Jonathan Infuses Ink, Dyes and Pigments into Human Skin

In recent years, tattooing has become more mainstream and tattoo parlors have sprung up around the world, but despite its pirate history Roatan has been late to the party. Mandy, or Miguel Armando Paredes began tattooing on Utila in 1988 and would occasionally come to Roatan to work. Scarlet Lopez, or “La Gata”, has been tattooing in Coxen Hole since 2002. More recently, Jonathan Orellana, 33, who was born in La Ceiba, but moved to the States at 11 to join his mother in Indianapolis, Indiana joined the ranks of Roatan tattoo artists. “The only reason I took [school] art [class] is because I didn’t know how to speak English,” said Jonathan. He got better at drawing and painting and began tattooing during his high school years in Indiana. “It started as like a joke. We decided to tattoo each other, the four of us, and I did better than all of us,” said Jonathan. “We made a homemade tattoo machine with a guitar string and an engine made out of a fan.”He shows off the first tattoo he received on top of his left hand: the word NACO. “It’s the initials of my grandfather,” says Jonathan.

On the urging of a Salvadoran friend and fellow tattoo artist, William Jueso, who traveled to Roatan regularly, Jonathan eventually moved to Roatan and began tattooing again. He began working at Roatan Ink, in the middle of West End, in 2015. The shop was started by Jo French, an English tattoo artist, and Jonathan took it over in 2017. “It’s not a steady work like in the States. I work maybe once-a-day. Some days I get crazy: four, five clients in a day,” says Jonathan.

In Honduras, 95 percent of tattoos are gang and prison made tattoos. “On the coast is more dangerous to be tattooed up,” says Jonathan, “but it’s getting better.” Those tattoos are meant to identify the individual’s gang affiliation and their standing within the organization, and to keep a record of the violent acts they have committed in the name of the gang. “We don’t have mareros here [on Roatan] and if we do, they stay in hiding,” says Jonathan. In fact, Honduran mareros, trying to stay off the radar, are switching to smaller identifying tattoos on fingers and inside their lips. Meanwhile, the tattoo for the “regular folks” had become more acceptable.

Body modification in general is finding a growing following among islanders. It’s become a status symbol for some. “Tattoos are luxury, like a car. You want to buy a quality car that will do you good,” says Jonathan. Unlike their pirate and gang predecessors, these tattoos are purely decorative, symbolic, and pictorial and Jonathan does them all. He especially enjoys inking bigger pieces. “Dots, geometrical, realistic, I go with it. I do any tattoo, any style. If there is a client and he wants a certain type of tattoo and you won’t do it that’s a lost client,” says Jonathan.

Jonathan has aquatic themes, mermaids, and Freemason all-seeing-eye tattoo designs hanging on the wall and ready to be placed on skin. Some clients come into Jonathan’s tattoo parlor for help with a failed tattoo or to correct a tattoo applied as result of spur-of-the-moment, snap decisions. Improving upon those mistakes through the design and inking of what are referred to as a “cover-up” tattoo is also a challenge that Jonathan enjoys. “Some people come to do a cover-up. A tattoo that covers something that a bad tattoo artist had made,” said Jonathan. “It’s hard to do a cover up and make it look good.”

“Certain artists work slow, they take their time. I don’t. I concentrate, I want to get this done, I do. Quick. That’s the way I work so I charge by the piece,” says Jonathan. “It’s all about the details, colors,” says Jonathan, who uses Mom’s Ink brand made of pure, homogenized pigments. “Sometime I go with my tattoo machine and I hit the line and I don’t see anything. I hit it again, I wipe it out and you can barely see it,” says Jonathan. “All skin is different.” A good tattoo artist merges great design with excellent technique, and an ability to adapt to each individual client.

Lisandro and Luis De La Rosa tunes guitars at Trico Marina.

An Argentinean Musician Finds His Perfect Island

“Rock is my musical identity, but I mix in Latin rhythms,” says Lisandro about his music. “The worst music style I have ever known, and I cannot imagine this music as music… it’s so popular… Reggaeton.” He loves playing Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” and his own songs. One of his favorite original compositions is “Latinoamericano”, a song with rock-Latin beat punctuated by the unmistakable Latin sound of congas.

“Latinoamericano” is the lead track on Cabrera’s second album, also called Latinoamericano. It features salsa, cumbia, Bossa Nova, reggae, and an eclectic rock influence and the lyrics discuss the continent’s troubles and it’s glories.

…De chiquito yo viví guacho y desconfiado Mirando al hombre blanco como el que me hizo su esclavo De San Juan a Nueva York hay una raza de dolor Que sabe lo que es ser latinoamericano.

Yo crecí en el guetto de al lado Mandibuleando espantos entre tripa, birra y faso De Tijuana a Puerto Montt Hay una voz que suena al son Y baila este ritmo Latinoamericano…

Lisandro’s traveling adventure brought him to Roatan in 2012. “I like to live near nature,” said the singer while adding hot water to his maté, a caffeinated Argentinean drink. His arrival was well timed as he joined forces with Dave Barons, drummer for the West Bay Players, a well established Roatan band. “Roatan is one of the best places in the world to be a performing artist,” says Lisandro. “There are people from all over the world here and they appreciate the music that I like to play.”Roatan also gave him an opportunity to learn from some great musicians. “I got to play with Credence Clearwater’s bass player,” said Lisandro speaking about Stu Cook, who has a house on Roatan. His new island home has also offered Cabrera a new performance opportunity. He has been cast as one of the principal characters in “Sunny Place for Shady People”, a musical created by Roatan ex-pats Scott Hynes and Keith Miller on stage at Sol y Mar Beach Club in Sandy Bay. Lisandro plays Smiles, an expat who experiences adventure as a fresh arrival to Roatan.

Lisandro Cabrera can be heard playing regularly at Sundowners with fellow artist Luis de la Rosa, at CocoView, and at Lands End.

Jennifer Irias works with prints of her childhood photos at her Sandy bay studio.

A Tegucigalpa Artists Moves to the Island

When Jennifer moved to Utila in 2016, her paintings became a bit more geometric and much more abstract. Other canvases were quite realistic and portrayed people that she came upon in her life. “Captain O’Keef, he was such a character,” Jennifer recalls, about the American she painted on Utila. Captain O’Keef is painted in realistic style smoking a cigar… with acrylic, sharpie and epoxy resin. “It’s easy to follow trends, but much more difficult to make something that is timeless,” she says. “Art has to be an escape. It needs to evoke good vibes”.

It’s easy to follow trends, but much more difficult to make something that is timeless

In 2017 Jennifer left Utila to establish her home on Roatan. The island has been a home to several self-taught painters, but Jennifer came to Roatan having studied art in Tegucigalpa for a decade-and-a-half. At 12 she was not only studying painting, but already teaching art to younger students.

Her parents couldn’t pay for Jennifer’s lessons, so in return for lessons and art supplies little she would teach basic art skills to children half her age. This is how she spent the time studying and practicing art at the Estudio Carolina Carias in Tegucigalpa. “It’s not so common for parents to support their kids in what you want to do,” remembers Jen. Parental guidance was an important part in Jen’s upbringing. “Please don’t study art because you wont be able to be making a living,” she remembers her mother saying. So Jennifer ended up studying Civil Engineering at UNITEC in Tegucigalpa and graduated with an engineering degree. Her first out-of-school job was in civil engineering, but she found it boring and continued to paint.

Jen spray paints a wooden frame for her mixed media object.

In 2012 Jennifer had her first works show in an exhibition called “Horizontes.” Waves of Art Gallery also featured her paintings in exposition called “Awake.” In June of this year, the Proimi furniture store in Sandy Bay hosted a “Pop-up art gallery” exhibition of her paintings. Her work has a beautiful symmetry to it and often integrates avian themes. “I just love symmetry,” says Jennifer who is also an avid birdwatcher. Jennifer doesn’t just stick to one type of media: she uses acrylics, sharpies, and resin. On Roatan she began experimenting with gold, silver and copper leaf. One media Jennifer doesn’t work with is oils. “I don’t like the smell,” she says. Her mixed media pallet even included a “Hibiscus bus” a project where she painted a bluebird bus that now takes tourists on tours all over the island. “Try to make art that, in 50 years, you wouldn’t know how old it is. In other words: make timeless pieces,” says Jennifer.

Jennifer also continues to educate aspiring artists. She gives classes at her home studio in Sandy Bay to students 3 to 18 years of age.

Eddie Pinnace at his workshop.

Local Artist Creates Art from Cow Horns and Wood

He is 5’-8” tall and wears thick framed glasses. A cap covers his gray hair. His quiet demeanor and measured gait, consistent with his physical appearance, hide the true depth of this inspiring artist. For years, Eddie has been creating unique sculptures with any workable material available including: cow horns, wood and plastic. One of his latest creations is a shark made of cow horns, which he proudly describes, “This one was a little difficult to create. I had to cut two different horns and put them together to get this one,” Eddie says. “This is an island, so I create things from the sea.”

Eddie’s fascination with woodworking begun by chance at the age of 23. While employed on a tanker ship in the Philippines, Eddie watched a man carve a fish out of wood using only a hatchet. He then decided that it was the kind of work he wanted to do.

Once he was back on Roatan, Eddie started creating his own works of art. “My first piece was a shark,” he says. “I sold it to a tourist at a local resort back in ‘73.” Eddie pauses and looks into the sky as if trying to see beyond the clouds. “No! This was in ‘63. I was very young back then.”

To make ends meet, while working at perfecting his craft, Eddie took time off to work as a waiter on a cruise ship and later return to what he really loves. “I loved doing this. I keep working on it and I got pretty good at it.”

Eddie works sitting on an old white plastic chair in his makeshift studio situated below the building that houses his small living quarters and warehouses his completed pieces.

The Sandy Bay native skillfully carves at what will be a pirate ship made of cow horns and wood. His tools are simple: a machete, a small hand saw, a jars of glue, a hammer, sand paper and a sander.

Once completed, the pirate ship, like most of his work, will be sold on one of Roatan’s beaches. “Most of my work is sold on West Bay beach” he said. “My best sales are on Good Friday, when there are more visitors on the island,” says Eddie. “I love doing this and would continue even if I had a million dollars.”

Eddie works on his pieces during days when there are no cruise ships in port and spends cruise ship days showing his work to tourists. His passion allows him to make a living and be independent. “I set my own hours and work as long as I want. I like not having someone tells me when to start working and when to stop,” says Eddie.