Christy Mack for Ink Addict

As seen in Tattoo Savage Magazine, Christy Mack shares about her tattoos and their place in her adult film career

Christy Mack’s Tattooed Heart

Story& Photos by mAry d'Aloisio

Petite Midwestern sweetheart Christy Mack is doing big things with her tattooed life. Measuring just 5’1” tall, the little girl is attacking the world with her ginormous personality and dedication to positive living. She’s helping to break down tattoo prejudice in the mainstream adult film industry, races modified Subaru’s, and rescues dogs with an inspiring ferocity. The girl is a certified bad-ass.

Indiana native Christy Mack is well on her way to becoming 2013’s “It Girl” in the mainstream adult film industry, which is no small feat for the tattooed sweetheart. She was told very early on that her tattoos would work against her.

“My very first agent in Miami looked at me and said ‘You’re not going to get any work at all. You should never get any more tattoos and you should consider getting the ones you have removed-- it won’t help your career at all.” Christ Mack told Tattoo Savage. “It was kind of difficult at first-- but once I hit the scene, I hit the ground running. Things just took off from there. I sure threw that in his face.” She giggled.

“It’s just a combination of my look, my whole attitude, how I carry myself, my body shape and tattoos that match my personality. Mainstream has started to become more accepting towards tattoos in general.”

How tattoos would affect her career wasn’t a consideration when she got her first one, and she’s not interested in changing her mindset now. “My mom bought me my first tattoo a couple of days before my 16^th birthday. My mom has always been super cool. She doesn’t care either way—it’s the same with the porn thing, as long as I’m happy—that’s all that matters.”

Her collection of American Traditional inspired designs has grown quite a bit since. Some of her tattoos had meanings for her; some were just cool, and most of the characters on her have a name.

“My first tattoo was when I was 15, it’s on my lower back, it’s a couple of sparrows and a nautical star—I named them Fredrick and Raul.” She said. “I had three tattoos before I turned 17.”

Then she met up with her current artist John Haas from Artistic Skin Design and Endurance Tattoo in Indiana. “John Haas has pretty much always been the best artist I have ever had—he’s done the majority of my work.”

His work on her includes a cover-up of an Owl on her left arm, an Eagle and roses on the back and side of her neck for a dog-rescuing war veteran who inspired her, and some fancy traditional designs on her arms.

She did stray once to get a tattoo from Myke Chambers at Hell City --a girl face on her right forearm. “I’ve been a fan of his for years. There was no real meaning to me; I just wanted a piece from him.  Her name is Penelope.”

The tattooed heart on her face was to memorialize the loss of her first rescue dog, Fannie May.

“People get tear drops when they kill people; I got a heart on my face when my dog died.” Christy Mack works a lot with rescue Pitt Bulls, and with various organizations, but one of her favorites is It’s a Pitty Rescue out of Indianapolis, IN (www.rescueapittie.org).

“They do such great work and find hundreds of dog’s homes; they're just great people.” She said.

Real must recognize real—with her fair share of haters, and folks that have an opinion about her job she had this to say:

“I am a housewife without the husband, with a passion for cars and animals and a very interesting job. For those that try to hate on me, I just realize that they aren't as happy as I am so I tend to leave them alone. Sometimes I get my little attitude though, and I tell them exactly how it is.”

Follow Christy Mack on Twitter or Instagram at @ChristyMack , and watch out for the petite ones—they pack a tremendous punch.

http://christymack.com/

deVita Unauthorized, by Nick Bubash

deVita Unauthorized ,

a book by Nick Bubash

deVita Unauthorized chronicles and benefits a man who was at the root of a massive art and tattoo movement that began on NYC stoops in the 60's.  Lovingly authored by student and long time friend Pittsburgh artist Nick Bubash, deVita Unauthorized is a replication of an original Loose-leaf portfolio made by Nick Bubash between the fall of 2001 and spring of 2003. The original 30 copies were painstakingly assembled by Bubash and  was housed in a wooden box measuring 17' x 22' x 11/2'. It cover was held on by 2 wing nuts and a clivis pin and it was painted and collaged inside and out by deVita and embellished with various wooden and metal objects.

Ed Hardy and Hardy Marks publishing have reproduced the book  and the collection available to the public.  It includes the original pages of deVita collages, lithographs, essays, and contributions from Ed Hardy, Mike Malone, Scott Harrison, Teddy Varndel, JohnWyatt, Nick Bubash and of course, Thom deVita --heavy-hitting artists who were touched by the "art bomb" and magic that shaped and evolved tattooing as an art... waves that are still felt today as tattooing rapidly advances..

It can be ordered from Hardy Marks Publications here http://www.hardymarks.com/books/devita-unauthorized/), Last Gasp Publications and Distributing Art Publishers the price is $30.

 

Very few lucky folks can order the book signed with original art by contacting deVita himself at 23 overlook Place, City of Newbergh, NY 12550, or on ebay under "belle 10-1" at http://www.ebay.com/itm/deVita-Unathorized-Special-edition-12-20-signed-w-original-art-by-Thom-deVita-/120975891080?pt=Antiquarian_Collectible&hash=item1c2ab99a88&nma=true&si=qVJajIRhtYG%2F3lq4NW26gYncVo0%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

for $300.

Chillin' at the Roast of Gill Montie



Gill "The Drill" Montie



The old timers, playing nice (ish)

Gill "The Drill" Montie Gets Roasted in Cleveland

by Mary D'Aloisio



Tough guys and tuff tattoos

Gill Montie had reason to sweat under his fedora  at the roast thrown after  the Cleveland Rocks Tattoo Convention Memorial Day weekend. Gill Montie's history in tattooing stretches back through the decades of tough tattooing and fast living and has earned both the title of someone you don't want to cross as much as  man to be respected and revered.    Lining up to smack him down were some of the heaviest hitters in tattooing--a laundry list of tough guy charm and old timer cynicism who love Gill Montie enough to poke some fun at his expense. Roastmaster Lyle Tuttle rocked his legendary gold roasting vest and sharpened his tongue on a glass of grapefruit juice and tequila with a room full of people sweating their brains out to have a good time with the kings of good time.

Last meal before the roast

 On stage, the lineup of folks assembled resembled a tattoo family portrait of the last supper.  Lyle Tuttle led roasters and friends Crazy Philadelphia Eddie, Eric Foemmel, Marshall Bennett, Edward Lee,  Tyler Fyre, Bob Tyrrell, and host John Artist through one of the hands down hottest roasts in tattoo  history. The introductions were made and drinks were delivered, and Lyle Tuttle sat the man of the evening on his right hand side. 

"He was just bragging to me in the bar, he just earned his white wings. Use your imagination folks." chidded Tuttle, and announced the Detroit Stadium would be holding a gathering of Gill Montie's ex-wives next year.



Eric kept a good eye on Eddie; no one was shot.

Crazy Philadelphia Eddie  double fisted his drinks and unloaded his pistol of wit frequently, at one point added "Nothin's changed Lyle Tuttle's still fucking things up."

"Gill learned about his sex through trial and error. In fact one of his trials is still going and for one of his 'heirs'." roasted Tuttle.



Roast Master Lyle Tuttle

The evening got off to a rough start for the venue, and the air conditioning's non-existence didn't help  the chaos and the microphones needed adjusting. Once the technical difficulties were somewhat overcome, the roasting began with  side show sensation sword swallower and fire breather Tyler Fyre.

 Fyre started the roast off with a lovely story of a night in Texas with Gill-- the details are a bit graphic but the punchline "I know what you mean kid, I'm sore too-- I lost that hot dog five bars ago." will go down in history as the dirtiest story ever told.  "I love this guy--always have, always will." said Fyre "He's an all around great guy, he is the tattooed pirate, Mr.Tattoo Mania, he is a legend."



"I lost that hot dog 4 bars ago!"

Edward Lee contributed his take "I love Gill's work. I've loved it for a long time, I studied his skulls extensively. Then I realized they were anatomically incorrect. Yeah, the eyes are incorrect, they're bulging. Turns out they're looking at a girl.  I actually like this guy, when he's not being a big asshole." 

Marshall Bennett made his short and sweet "It smells like a nursing home in here"



"Nothin's changed Lyle Tuttle's still fucking things up" Eddie

"But I'll get right to Gill.  I've known about him forever, I heard all about his legend, and I finally got to meet him and... man what a letdown. " he laughed. "Seriously though, I've got mad respect for you, thank you."



Want some, get some.

Writer Eric Foemmel went next, and being Gill Montie's as well as Philadelphia Eddie's ghost writer, "People always ask what it's like working with Gill, I say yeah, it's bad ass.  I mean look up the definition of bad ass and it isn't Gill's picture--it's his mug shot." chuckled Foemmel."I've been writing his book, and I have to show him everything I do and he  says 'No you gotta take that out, that's a little sensitive' 'Nope that'll incriminate me.' 'Take out that picture, that's gonna start a war'  -- I mean when we go to print that book is gonna be one page, but it will be a bestseller."



Double fisted?

Host John Artist got up and presented the Cleveland Rocks plaque for best overall female as well as plaque commemorating the roast to Gill Montie on behalf of the Cleveland Rocks convention and his partner Joseph Phillips. "I gotta be careful with Gill though, cuz he held me in his room for three hours with a pistol to my head telling me what I could and couldn't say."  Half-tossed and gushing with love for Gill, Artist passed the mic to Detroit legend and long-time friend BobTyrrell.

"He just earned his white wings. Use your imagination folks" Lyle on Eddie



Black and grey master and fellow Detroit tattooer Bob Tyrrell said "There's no girls here so I'm stuck with Gill this weekend. Gill you're my hero, Lyle, you're my hero too, I have to fucking say that. " Tyrrell made fun of the hand tattoo Gill put on his right hand and the ensuing scabs and Gill's high pitched pimp voice and then admitted how fond of the piece he is "It's one of the my favorite tattoos, I'm proud to have this. I love you and you're my hero. You're one of my favorite people and I fucking love you"



Handsome devil, Crazy Philadelphia Eddie

Marshall Bennett

The roasters wore Gill's hat and passed it likes jokes about herpes.  The crowd interjected an clapped as the night drew to a close. Gill got the last word on his roasters with  heartfelt gratitude  "Thank you so much.  Just to be a part of this world, to be recognized by all of this is pretty special to me."  said Gill Montie. "How lucky can we be to have all this in our lives, right? What a fine bunch of men, I'm very humbled. Thank you  guys."



Philadelphia Eddie and BobTyrell

Dreams do come true... PMA with Miss Mary-Leigh!

My first national cover; thank you  Miss Mary-Leigh andTattoo Savage Magazine! 

 

Nick Bubash: Hand to Gods

I met artist Nick Bubash in his Pittsburgh home earlier this year, and I was shaking in my boots nervous.  The man is the real deal, he performs and executes artistic endeavors with a passion that is intimidating to stand next to. Yet the opportunity presented itself, and I leapt at the opportunity.

How much do you know about his story? It's really rather interesting. He's been tattooing since the 70's (via Thom deVita on 4th St, then McKee's Rocks in Pittsburgh); he overcame some difficulties, and now works prolifically producing piece after piece of awe-inspiring art.

Bubash has the most amazingly diverse portfolio of sculpture, tattoo, and print-- and kicks ass in general. The book he made with deVita, Hardy and others "deVita Unauthorized" is being mass produced as we speak by Hardy Marks (it will be out in May, mass distributed early 2013) and he has a Warhol Museum show coming up... but even without the new stuff, dude's work is in LOU fucking Reed's private collection--and a million other places around the globe.  His resume goes back to before the tattoo-art changing Ed Hardy show  Eye Tattooed America in '93, and has been inspiring tattooers as artists all along the way.

Thom deVita said he was in the first school of tattooers from art school:

"Him and Ed Hardy. They influenced a whole generation of tattooers who can draw and he's never been mentioned in the magazines." said deVita on a 'inter-visit' I had with him one morning. 

And, the dude is animated, he talks with his hands, tells the worst jokes, and the best stories.

"What do you call an Italian with one arm?" he asks at the beginning of our interview.  "A speech impediment."

After completing a two hour interview (8,000 +  words, phew!)  I came to see a more well-rounded, funny, and sensitive man and gained a candid insight into his intimidating genius as an artist.  I loved his work, and now I love him as a friend.

The Skin&Ink feature I wrote on him will be out next month. Viva la Bubash!

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