Joy writes,

I’ve enclosed a few photos of a piece I did on Jeff Rondina a couple days ago. This is the beginning of a rib panel. We were calling this a “self-portrait” of jeff. It is a combination of the eyeball monster featured briefly in “Bride of the Re-Animator” and Jeff’s own hand — the features of the original monster have been altered with the tattoos on jeffs fingers, his eye color, and his amputated middle finger.

He was in an accident at work a couple years ago. Due to the accident and the many subsequent surgical and physically therapeutic alterations made to his hand (all very painful and frustrating), his finger was eventually amputated. This wasn’t an elective amputation in the sense that is often used on BME. I know that many people commented on how “cool” it was that he had his finger amputated without even thinking that it may have been something he didn’t want to have done, but rather the lesser of the evils presented to him as a long-term option.

He’s obviously doing much better now and is getting on with his life as the lawsuit bullshit comes to a close with his former employers. I just find it interesting and amazing how he’s taken something that was a horrible accident, toughed through it, has accepted it, laughed at it, and immortalized the transformation on himself permanently.

I’m not sure why a couple of metalheads who choose these particular matching buddy tattoos, but Alex says did these on a couple of his metalhead friends… I’m sure there’s an in-joke I’m missing. But hey, I do love magic as well.