KATHMANDU – National and international tattoo artists together with art enthusiasts will get an opportunity to gather at a single venue at the Nepal Tattoo Convention 2011.

At a press meet organised at Nepal Tourism Board on April 20, it was informed that Nepal’s first international tattoo convention will take place from April 22 to 24 at Hotel Yak and Yeti, Durbar Marg.

In the press meet, Bijay Shrestha, organiser of the convention and founder of Nepal Tattoo, said, “The event is going to be held for national and international tattoo artists, fine arts lovers, art enthusiasts, suppliers and fans from around the world with an objective of promoting the tattoo art in Nepal in the form of cultural exchange.”

The convention will be an important event for professionals to share ideas and skills of tattooing and piercing.

Nepali tattoo artist and the founder of Nepal Tattoo, Mohan Gurung opined, “This convention will help to bridge the existing gap between society and tattoo art as our society still perceives tattoo art negatively.” According to Gurung, fusion of ethnic tattooing of local and foreign artists is one of the attractions of the convention.

Bijay Gurung, a tattoo artist stated, “This convention’s objective is to promote and expose Nepali art, culture and tradition among Nepal and the entire world.”

A total of 57 national and international tattoo artists will participate in the event. Tattoo seminars, tattoo shows and tattoo contests are some of the highlights of the event.

The entry fee for the event is Rs 200 per day where art students with identity cards will get free entrance.

Source : The Himalayan Times

SPARKS, NV – The National Tattoo Association just finished its annual convention at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, and tattoo artists from all over the world came out to show their talent.

Jeremy Collins came all the way from Sacramento to get his tattoo.

“This is a good opportunity to get tattooed by people that I normally wouldn’t be able to get tattooed by, you know, they come around from all over the country,” said Collins.

Some of the talent at this year’s National Tattoo Association Convention have been in the tattoo industry for decades, including Lyle Tuttle, who once tattooed Janis Joplin.

“Janis was tres chic, and bingo, she shows up one day, and the nice thing about my tattoo studio and everything else is because you never know who’s going to walk through the door,” said Tuttle.

These days, he says just about every type of person walks through the doors. It’s becoming more mainstream to get a tattoo.

“It doesn’t have the stigma today that it did then,” said Tuttle

And here at the convention, it’s a change you can see. Some attendees pushed strollers down the aisles, and took the whole family to the event.

Organizers say it’s about more than just some ink and a needle.

“You’d be surprised at the caliber of artists here. We don’t compete just in tattooing, we compete in art. Everybody’s different, so it’s not what you would think,” said Rich Ives, a tattoo artist from Colorado.

And those who came say it’s a success.

“It’s good. It seems like there’s a lot of people getting tattooed, a lot of amazing artists, you know, it’s really, really cool,” said Collins.

Sunday was the last day of the tattoo convention, which started last Tuesday.

Source : KOLO TV

INDIA – Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has been chosen as the “tattoo queen” by the organizers of the first Tattoo Convention in India.

The 25-year-old star sports tattoos of her former boyfriend’s initials and another one of an anklet.

After watching her in a remixed song in the upcoming film Dum Maaro Dum, IndiaInk Invention got in touch with the model-turned-actress and requested her to visit their first-ever convention which took place here on April 10.

They were keen on her presence at the expo as they consider the Om Shanti Om actress to be the “tattoo queen”.

However, the actress could not attend the convention as she was abroad for a film shoot.

The convention’s organizer Manoj Thakur, Partner at Par Excellence Entertainment, said, “Deepika’s absence was felt, especially at an event that she would have readily identified with.

With her own much-written about RK tattoo at the base of her neck and the cutting-edge Dum Maaro Dum tattoo she’s seen sporting in the movie, she would have been the perfect ambassador for this tattoo expo.”

As Deepika was shooting in London for Desi Boyz, she could not attend the event, but forwarded the invitation to her Dum Maaro Dum team. Abhishek Bachchan, Prateik and Rohan Sippy attended the convention instead.

The cast of the film launched the special Dum Maaro Dum tattoo at the convention.

Source : NDTV Movies

If you’ve ever considered getting a tattoo, this could be your chance.

More than 100 tattoo artists will be ready to create a new piece of art on your skin at the 2011 Skindustry Tattoo Expo Friday through Sunday at the Holiday Inn Conference Center, 7736 Adrienne Drive, Fogelsville.

Artists from up and down east coast, from California and even three artists from France will do tattoos 2-10 p.m. Friday; noon-10 p.m. Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday. Each day those getting new ink can vie for Tattoo of the Day and a $100 cash prize. If you have a tattoo, you also can compete in contests — for the best colored tattoo Saturday and black and white tattoo Sunday. Entry fees are $5 to $10.

Also check out the mixed media art show “Death and Intaxication,” featuring art work inspired by death and taxes.
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Enjoy the tunes of DJ Lexus Friday; Cap C Saturday and DJ Synstr Sunday, and check out the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls skating around. Music at the hotel’s Samuel Adams Brew Pub, chosen by expo organizers, includes Steve McDaniel Band, with its gritty roots rock, at 10 p.m. Friday and rockabilly band the Ultra Kings at 10 p.m. Saturday.

Admission to the expo is $10. Info: 610-770-7587, http://www.skindustryexpo.com.

Source : The Morning Call

The Immersed In Ink Tattoo & Arts Festival is making it’s 3rd stop on the 2011 Tour in Council Bluffs, IA on April 22-24, 2011 at the Harrah’s Casino. More than 150 artists will be on-site for live tattooing and piercing. For those less inclined to needles, the show will also feature live entertainment, contests, circus sideshows and Brutal Midget Brawling by Spike TV’s own Half Pint Brawlers. If you would like the opportunity for people to awe over your talent, we will have a Graffiti Wall for you get artistic with a can of spray paint. There will even be a bounce house and an egg hunt for the kids!

“Tattoo Festivals are a unique event that will have an assortment of entertainment for tattooing enthusiasts,” said Shannon Gutierrez in an interview with Immersed In Ink Magazine. “This convention is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the general public to be tattooed by the world’s top artists, industry icons from all over the country, that they otherwise may never have the opportunity to get tattooed by. Already, we are expecting an attendance of 5,000 people for the weekend’s festivities. Even if you don’t have any tattoos, it is an amazing opportunity to learn about the art and the culture in the industry. This festival promotes this alternative form of expression and provides patrons with the opportunity to learn about the culture and beauty of art in this medium. Tattooing, Piercing and Scarification (Body Modification) began many centuries ago with Polynesians and many other tribes who ceremonially labeled their kind. One could determine marital status, wealth, tribal status and so much more just by looking at tattoos. Tattoos were popularized in Western civilization in the 60’s and became much more prevalent in the 80’s with rock stars and hippies. Today, with more and more demand for the art and less risk involved with getting tattooed, Artists have learned to do amazing things with the Human Canvas.”

Immersed In Ink Magazine will be covering all three days of the event in this Free industry publication and will be conducting an Alternative Model Search all 3 days of the event. The winner will receive a multiple page spread in the Magazine and will also be featured on the cover of that issue.

This will be the greatest Alternative Arts show Council Bluffs has ever seen, with more than 60 booths that are dedicated to artists from all over the country. The show is also a venue to purchase tattoo-related products as well as clothing, accessories and body jewelry.

In addition to seminars by leaders in the tattoo industry, a variety of contests will be showcased throughout the weekend. Patrons can show off their body art with a chance to win awards. On Friday we will be holding a drawing for a FREE $300 Tattoo, sponsored by Authentic Ink Tattoo.

The Council Bluffs Tattoo & Arts Festival is scheduled for Friday, April 22, 2011 from 2pm-10pm, Saturday, April 23, from 11:30 am to 11 pm and Sunday, April 24, from 12 pm to 8 pm at the Harrah’s Casino, located at 1 Harrah’s Blvd. Admission is $20 for the day or $35 for the whole weekend. Children under 12 are free with a paying adult.

Source : PR Web

VICTORIA, CANADA – Michelle Brannigan winces as the buzzing tattoo gun punctures the skin over her right ribcage. Ron Smith, a tattoo artist from North Vancouver, completes the final ink strokes on two names — Grace Linda and Adain Padraig.

Brannigan, 28, says the pain is worth it, now that she knows her two children — a two-year-old daughter and a son who was stillborn at 22 weeks — will be forever a part of her body.

The Victoria mom was one of hundreds of people who had tattoos done at this year’s Capital City Tattoo Convention from Friday to Sunday.

Dozens of exhibitors from across the country showcased their best tattoo artists and organizers expected thousands of people to watch them in action.

Brannigan said having an audience is surprisingly calming.

“It takes my mind off the pain and the sound of the gun.”

Brannigan said the decision to get a tattoo is something she’s never taken lightly.

She got her first tattoo, a black rose in the middle of her back, when she was 16. That was after a year of looking at the design she wanted every single day, following some sage advice from her mother.

Brannigan said she’ll offer the same advice if her daughter wants a tattoo when she grows up.

Everyone getting a tattoo this weekend knows they’re making a life-long commitment and it’s one they’re happy to make.

By the end of the convention, 41-year-old Brian McEathron will have his entire right leg covered in an intricately-shaded grey dragon, which amounts to a 24-hour ink job.

“[Friday] we did seven hours,” McEathron said of the marathon session, which will add on to the tattoo he got two months ago of a samurai warrior on the right side of his chest.

“My girlfriend is feeding me while I’m tattooing, he’s eating while in the chair,” said artist Alex Rousey, who works for Defiance Body Studios in Maple Ridge. “I like to go big in all my pieces,” he said.

McEathron said the tattoo is in keeping with his nickname: Overkill.

Victoria tattoo artist Genghis Shawn, who works for Ascension Studios, said for people who love tattoos, the bigger the better.

He said he’s noticing a lot more full sleeve tattoos and chest tattoos, which people want to show off.

“I think people are finding it’s a lot more acceptable to walk around with tattoos showing,” said Shawn.

“You don’t need to cover it up anymore.”

Source : Times Colonist

SCRANTON, PA – The Electric City is about to become more colorful. For the third year in a row, Scranton will play host to the Electric City Tattoo Convention Friday through Sunday at the Hilton Scranton and Conference Center. Admission is $15 per day, $25 for two days, or $40 for a weekend pass. Additional packages and information is available at www.electriccitytattooconvention.com or by calling 343-5549.

Organized by the owners and partners of Electric City Tattoo Gallery on Spruce Street, including Woody Wodock, Elijah Birtel and brothers Nick and Mike Frenchko, the weekend festival will celebrate the art of permanent ink, with a little help from some friends.

“We have 80 artists from as far away as California, Chicago, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and West Virginia,” Mr. Wodock rattled off. Numerous local artists will be on hand as well, including representatives from Triple 6 Tattoo Studio, Vision Burn Tattoo, 570 Tattooing Co. and Marc’s Tattooing, among many others.

Tattooers will do live demonstrations and tattoos on site, giving local residents exposure to a wide variety of styles and techniques.

“We wanted to bring good tattoo artists to Scranton,” Mr. Wodock said. “There’s good tattooers all over the place.

“We were going to conventions all the time, and saw what we liked and didn’t like. I would look at an artist, and really like his art and want to travel to get tattooed by him, so we brought these artists here.”

The exposure has been beneficial on both sides of the coin, though, according to Mr. Wodock.

“We had a lot of dudes returning, either friends of ours, or a friend of someone who’s returning from past years. A lot of guys went back and told their buddies about it,” he said. “We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback.”

The love for Scranton has been so strong, in fact, that many of the guest artists have designed Electric City-themed “flash” (tattoo art) to exhibit specially at the convention.

“They’re really kind of getting in to it. Everybody loves this town,” Mr. Wodock said proudly. “The big thing they like is everything’s downtown and in walking distance. They like the feel of the city.”

While the convention leans heavily on the art and exhibition side, with additional artwork being displayed on easels throughout the hotel and a live painting exhibit planned, in which artists will decorate a large canvas hung up on a wall, there is plenty more in store for attendees.

“We’re having a pie-eating contest, a hula-hoop contest, and we added more entertainment-wise,” Mr. Wodock explained. Seven different local music acts and groups will perform throughout the weekend, including Brian Langan, Graces Downfall, The Bog Country Band, Tigers Jaw and more.

Additionally, there will be raffles and giveaways from local businesses such as Northern Light Espresso Bar, as well as tables featuring area vendors like the Fanciful Fox, Anthology book store, Big Daddy’s Barbershop and more.

“We wanted to include downtown businesses more,” Mr Wodock said. An after-party is also planned for 10:30 Saturday night at The Banshee on Penn Avenue featuring music by the Coal Town Rounders.

“We really wanted to make it more family-friendly,” he added. “We kind of felt we didn’t do enough for people not getting tattooed.”

All told, the event is shaping up to be a show unlike any other.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better lineup,” Mr. Wodock said.

Source : The Times-Tribune

RENO, NV – Her belly a canvas, Tiara Dorer settled back for a few hours of pain.

The Galt, Calif., woman, among attendees of the 9th Annual Lady Luck Tattoo Arts Expo, waited as tattoo artist Aaron Odell of Sacramento decorated her bare stomach with the tattoo of a human heart — complete with arteries — surrounded by a halo of rose pedals.

“It hurts, yes,” she said. “It’s the end product that’s always the best.”

Nearby, 26-year-old Brian Haldeman, sat patiently as the tattoo of a Japanese koi fish — covering most of his upper right arm — was colored with ink.

He considers the folk tale of a koi swimming upstream and jumping from the water to turn into a dragon as an allegory of his own journey through doctorate school in biochemistry at University of Nevada, Reno.

“It’s their meaning I think,” Haldeman said of why he likes tattoos. “I think it’s a great way of telling a story of a part of your life.”

Haldeman and Dorer are among between 1,500 and 2,000 people expected to visit the three-day expo, ending today, at Circus Circus Reno, said Tim Azinger, a tattoo artist from Pittsburgh, Pa., who organized the nine-year event. Close to 120 artists from around the country are there this year, Azinger said.

The days of tattoos being exclusively for sailors and bikers are long gone, Azinger said.

“It is an art,” he said. “This is about bringing together a lot of like-minded people with the same interests.”

Brandon Collins, an artist with Reno’s Nightmare Studios, is certainly of the same interest. He’s covered with tattoos — on his neck, chest, back and legs — decorations he sort of considers a uniform of his profession.

“I still have plenty of room. There’s always room for more,” said Collins, 34.

Rosario Cormier of Reno has attended the expo every year, adding to her collection of tattoos each time. Saturday she was having a tattoo of a dagger and head of a panther added to the mix.

“I don’t even count them anymore,” said Cormier, 33. “I love all of them but my mermaid is my favorite. Every time I get a new one it becomes my favorite and that one was my last.”

Source : RGJ

HAMPTON ROADS, VA – Mary O’Keefe was nervous as she sat in a chair, one shoe off. Her toenails were painted red, just in case she went through with it.

“I mean, I had five kids,” she said. “It can’t be that bad.”

The 68-year-old was at the Hampton Roads Tattoo Arts Festival Saturday to get a tattoo, her first. With her daughters and grandchildren watching, O’Keefe raised her eyebrows and squinted as a tattoo artist started on a small shamrock on her ankle – the same design her three daughters got about 20 years ago.

Less than 10 minutes later: “I love it, it’s exactly what I wanted. Exactly,” she said. “But it hurt.”

Rick Casey, an artist at Folk City Tattoo in Suffolk, said the number of older clients has grown.

“It’s being more accepted and it’s not frowned upon anymore like it was during their time,” he said.

Folk City Tattoo and Twisted Ink magazine co-sponsored the festival. John Cann, publisher of the magazine, said the event was three years in the making.

“People think tattoo festival and they think biker guys,” he said. “These guys? Calm as can be.”

Families with children walked around the Hampton Roads Convention Center. While parents browsed vendors to get their permanent ink, kids waited in line for the temporary variety.

The festival attracted more than families. Folks with full-body ink found an inch of blank skin left for some art.

The Enigma, a sideshow performer and actor who had his entire body tattooed in puzzle pieces in 1993, was a festival attraction with his show “Show Devils.”

“It’s comedy, it’s music, it’s danger,” The Enigma said of his show. “When everyone believes one thing and you show them another thing, that’s truth by magic.”

A couple of weeks ago, The Enigma got the whites of his eyes tattooed – only the soles of his feet are blank, he said.

Source : Hampton Roads

The doors for the Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival had barely been opened at 2 p.m. Friday at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa — and already people were sprawled out on tables getting fresh body art. The steadily popular event, now in its fourth year, gathers hundreds of tattoo artists from all over the world in one location. Some fans book appointments with their favorites days, weeks, even months in advance.

“It doesn’t hurt too bad,” one male patron said through clenched teeth as he received his very first tattoo, a large chest piece that will span the width of his shoulders and cover his collar bones. His artist is from Japan and the appointment was booked well ahead of time; he’ll be working on it throughout all three days of Musink.

The festival also brings in dozens of vendors selling everything from tattoo-inspired artwork — some painted or photographed by the artists on site — to rock-lifestyle clothing and accessories. It’s also a bit of a trade show, with multiple booths offering tattoo guns and tables and some of the best after-care body-art creams.

The festival also brings in dozens of vendors selling everything from tattoo-inspired artwork — some painted or photographed by the artists on site — to rock-lifestyle clothing and accessories. It’s also a bit of a trade show, with multiple booths offering tattoo guns and tables and some of the best after-care body-art creams.

Of course, for plenty of attendees this is primarily a music gig, which Friday night featured alt-metal outfit CKY and veteran hardcore punk acts Biohazard and Suicidal Tendencies.

Performing in a separate hangar just across from the tattoo convention — neither building reached much more than half-capacity on Friday — fans streamed in and out to check out bands in between watching others get tortured … er, tattooed. Saturday’s lineup includes the first local appearance from O.C. act Thrice in more than a year, along with a set from Circa Survive, while Sunday’s rundown will be capped by the Used and Hot Water Music.

Fashion has a bigger presence this year — on Friday a small runway show was held before Biohazard’s set spotlighting adult film star Lupe Fuentes’ new line, Sexy Little Angel.

The 24-year-old, newly married to Biohazard frontman Evan Seinfeld, stands just 4-foot-9 and weighs only 79 pounds. She struggled for years to find clothing that would fit her small frame properly: “I would keep buying clothes and they would always be so big — even the extra small. Everything would always be just falling off and it was really hard for me to shop so I started looking at making clothes.”

“And there’s nothing sexy about shopping in the children’s section,” Seinfeld adds.

Fuentes’ collection is specifically geared towards petite women (120 pounds and under) who want to don a more sexy rocker style. The line comes in just three sizes: small, petite and tiny. (Fuentes wears the last size.)

Meanwhile, her real-life “sexy little angels” mixed and mingled with the crowd, as did a couple of contestants in the yearly Miss Musink competition. One of the most popular attractions of the event, that contest brings together the tattooing community weeks ahead of time via preliminary rounds in local bars, like the Continental Room in Fullerton. Eventually a final dozen is chosen.

This year’s host, 27-year-old tattoo model and Sullen TV star Bernadette Macias, says she’s happy with the crop of inked hopefuls this time around: “The girls this year are amazingly hot and surprisingly heavily tattooed. Usually there may be one sleeve, or a butterfly on their backs maybe, but this year I’m not the only one who stands out.”

Seinfeld, who has appeared at such conventions for more than a decade — he’s tattooed all over, including a newer portrait of Fuentes on his side — says he’s impressed with the work promoter Bill Hardie has put into building Musink’s reputation.

“I love connecting the dots,” he says of the event. “It’s rock ‘n’ roll, it’s metal, it’s skateboarding, it’s motorcycles, it’s tattoos — it’s a total lifestyle brand.”

The 4th annual Musink Tattoo Convention & Music Festival continues today, with performances from Thrice and Circa Survive, and Sunday, featuring the Used and Hot Water Music. General admission is $25.

Source : The Orange County Register