Random Badass Encounter #1 (Vancouver edition)

This post is in celebration of serendipitously encountering badassness. After a strong, productive week of work, I was walking back to the Wedgewood Hotel in Vancouver. Along the way, I saw a henna artist at work, having a lively discussion in Japanese with his client. I took the time to examine his photo portfolio, and got his calling card. Isamu Fukumoto is his name. Had a dragon on my mind (apropo, it is the year of the Dragon), and was wondering what Isamu could accomplish.


Mayui was kind enough to call him, and figure out a time and place to meet, as well as explain what I had in mind. Also enlisted her help in finding some cool designs, because she has a great eye. Isamu graciously offered to meet us in the hotel the next morning.

Picked Isamu up from the lobby. His thumb was stained from henna, and he was carrying a large, backpacker-style blue bag. Showed him into our room, introduced Mayui, and started talking about what we wanted to do. We both shared the same view as to what kind of dragon looked best, and after some discussion, we came to a conclusion about how best to position it on the arm.

The entire process took almost 2 hours, but the results were stunning. The intricacy and size of the design far surpassed any henna tattoo I've gotten in the past (or seen for that matter). Mayui and I were both blown away by it. On top of it, I had the pleasure of discovering that Isamu's parents are originally from Taiwan, and he can speak Mandarin. How cool is that?

I'll leave it to the readers to assess the badassness of the tattoo. I was certainly pleased. If you're stopping by Vancouver this summer, and are looking for a dose of Random Badassness via a henna tattoo, I encourage you to check out Isamu (1365Henna on Facebook) and tell him you want a dragon.