2012 NYC Tattoo Convention

This past Saturday, May 19, I attended the New York City Tattoo Convention at Roseland Ballroom near Times Square.

This was the fourth year in a row that I have gone and I have to say, it finally feels like home. I’ve always felt out of place and have always been overwhelmed by the sheer sensory overload. What follows is a loose recap of the event with some photos I took with both the camera and the Droid. I plan on expanding a few of these encounters in separate posts.

First of all, I must give a shout-out to Marisa and Brian from Needles & Sins. They’ve always been friendly faces that I can gab with to no end, and every year I spend more and more time in their company. They were the first people I saw and, much to my delight, I ran into them on the subway platform on my way back to Brooklyn. A hearty thanks to Marisa and Brian for their hospitality. If you haven’t checked out Needles & Sins, I encourage you to do so.

So obviously I saw a lot of tattoos in the five or so hours that I was ensconced in Roseland. But remember, we’re not just about gawking at amazing body art, but meeting and appreciating, as well. So we are very particular about who we photograph.

There are a few artists I want to acknowledge. I had a nice chat with Matt Van Cura, who is over at Invisible NYC on Orchard Street. Matt was familiar with Tattoosday from a post that featured his work here.

I also spent some time by the Sacred Tattoo booth, talking to shop manager Kevin Wilson. Jon Mesa was hard at work and I got to chat with him and tell him how well I thought he had done on Oxygen’s Best Ink competition (he was the runner-up). A general discussion of tattoo reality shows broke out which many of you already know is a topic of great interest to me.

I also had the honor of meeting an artist whose work I have admired for quite some time. When I snapped a photo of this phenomenal back piece, I also captured its creator (in the green shirt) David Sena.

Based out of North Star Tattoo, Sena is opening a new art space soon, with a private studio for tattooing, and was excited to be showing off his handiwork.

It’s also fun to run into people I’ve interviewed at previous shows. For example, I featured this back piece from Jessica last year and I ran into Steve who shared a really cool Celtic tattoo last year here. He had new work, also by Agent at Screamin’ Ink in Fair Lawn, which again emphasized his Irish heritage:

What also is really neat is seeing work that I had spotted outside of the convention, on the streets of New York, like when I recognized a memorial cat tattoo on the arm of Niki, who I met in July 2010.

And then there’s the new tattoos I see, like this awesome Coney Island-themed back piece on Tiffany, who sells art jewelery here.

This is a collaborative effort, Tiffany told me, of two incredible tattooists, Michelle Tarantelli and Chris O’Donnell, both of Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn.

Then there was Kate, who shared a tattoo that will appear on Tattoosday in a future post. She was a client of North Star’s Becca Roach, who was receiving a lot of attention first due to her phenomenal sleeves, and then when she stripped down to allow Becca to add a revolver to her side, which I captured here. Note the amazing work on her arms as well.

Speaking of gun tattoos, on the day before I attended the convention, I ran into a model named Melissa on Broadway in the mid-30s. She was heavily-inked but running late, and as she had plans to go to the convention, we agreed to meet up at the show. During one of the contests, she took the stage to display her left leg, sleeved by Gene Coffey at Tattoo Culture in Brooklyn.

You can see her right leg is tattooed with a gun in a thigh holster. Earlier in the day, I sat down with Melissa and interviewed her about the gun and its back story. Stay tuned for that in a future post.

In years past, the biggest crowd seems to draw around the artists from Japan, using traditional tattoo techniques in a booth up on the Roseland balcony. I didn’t really watch them this year, but did admire the work of Brent McCown, who was using traditional Maori techniques down on the main floor.

While hanging in the bar with Marisa and Brian, I also got to meet Phil Padwe, whose childrens' book Mommy Has A Tattoo is a must have for kids with inked moms.

 

He has a series of coloring books as well, which will get some more attention from me in a future post.

You can check out some additional photos over on Needles & Sins here, which includes a shot of me sharing my Heather Sinn tribal piece from Ink Master. You'll also see Damion Echols, one of the recently-released West Memphis Three, who I had the distinct honor of meeting. This was a tremendous surprise to see him at the show and I had the pleasure of talking to him briefly at the Sacred booth. Despite it not being tattoo-related, it was one of the highlights of the afternoon for me.

Thanks to to all of the artists, subjects, and other assorted folks who yet again made my trip to the New York City Tattoo Convention a wonderful time!

This entry is ©2012 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.

Two Amazing Tattoos from Patrick of Needles & Sins

It isn't too often that I chance upon someone inked who knows who I am. So, imagine my surprise when I introduced myself to Pat in Borders, Penn Plaza, and his face lit up with recognition when I handed him a Tattoosday flier.

I had just happened to stop one of the contributing writers from my favorite tattoo blog that isn't my own, Needles & Sins. What with our sites mutually appearing on each other's sidebars, we're practically cyber-related.

So Pat was totally game to pull up a chair with me in the cafe and share a couple of his numerous tattoos that traverse his chest, arms, and legs.

First, on Pat's left shoulder/upper arm is this colorful piece:

This tattoo represents the dichotomy of the good brain versus the bad brain. He wanted something in the New School style of tattooing and Matt Lautar, formerly of Great Southern Tattoo in College Park, Maryland was happy to oblige. Matt is now tattooing out of Marlowe Ink, in Fairfax, Virginia.

For the sake of symmetry and practicality, we then looked at his right shoulder/arm for this take on the Virgin Mary.

Complete with snake and dagger, and burning heart, this amazing tattoo was beautifully inked by Eli Quinters at Smith Street Tattoo Parlour in Brooklyn. The shading and color on Mary's face are just brilliantly done.

Of course, I had the misfortune to run into Pat as my lunch hour was winding down. With more time, we likely would have talked much longer and documented a few more tattoos.

Pat added later that "I would be remiss if I didn't mention the other tattooers who I've gotten work from:  Dave Wallin has easily done 25-30% of my tattoos. Chest, most of my left arm, a few on the right. I've also been tattooed by Todd Noble, Kelly Krantz, Jake, Andy Perez, Bailey Hunter Robinson and Gene Coffey."

Let's hope we can feature more of this work in the future!

A hearty thanks to Pat for sharing a couple of his tattoos with us here on Tattoosday.

If you haven't yet done so, be sure to check out Needles & Sins. And this link transports you to all that Pat has contributed to their most awesome site.

Magie's Unique Sugar Skull, Inked by Big Ant (1978-2008)

I was a happy little inkblogger last Friday night when I made it to the 4th anniversary group art show at Tattoo Culture in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Happy, because I got to meet the awesome Marisa Kakoulas from the fabulous Needles and Sins tattoo blog, along with the equally-cool Brian Grosz, who is also a major creative force behind the site.

And happy because I was in a bright room with art on the walls, created by talented tattooists, and I was surrounded by people with incredible body art.

But therein lies the conundrum: great tattoos, in a hip tattoo setting, are top quality and, despite Tattoosday's success, I am still reluctant to whip out the Polaroid digital camera when, for all I know, the ink around me may have been professionally photographed and featured in glossy tattoo magazines.

So I had resigned myself to leave sans photos, knowing I had a groovy time and was able to meet other tattoo writers, when I noticed a very interesting sugar skull on the back of a young woman's right arm. Voila:


Of course I chatted a long time with Magie before I asked her if I could snap a picture, so I learned a bit about the tattoo before I asked.

Magie Serpica is an artist and tattooist who works at the newly-opened Bound for Glory Tattoo Studio in Staten Island.


The shop was co-founded by Nick Caruso who also tattoos at Flyrite Studio in Brooklyn. One of Nick's tattoos appeared here back in July on Tattoosday.

One of Magie's paintings was hanging on the wall at Tattoo Culture:

(reprinted with permission of the artist)

We talked at length about tattoos, what she called an under-served market on Staten Island (they are the first full-custom shop) in the borough (no flash on the walls, please) and have a promising future ahead.

We also discussed how difficult it has been in the past to be a female tattoo artist, how frustrating it is not to be taken seriously, and how Kat Von D. and the multitude of tattoo reality shows have helped break down the stereotypes and allowed Magie, as a female artist, to receive more respect as an artist.

Like most tattoo artists, Magie is covered in ink, with no idea how many tattoos she has ("If you can still see skin, it's not enough").

The sugar skull in question was tattooed by Anthony Gregory, aka Big Ant, a Staten Island artist who tragically passed away last year after falling ill in Las Vegas (see the sad news reported here).


She had asked him to give her a sugar skull and she had a general idea about his style, so she gave him total artistic freedom. The end result was fascinating - a unique, almost post-modern interpretation of a classic tattoo design. The angled perspective and the depth to the eyes give this tattoo a greater three-dimensional feel than your standard sugar skull.

I also like how the rose is just as important as the skull, its stem wrapping around it and adding another layer of depth.

I thank the good people at Tattoo Culture for opening their doors and allowing me the opportunity to meet some great people.

A special thanks to Magie for sharing her awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday. Be sure to visit her in the new shop, Bound for Glory, in Staten Island.

Here's hoping we'll see more of their work in the future!