Jay-toberfest!

So, this is the 3rd attempt I've made at writing this feature...I first started it on Friday afternoon before some friends were coming over for some grilling and beer. Things (for this blog entry, at least) went downhill from there. We ended up having a little Oktoberfest - lots of dark beer and plenty of sausage grilled over an open fire! By the time the night was over, I wasn't really in any condition to blog, so I planned on finishing this on Saturday. Saturday rolled around, we did a nice 12 mile bike ride and then decided to have Oktoberfest, part 2 - more dark beer, plus TWO kinds of sausage this time (and some other assorted grillin's - that's the spread from Oktoberfest night 2 in the photo to the left).

Anyhoo, no Oktoberfest part 3 today - we need a break! But, that doesn't mean we can't have a t-shirt Oktoberfest, right?

It's been a bit since I've featured designs from a our cool German friend, Jay, from Van Tribe. So here's five shirt designs by Jay - a little something I'm calling, "Jay-toberfest"!

Triple Skull & Lucky Skull
I know I've touted Tat2ts as the Master of skulls, but he and Jay are both heavily into the skull genre (actually, they do designs for each others shops occasionally). Jay's got quite a nice collection of skull designs including the tribal reminiscent Triple Skull and the Lucky Skull: skull + lucky clovers = great, unique idea (not to mention the dropping leaf - a beautiful touch).


Fist of Love & Hate
Jay has a really great graphic style that carries through all of his work, whether it be tattoo, tribal or even /graphic slogan based. One of my favorite non-tribal/tattoo related designs from Jay is his Fist of Love and Hate design. The design is so simple and clean, but the graphic itself and the message are so powerful!



Breeding Demon
A number of Jay's designs are tribal inspired (or mixed with tribal elements). I really like his Breeding Demon design because, frankly, it's quite clever.


Twinkling Dead Flower
Yes...he even does flowers - Jay's got something for everyone. Of course, it's with his own personal touch, twisting tattoo and tribal elements into one sweet, unique design. The dead flower concept is morbid enough for men, yet feminine enough for the ladies (and it's featured on Spreadshirt's brand new unisex tie-dye).

Grab these shirts today in the guest designs section at the Insan Art Store, or check out Van Tribe to see more great designs from Jay and others...