Ed Hardy’s book Wear Your Dreams might have been published in attempt to get the
public interested in his work again, but ultimately, what I enjoyed the most
was the stories we got of Sailor Jerry. The stories really came through as a
way to show the audience who Sailor Jerry was and how Ed Hardy learned from
him.
The chapter dedicated to Sailor Jerry
gave the readers a glimpse of who Sailor Jerry was and the importance of his
existence in Ed Hardy’s work. Sailor Jerry is truly remarkable. I especially
like the line “He figured out how to do theses things like a jigsaw puzzle.”
It’s like he was born to tattoo and innovate the field. His humor is
astonishing, “Jerry kept a pet chimpanzee named Romeo in the shop. He
ingeniously tattooed AL on one side of the chimp’s ass and HA on the other
cheek. He taught him to bend over and look through his legs, rewarding the
viewer with ALOHA.” I would never have thought to do something like that but
Sailor Jerry did, showing his comicality and out of the box thinking. He really
played around with the art to create his own set of design and trademarks. To
find out that he never went past fifth grade in school was surprising because
he would keep correspondent with people all over the world, as the author puts
it, “trading information, sharing designs, acting as a conduit of information
between a loose network of tattooers from around the world.” Not many people
have the will power to do all those things, but his passion for tattoo really
pushed him through.
Wear
Your Dreams obviously
wasn’t just about Sailor Jerry and his work in the tattoo world, the book
written about Ed Hardy also showcase the tattooing side of Ed Hardy that not
many people are aware of, because for one, he is mostly known by his clothing
and fragrances line, and second, tattooers don’t really like him because they
believe he is a sell-out. In his earlier years, he was really set on the path
of tattoo. The book notes that at one point in time he could do fifteen
tattoos, or even more, in a four-hour night shift. It was evident back then
that he had skills, especially when he dared to be inventive and used the
purple dye that Sailor Jerry had provided.
People have suggested that this book was
written to help elevate once again Ed Hardy’s popularity because in recent
years, it has plummeted. Others believe that it was his way of saying to the
world “I’m not a sell out.” Reasons are still unknown. It can only be
speculated and if anyone were to ask me, I will say, “I don’t know.” Only Ed
Hardy knows the true reason behind his decision of having someone write about
his life and publish it. I truly want to believe that he did it so that people
can learn more about the major contributor to the tattoo world, Sailor Jerry.
His work and dedication deserves to be recognize and applauded.
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