I REMEMBER DRAWING MY FIRST RAT IN NAGOYA AT SABADO'S ECCENTRIC TATTOO SHOP WHERE I WAS WORKING AS A GUEST TATTOOIST FOR A FEW WEEKS. ONE NIGHT AFTER CLOSING THE SHOP ME,SABADO,HAN AND HORITOMO STARTED A LATE NIGHT DRAWING SESSION...THE IDEA WAS FOR EACH ONE OF US TO DRAW A RAT IN HIS OWN STYLE AND HAVE THE DESIGNS ON A SINGLE SHEET OF FLASH TO BE HANGED ON THE STUDIO'S WALL...THAT SESSION HAPPENED EXACTLY 12 YEARS AGO AND OF COURSE IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR OF THE RAT. THE CHINESE ZODIAC HAS COMPLETED IT'S FULL CYCLE SINCE THAT NIGHT IN 1996 AS I WAS TAKING MY FIRST STEPS ON MY PATH AS A TATTOOIST. FOR THE PAST 12 YEARS IT HAS BECOME A RITUAL OF MINE TO WELCOME AND HONOR THE NEW YEAR BY DRAWING IT'S CORRESPONDING ANIMAL. TODAY THE 4075 th CHINESE YEAR STARTS AND IT'S THE RAT'S TURN ONCE AGAIN. THE FIRST FLASHES OF A VERY BLURRED YET UNMISTAKABLE IMAGE OF A RAT STARTED AROUND SEPTEMBER LAST YEAR AND SINCE THEN UNTIL THE DAY I SAT IN FRONT OF A SPOTLESS SHEET OF WHITE PAPER HOLDING MY PENCIL NOT ONE DAY PASSED WITHOUT ME THINKING ABOUT THIS DESIGN. THE DAY WAS JANUARY 3rd 2008...I WAS IN THE AMAZON FOREST STAYING AT THE ONLY HOTEL IN THE TOWN OF SÃO GABRIEL DA CACHOEIRA...THE RAIN STARTED THAT MORNING AND DIDN'T STOP FOR THE NEXT FOUR DAYS...DURING THAT TIME I WAS DRAWING. ON OUR JOURNEY BACK TO MANAUS MY FRIEND MAKÁ ASKED ME IF THE BOAT SANK AND I COULD CHOOSE TO SAVE ONLY ONE OBJECT FROM MY BELONGINGS WHAT WOULD IT BE , I DIDN'T THINK TWICE BEFORE ANSWERING: -MY RAT.....

by COREY WEIR(L.U.Z.)