder not only fabricates hanging pieces, but also some furniture, which can be seen on her website.
A painting from Kim Fonders most recent collection, Alchemy
Brookside Mom Is on the Go
A typical day starts at 6:30 a.m. and does not end until 8 p.m. Her two sons, who are in first and third grade, attend a private school on the other side of town. After dropping them off at school, Shannon typically runs errands. For those, she doesn’t have to drive far at all. “I love having all of the specialized stores around Brookside. I don’t have to get all my groceries from a supermarket," she said.
With all of the cooking that she does, she loves having healthy and high-quality produce nearby. If she has any spare time before she has to pick the boys up, she will come back and do chores at the house.
“I love the location of our home. It is nearby some of the best parks and nicest restaurants in town.”
Shannon and her husband Greg are avid runners and enjoy having the Riverside running trails nearby. Greg also takes the boys on bike rides down the trails occasionally during the week to give Shannon a little break.
The two also enjoy their date nights during the weekend to unwind from a stressful week. Shannon’s favorite restaurant is Wolfgang Puck’s. “The best part about living nearby all these nice restaurants is we can save an hour of time paying for a babysitter, since it is just a five-minute drive.”
Her two elementary-aged sons play just about every sport offered. Taking the boys to and from practices logs up mileage on the car, but it is a great opportunity to catch up with the boys on how their day went. Whether it is wrestling, football, basketball, or baseball, Shannon enjoys watching her sons practice and play. For a few sports, her husband coaches, so he takes them to and from practices and that gives Shannon a chance to catch up on things at the house.
Shannon and her family are very involved with their church, which is located in Broken Arrow. Their home church is most likely planting a campus nearby Brookside, which they would love. “We are very excited to have church right down the street and it will feel more like home! With Greg playing in the band and taking a separate car, it will save two long drives.”
Shannon and her family love living in Brookside. “The only thing that I would change is the long drives to church and school," she said. “After living in Brookside for close to ten years I couldn’t ever see my family and I leaving Brookside.”
A Day in the Life: Daphney Gaebler, Purple Glaze
Gaebler works part-time at Purple Glaze, fulfilling many responsibilities throughout the day. At 10 a.m. on any given Sunday, she unloads the kiln that has fired overnight and prepares tables for painters arriving at 11 a.m.
In particular, she describes a wedding party she worked with as one of her coolest experiences on the job. “The bride wore a veil and the groom wore a top hat,” Gaebler said, “It was a very fun and festive group of people to work with.”
“I needed a part-time job and the owner needed help so it worked out well,” Gaebler said.
Garrett Blackwood: Bartender, Teacher and Businessman
This past Monday I observed Garrett Blackwood the owner of the Blue Label Bartending School. Blackwood is not only a great teacher and bartender, but he is also a charming individual who made me feel comfortable the instant we met.
Blackwood owns two businesses. He has Blue Label Bartending, which rents out bartenders for private parties or weddings with locations in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. He also has the Blue Label Bartending School where he teaches a 32-hour course on how to become a bartender.
Blackwood’s Blue Label Bartending business has 16 bartenders on staff. They do around 400-500 private parties a year. This business began getting attention when they were in the top 7 businesses for the Spirit Award here in Tulsa. The Spirit Award is an award given by Spirit Bank to the most original business that has been in operation for less than 5 years and does not exceed $1 million in net worth.
Blackwood moved from Dallas to Tulsa in 2006, and realized that there are “3 places to go here: Brookside, Cherry Street, and Downtown.”
He found a house in the Brookside neighborhood, and in 2007 he opened the Blue Label Bartending School right in the middle of the Brookside bar scene. The building where the school is located used to be a bartending school, which is one of the reasons he chose this location.
Another reason he chose Brookside is because “it’s a very entrepreneurial area.” He expressed how much he appreciates that business owners invest so much of their time in the Brookside area.
While I was shadowing Blackwood at the Blue Label Bartending School I learned more information about bartending than I even knew existed.
During the class Blackwood’s student and I took a written quiz over the flavor and makeup of liquor and the appropriate use of wines. His student had been assigned readings over the material on the quiz and other information about alcohol. Blackwood claims that it is important for bartenders to not only know how to make drinks, but also that they need to know about the alcohol they are putting in them.
Blackwood taught us how to free pour. The correct technique for free pouring is necessary in order to pour the correct amount of liquor into every drink. After watching Blackwood and his student practice free pouring I thought it would be easy, but free pouring was much harder than it looked.
During the course Blackwood also taught us the meaning of the names in a lot of mixed drinks. For example, a screwdriver is called that because screw means orange juice and drive means vodka in bartender lingo that he taught us.
Blackwood showed us how to make all of the juice drinks out of his bartending manual. After he taught us about the ingredients, garnishes, and correct glasses to use for the drink, he let us practice making them.
As I practiced making these juice drinks, I could imagine myself working behind a bar and having drink orders yelled at me. I felt like a professional bartender after only attending a small portion of Blackwood’s course, which shows how great of a teacher he is.
Observing Blackwood was not only a fun time, but I also learned a lot of information about the bartending business and what it takes to be a bartender. As I left the school I told Blackwood that I would be back if I ever decided on bartending as a career, and after the great time I had on Monday I am definitely going to consider it.
More information on the school is at their website: http://www.bluelabelbartending.com/module-clip-viewpub-tid-2-pid-1.html