2026 is here…

Being born in 1983, this already sounds very futuristic to me... and it is, when you think about the fact that I'm writing this using Claude, a robot basically, to help me with my English. Did we want all of this? Did we actually need it? Does it help us? And is the result 100% ours?

These are questions I ask myself constantly, even as I contradict myself with my actions. I say all this, and yet I use them every day... designing on my iPad, consuming through my phone, talking to ChatGPT when I drive. We've become so dependent on these tools that we don't even notice anymore. They're just there, humming in the background of our lives, making things easier, faster, more efficient.

But my love for the craft of tattooing, something that can never go digital, keeps me grounded. The needle, the ink, the skin. This is real, tangible, ours. And after a year of living with this tension between the digital and the analog, I believe this battle has a winner.

The Year Everything Changed

Before I reveal my thoughts on where we're headed, let me give you some personal checkmarks that happened in 2025. Milestones that helped me focus even more, that cleared the fog and brought me back to what matters.

In the first days of the year, I bought my dream house in Smithtown. This wasn't just about owning property or checking off some life goal. It was about planting roots, about having a place that's mine, where I can build something permanent. And because of this, I moved my personal studio just 5 minutes away to St. James. Having my own space again, a sanctuary where I can work without distractions, changed everything.

Then in May, I joined the best studio in NYC, Monolith in Brooklyn. If you know, you know. Being surrounded by artists who push themselves every single day, who care about the craft as much as I do, elevated my work in ways I didn't expect. The energy there is different. The standards are higher. And I needed that.

And then, at the end of the year, we found out that my wife is pregnant.

This changed everything. Suddenly, everything I do has more weight, more purpose. I'm not just creating for myself anymore. I'm building a legacy. I'm showing my future child what it means to dedicate yourself to something, to pursue mastery, to never stop learning.

I'll elaborate more on each of these three big pillars in later blog entries, but they are the reason my mind cleared. They gave me the space to think again about the progress of my craft, to ask myself where I'm going and what I want to leave behind.

Becoming a Student Again

And here's what I realized: there's only one way forward. I have to become a student again.

I had to start a grand project. This is what happened back in 2010 when I was studying Buddhism, immersing myself in the philosophy, the symbolism, the geometry of it all. That deep dive led me in 2013 to create the Solstice Mandala book, a body of work that defined my career all the way to now. People still reference that book when they talk about my work. It became the foundation of everything I've built.

I needed something like this again. Not a repeat, but a new chapter. A new obsession.

And what inspires me most now, what I feel characterizes me more than anything, is discipline and the everyday fight to perfect my craft. Not talent. Not inspiration. Discipline. The kind of discipline that wakes you up before dawn. The kind that makes you practice the same line a thousand times until it's perfect. The kind that says, "I don't care how I feel today, I'm showing up."

Like a Samurai preparing for battle. Like a Spartan training in the agoge. This art of repetition, the focus, the code that the ancient warriors lived by. This is what I'm drawn to now. This is what I want to embody in my work and in my life.

The Warrior Project

So here's what I'm doing: I'm creating a body of work studying and creating art around history's biggest warriors. The Samurai. The Spartans. The Vikings. The Mongols. Warriors who lived by codes, who dedicated their entire existence to mastering their craft, who understood that discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.

This is going to be my new life project, and I am very happy to share it with you all. Very soon I'll make videos and share with you more about the project itself: the research, the process, the designs, but also my progress along the way. I want you to see the journey, not just the destination.

It will be long. Maybe more than 10 years. Maybe longer. It doesn't matter. In fact, I'm glad. The best things take time. Mastery isn't a destination, it's a lifelong pursuit. And I'm ready for it.

We start with the Samurai.

Happy 2026!

Thank you for being here!