Tattoosday (A Tattoo Blog)

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Dispatch from the 16th Annual NYC Tattoo Convention, Part 2

The second day of the 2013 New York City Tattoo Convention flew by in a blur of images, fueled by the unlimited supply of free Rockstar energy drinks.

So Many Energy Drinks, So Little Time

What follows are some of the highlights, for me.

Hanging out at the Sacred Tattoo booth, I chatted at great length with Adam France, who tattoos out of Red Tree Tattoo Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. Adam was tattooing earlier in the week out of Sacred, in a guest spot, and was soaking in the atmosphere of the show. Aside from appearing in a recent episode of America's Worst Tattoos (in which he covers up something bad with something amazing), Adam is part of the organization that hosts the Hell City Tattoo Convention.

Here is the cover-up that Adam completed on the Worst Tattoos show:

Adam is a third-generation tattooer, whose father and grandfather also worked in the business, albeit in much different times.

As a disagreement between some a couple of female convention-goers broke out nearby, we laughed at the 21st century novelty of everyone's instinct not to intervene, but to document, as camera phones popped up like prairie dogs in the vicinity, trying to capture a whole lot of nothing, while convention security quickly diffused the situation.

Such activity was very minimal and high spirits abounded.

One of the first booths you see when you come in to Roseland is that of Brent McCown, of New Zealand.

He always has a crowd about, watching him tattoo in a traditional tapping style:

Close up, it's amazing to see...

Before the tattoo judging was held, there was a lot of activity up on stage, which included a lot of sideshow activities, like a woman dancing with a large albino boa snake

and this young lady, who had the crowd transfixed:

In case you couldn't tell, this performer is suspended and swing from hooks in her thighs and back. Ouch!

What is so often lost in these events, is that you can really invest time in watching talented artists at work. Of course, in the real world, tattooists don't have the luxury of editors to abbreviate their performances for the viewing audience. So, it is great to come back and see your own time-lapse version of a tattoo's transformation over the course of a day or, is some cases, years.

Take, for example, one of my favorite highlights from last year's convention - watching New York City's own "Bad News Becca" Roach at work on her client Kate. This was Becca in action last year:

I got a chance to say hi to Becca and then got a hug from Kate when we ran into each other later on. Kate has a back tattoo that was featured here last year on Tattoosday. Yesterday, Becca had moved to filling in the top of Kate's back:

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Can't wait to see the final product! Bad News Becca tattoos out of North Star Tattoo in Manhattan.

Of course, one of the things I love to do is to interview people about their work, and there will be no shortage of convention profiles in the week to come. I captured a lovely back piece by Dutch artist Leslie Reesen, who works out of Mad Science Tattoo in The Hague, Netherlands, and was honored to interview a collector of body art by the mind-blowing Bugs, out of Los Angeles. Here's a taste:

I'll end on that stunning note and remind everyone that today is the final day of the NYC Convention, and Roseland is open from 12 Noon to 8 PM. It's a rainy day here in the Big Apple, so what better way to spend it than heading indoors and seeing some amazing tattoo work!

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Dispatch from the 16th Annual NYC Tattoo Convention - Day 1

There's just something about the NYC Tattoo Convention that makes me smile.

For the last five years I have attended and, despite the fact that a large majority of the booths are occupied by many of the same companies, there are always new changes and a grungy intimacy that make me happy I attended.

I'm normally a "Saturday only" attendee, but I thought I'd give it an early go, and check it out Friday evening when things were just getting started. I still plan on spending a larger chunk of time there today, but I still wanted to get the lay of the land.

No fancy convention center here, the Roseland Ballroom is a storied venue and its "lived-in" feeling contributes immensely to the intimacy of the event. As always, Saturday's contests are a highlight of the show.

There are trophies to be won!

I was very excited to see the latest incarnation of the Jack Rudy-designed show tee, in both gray and white:

Not to mention that this year, the convention is a stop on the Inked Up World Tour, co-sponsored by Inked Up, Rockstar Energy Drinks and the Sullen Art Collective. There's a booth on the main floor where you vote interactively with a heavily-decorated model vying for "Miss Inked Up 2013" on which artist designed the best can for Rockstar Energy Drinks (I chose Nikko Hurtado's design), after which you get to spin their prize wheel.

I got lucky and won a t-shirt!

Front of the shirt

And the back:

I swung by a whole slew of booths and will be back today to spend more time with the convention-goers.

Of note, I met a nice woman at the booth of Independent Tattoo, who now has me thinking about getting a crab tattoo. And it was great reconnecting with Kevin from Sacred Tattoo and catching up.

There is plenty to see, and I have only begun to covet my neighbor's tattoos! If there's anything that will give you a sense of ink envy, it's attending a show where the majority of the people are so dedicated to decorating the skin of others, or filling up their own personal canvases.

Of course, for me, it is also about finding great people to interview for upcoming installments of Tattoosday.

Here's one photo I took which will be part of an upcoming feature:

This PHENOMENAL piece belongs to Hannah, and was created by the amazingly-talented Shawn Barber. I will devote a separate post to this in the coming week, but talking with Hannah, and having her so generously share work from a talent like Barber, was just one of the reasons I left Roseland last night with a huge grin on my face.

There may be bigger and brighter conventions, but the New York City Convention will always hold a place in my heart.

I will be there today, as well, and will be posting on Facebook and Twitter (@Tattoosday). Doors open at 12 Noon and close at Midnight. The show also runs Sunday, May 19, from Noon to 8:00 PM.

Thanks again to the organizers of the NYC show for always doing such a great job in putting together the event!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Dave Shares A Davy Jones Tattoo

I met Dave recently in a department store at the Manhattan Mall. His forearm tattoo jumped out at me and I just had to ask about it:

"I'm going with a nautical theme on my arm," he explained, and this depiction of the fictional sea captain Davy Jones anchors what is sure to be an awesome sleeve of the high seas.

This excellent work was done by Steve Woisin at Studio 520 in Oakdale, New York, out on Long Island.
We have previously featured this amazing work by Steve three years ago on the site.

Thanks to Dave for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Tattoosday At the New York City Tattoo Convention, 2013 Edition (Preview)

Well, it's that time of the year again!

It may not be the biggest, but it's OURS, and I've never had a bad time there.

This will be my fifth consecutive year attending and I'm never disappointed by the variety of artists and the sheer entertainment of the event.

And I've always seen some amazing work, like this piece by David Sena, in 2012:

This piece by Echo in 2011:

This uncredited piece in 2011:

And this amazing work by Ian Shafer at Screamin' Ink:

You can see all convention-related posts under this tag.

All convention details can be found on their website here. Or their Facebook page here.

Stay tuned this weekend for more coverage from the show!

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Contest Updates!

Congratulations to our reader Amy, who won the Brooklyn Tattoo contest!

Amy gets this cool tee from Brooklyn Tattoo:

You can check out all the shop merchandise here

.And, remember, we are giving away copies of Phil Padwe's Mommy Has a Tattoo and Tattoo Coloring Book #2.

You have until Thursday to enter by leaving a comment on the original post here, or on the Tattoosday Facebook page (here), or by e-mailing tattoosdaycontests@gmail.com.

Monday, May 13, 2013

The Tattooed Poets Project: Kimberly Escamilla

We here at Tattoosday had already decided to continue the Tattooed Poets Project in the "off" months (that is, from May through March, when it was not National Poetry Month), when I received a message from Kimberly Escamilla asking what had happened to the contribution she had submitted back in January.

I slapped palm to forehead when I realized, I had lost someone in the shuffle. The continuation of the Tattooed Poets Project was a perfect chance for redemption.

Kimberly is no stranger to Tattoosday, having participated in the Tattooed Poets Project back in 2011 (here), when she had a different last name. She was kind enough to reach out to me to share again and, also, kind enough to forgive me for overlooking her contribution. So, without further delay, here is the photo she sent along:

She noted that this tattoo was "not full of fun colors" like her others, but that it was "way more meaningful" to her. She elaborated:

"We lost our daughter Sophia to Trisomy 18. We chose to induce as the disease is most often fatal in the first few months of life. I wrote an article about it here at the Huffington Post. We decided to get tattoos to honor her, and we learned that Mary Joy is open to using the remains of a loved one in the ink. Since Sophia is a Greek name, we decided to have the whole thing done in ancient Greek lettering--It's just her first name and the date we induced April 4, 2012. Mary Joy was able to do the tattoo on August 11, 2012, the day before Sophia was supposed to be born."

I do recommend clicking through on Kimberly's link to the Huffington Post article in the paragraph above. It is a brave and wrenching account of losing a child.

The artist Mary Joy, who is referenced above, is Mary Joy Scott, who works out of Ed Hardy's Tattoo City in San Francisco.

Kimberly sent us the accompanying poem, as well:

Wisdom at Sweeties

The neighborhood bar in North Beach is barren
except for one clutch of retired Italians whose late
lunch has blurred into an evening of beer and gossip.

I know what my husband is going to order before we claim our stools,
before we leave the tattoo shop and walk the three blocks,
before Mary Joy unties the baggie of our daughter’s ashes,
lowers her head and needle, thanking us for trusting her hand
and the ink that would bond Sophia to both of us for life.

Shots of Ouzo, tinged blue, like the inside of ice
are poured neat from a dusty bottle.
The bartender-mother asks why—are you Greek?
We show her our saran-wrapped wrists,
the Hellenic epitaph, knocking-back the first round.

As we savor the sweet anise’s burn, I think of the monks
at Mount Athos who could never have predicted
their pet-project some 700 years later would treat
sour stomachs and jack-knifed hearts around the globe.

The bartender-mother and eavesdropping Italians listen to our saga.
Rapt and teary, they raise their glasses to the purity of grief,
the kind of grief that a tattoo and Ouzo can only begin to admit.

~ ~ ~

Kimberly Escamilla’s recent work has appeared or forthcoming in Red Wheelbarrow, Plath Profiles, 5AM, DMQ Review, My Baby Rides the Short Bus anthology, Naugatuck River Review, and Cimarron Review. She has taught college-level writing and literature in the San Francisco Bay Area for 19 years and is the director of The International Poetry Library of San Francisco. She lives on the coast, a few miles north of Half Moon Bay, CA with her husband Michael and son Harrison.

We thank Kimberly for sharing these powerful tattoos and poem with us here on The Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Mommy Has a Tattoo! Happy Mother's Day Giveaway!!!

What better way to celebrate Mother's Day here on Tattoosday than by talking about a great book for kids who have tattooed moms?

Check out: Mommy Has A Tattoo by Phil Padwe!

I had the pleasure of meeting Phil last year and have been long overdue in talking about this great book for kids.

It's a simple story that helps kids get understand that people with tattoos are not "scary" and that even moms have ink. For 21st century toddlers, this book is a sweet tale of acceptance and understanding that can help address the differences (and similarities) between people.

You can read more about the book and author on the Mommy has a Tattoo website here.

And although it may be too late to get this as a mother's day gift this year, the book makes a great baby shower present for your tattooed moms-to-be!

Phil was kind enough to donate a couple of copies of Mommy Has a Tattoo for Tattoosday readers, and a couple of copies of his Tattoo Coloring Book #2, as well.

You know the drill! Comment below, or on the Tattoosday Facebook page, or send an email to TattoosdayContests@gmail.com, if you want to be entered to win a copy of one of these cool books. Enter by Thursday, May 16, to win!

You can also visit the Mommy Has a Tattoo Facebook page here.

Thanks to Phil Padwe for creating such great books, and for helping moms and dads everywhere make tattoo acceptance and understanding a little bit easier for kids.

Happy Mother's Day, all!