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January 14, 2016January 14, 2016

Aberdeen Tattoo Collective

The Aberdeen Tattoo Collective are fast becoming one of Scotland’s busiest studios and we chatted to Calum Berry, John Philip and Kevin Reid about their tattooing journeys and influences…

How did you get into tattooing?

Calum Berry: I got into tattooing when I was about 14 from a skateboarder called Trainwreck. I started getting tattooed when I was 16 and then started apprenticing when I was 21 and the rest is history!

John Philip: Being at the right place at the right time really. Started working in a shop that my flat mate at the time had just started tattooing in. So I managed the shop for over a year and then was told to start drawing and see what happened. I never went in looking for an apprenticeship but I’ll be forever grateful for getting the opportunity.

Kevin Reid: I first started working in a local shop as a Saturday guy just helping out, cleaning, making lunch and serving customers…’shop bitch’ some might say. Then I started getting a couple more days in the shop. And when it was quiet in-between people coming in I would just sit and draw. Then after nearly a year or so my boss at the time offered me an apprenticeship and I pretty much bit his hand off. And now here I am.

How would you describe your style?

CB: My style is new school/illustrative.

JP: I’d say traditional street shop. Not trying to reinvent the wheel or do anything fancy. Just trying to do clean and solid tattoos that last a lifetime.

KR: My style I would say would be more a traditional/newskool illustrative type of thing.

11142118_1587413118183278_1779415638_n — John Philip

How long have you been tattooing for?

CB: I’ve been tattooing custom stuff since around 2012.

JP: I did my first real tattoos in April 2013. I’d maybe done 3 before then but stopped until I saved up for half decent machines. Then had a break while I moved shops. So I guess coming on 3 years?

KR: I have been tattooing about 2 1/2 years now.

11176150_817083828379579_798193575_n — Kevin Reid

Where do you find your inspiration?

CB: The guys at the shop inspire me everyday

JP: From people and books? I collect a lot of reference books… new stuff and vintage. Not all are necessarily tattoo related. And from other tattooers. Richard from Aberdeen and Paul Slifer from Red Hot and Blue did a lot of my work when I first started getting tattooed and I learned a lot from them. Thanks to social media it’s real easy to find new artists which always makes me want to step my game up.

KR: I have a lot of influences in all different styles of tattooing, and of course the guys in my shop definitely are a big influence.

If you weren’t a tattooist, what would you be?

CB: Who knows, in my head a watch maker or pilot or something cool but probably driving a van or something not cool haha.
JP: Likely a care worker as that’s been my longest profession bar tattooing.
KR: If I weren’t a tattooist I would probably still be carrying on my career as a joiner.

The guys can be contacted via their website: http://www.aberdeentattooco.com/ and found on Facebook and Instagram.

January 11, 2016

Tattoos in the Desert

Alexandra Langston is a creative copywriter, editor, and part-time blogger, living and working in Qatar. In this post Alex talks about being a tattooed Caucasian woman in a predominately Muslim country…

There are some parts of the Middle East that are almost indistinguishable from Europe. A huge Western ex-pat community, and the shops, bars, hotels, and events built to accommodate them, plus a booming tourism industry in many places, are a major reasons for this – with Dubai in particular fully embracing Western culture.
Qatar, however, is like Dubai’s little brother: playing catch-up with the economic, architectural, and cultural changes.
When my husband and I moved to Qatar one and a half years ago, we did it completely blind. After plans for a move to Asia fell through, and only a cursory Google of Middle Eastern countries, we applied for a few jobs and Qatar came up trumps. Neither of us had ever visited the region, and we had barely even heard of the tiny thumb-shaped peninsular that is Qatar. So we took a leap of faith, and just two weeks after getting married we had packed our bags, and were on our way to a new life in the desert.

I was terrified. An outspoken, tattooed woman, with a penchant for short skirts and sinking a drink or two; I strongly doubted I would be a good fit for this conservatively Muslim country. Of course I fully intended to respect their laws, religious and otherwise, but I worried about inadvertently offending someone or causing myself problems.
From the very beginning, there was a large amount of pretty uninhibited staring, which I initially put down to being blonde, Caucasian, and female. I quickly realised though that there is a large, mostly male, Indian ex-pat community here too, and that staring is a quite harmless part of their culture.
As it turned out, I really didn’t need to worry about having tattoos at all.
I found that curiosity, above all else, abounds here. It is completely fine to have them, and there is no need to conceal them beyond the expected standard levels of decency, but because tattooing is illegal, and there are no tattoo shops in the entire country, knowledge of tattoos is quite limited.
The most frequent reaction I get is one of surprise, followed quickly by the question: ‘is that permanent…forever?!’ I still get the usual questions about it hurting, even long after healing is complete, and I once had a lengthy discussion about ink entering the bloodstream, but I get the impression that these queries come from genuine interest, rather than judgement – and I have even been asked to model my tats for an amateur photographer!

I’m not sure if it’s the relative rarity of a woman with tattoos, the ever increasing Western influence on the country, or the prerequisite need to cover arms above the elbow and legs above the knee, but so far the consequences of being a tattooed woman in Qatar have been surprisingly minimal.
With more tattoos already planned, I can live with the questions, and I don’t even mind the staring…most of the time.

January 9, 2016

The Floral Fox

Amy Rose is a 29-year-old artist from the Cotswold, who creates soft pencilled botanical art in muted tones. We chat to Amy about what inspires her and her tattoos, and she created the piece Winter’s Hand just for us…

Winter’s Hand

Do you have a background in art? The only art course I have done is a Btec national diploma in Fine art when I was 16 and I had no idea what I wanted from it. I have been drawing from a very young age and haven’t stopped ever since.

What inspires you? Mostly I am inspired by botany and the natural world. I am also a trained in florist, so my flower knowledge helps me when I am looking for botanical inspiration. I also get inspired by objects that I collect which can be anything from antique books, framed moths and bugs, bones and other curiosities like that.

What do you like to draw? Anything botanical, animals, insects and oddities. I usually spend hours reading up on certain plants, flowers or animals and finding out about natural habits and behaviours before I start a piece. I have a big collection of natural history books and botanical books that I have collected and inherited from my grandad that keep me inspired.

What medium do you use? I use coloured pencil on coloured paper, normally soft prismacolor. I also like to use black ink but find that with botanical work it looses certain elements when you don’t use colour.

Where can people buy your art? I have a shop on Etsy.

Do you have any tattoos? What do you think of tattoos in general? I only have five tattoos so would love to add to them in the future. I love tattoos, I love how diverse tattoo culture is and how it keeps evolving, there is so many different styles my favourite being botanical black work.

January 7, 2016

Collection Tattoos

Just like tattoos, the things people collect are personal and unique. Guest blogger Amber Bryce decided to explore the ties between the two by speaking with three toy collectors, to see what inspired their collections and how these in turn have inspired their tattoo choices…

“When I was a kid, I would daydream through every Saturday morning ballet class about finding the next thing to add to my collections. These ranged from Spice Girls photos for my fluorescent pink album, to sparkly Pokemon cards and miniature car models. Collecting has always helped my mind to focus in on something and block out the chaos of the world, creating soothing rhythms out of mundane objects.

Still to this day I can’t let go of my collection of Pokemon cards or Spice Girls photos. There’s just something about childhood nostalgias that’s so comforting and aesthetically inspiring. Perhaps this is why toy collecting in particular is so popular, as it allows people to hold onto the fleeting moments of growing up, and the joy such things brought us.

There’s also a very close connection between toy collecting and tattoos. Candy-coloured My Little Ponies, perfectly accessorized Barbies and the tall, bright hair of trolls all prove how the charismatic designs of our childhood toys make the perfect kitsch tattoos.

I spoke to three lovely Instagram ladies about their toy collections and which tattoo or tattoos these have inspired”:

Name: Jenna Greenwood Location: Bradford

I have always been a hoarder and collector ever since I was a child. A lot of the things I have from the 80s and 90s are my original toys that I could never seem to part with. When I was little my mum and dad would recall with joy a toy from their childhoods, and when questioned as to where it was or if they still had it, I would always get the same reply, they’d gotten ‘too old for it’. My brother and I used to be horrified at the thought of getting rid of our toys! I never wanted that to happen, so I stockpiled all my favourites. Now it’s a case of reclaiming my childhood and the simple things that used to bring me lots of happiness. The nostalgia now is lovely!

I only get tattoos of the things that have or do give me great pleasure, I think if it’s a captured happy memory I can never go off it or change my taste. With that in mind, my right thigh is dedicated to my childhood and the things I used to love, so as well as my troll tattoo, there is an emerald for one of my favourite films Return to Oz, a mood ring, a dodo (a childhood obsession) and seaside paraphernalia. It’s not finished yet, but I’m hoping to add a tamagotchi and an ever-lasting gobstopper soon to complete it!

Jody Dawber has done all the pieces on my childhood tattoo. I found her work through Instagram and knew as soon as I saw it she was the one for this piece. Her style is fun and colourful with a grown up twist and I just fell in love with her work as soon as I saw it!

In the future, I’d like to factor in something Sindy and Sylvanian Family related too, but I’m not sure where they’re going to go yet. I might have to start on the other thigh if I keep finding stuff in my parents loft!

Name: Andrea Taylor Location: Adelaide South Australia

I collect lots and lots of dolls! My main collection is of Barbie, though. I always loved Barbie as a little girl, and had so many of them, but when I was in my late teens I got rid of a bunch. About 4 years ago I realised this was a huge mistake and spent a lot of time making a list of which dolls I had had and tracking them down again. It sort of snowballed from there and I’ve ended up with a lot more than just recollecting my childhood dolls.

This has inspired my one and only tattoo, which is of an illustration of Crystal Barbie. It was done by Sarah K at Pink Flamingo Parlour. She already had it drawn up with some other 80s/90s nostalgia and I saw it on her feed so I got in touch after some prompting from friends. It was exactly what I had been envisioning when I thought of my perfect Barbie tattoo.

In the future I’d love to get a 60s Barbie heart on my other thigh as the 60s and 80s are my two favourite decades for Barbie, so I’d like to pay tribute to both of them.

Name: Jessica Reeves Location: London

I collect so many things! Right now I am actively collecting Nevalyashka dolls (Russian roly poly dolls), Sonny Angels, kewpie dolls, Blythe dolls and any vintage toy that catches my eye (usually something that squeaks or moves or plays music in some way). But I also have a pretty large collection of kitsch vintage ceramics – mainly cats and deer – that I have been collecting for about four years now. I haven’t added anything new to this collection for a while but the objects I already own bring me a lot of happiness! I am drawn to many of these objects for their nostalgic value but also their aesthetic just really appeals to me and I love to surround myself with things that make my environment an inspiring, relaxing and beautiful (to me) place to be.

I actually have a few tattoos inspired by my collections! On my left leg I have two fairly large homages to my collection of vintage ceramics. Both of these tattoos contain so many elements that I just adore – cats, deer, sweets and Pearl Jam lyrics! They are so personal to me and I adore them both. On my right leg I have a super-cute tattoo of a Nevalyashka doll, inspired by my ever growing collection of these vintage roly poly dolls and a tattoo of a kewpie doll covered in tattoos. My boyfriend has a matching kewpie, which also makes this tattoo extra-special.

Both the tattoos on my left leg are done by Amy Savage and I chose her for her beautiful use of colours and personality that she brings to the animal portraits she has done a lot of in the past. The roly poly doll is by Rachel Baldwin and I chose her for her awesome cartoon-like style. I love that my nevalyashka tattoo kind of looks like a sticker, it’s just so bold and perfect! The kewpie was done by Luke Kempton and I picked him because he can turn his hand to any idea and style, and he has made some rad tattoos on my boyfriend in the past.

I love how personal my tattoos inspired by my collections are and I don’t see that connection becoming any less powerful in the future. And as my collections evolve over time there always seems to be some new object to commemorate on my skin forever!

January 6, 2016January 6, 2016

Does it Hurt? A Compilation of Tattoos and the People They Collect

We chatted to AJ Taheri, Frederick, MD, writer and editor for Weeva, an online company that create personalised scrapbooks and family history books, about his new project; Does it Hurt? A Compilation of Tattoos and the People They Collect.

What is the Does it Hurt? A Compilation of Tattoos and the People They Collect project? Weeva makes memory books. A lot like scrapbooks, you add your stories and photos into as many sections as you like. You can send out invitations via Facebook or email, requesting friends and family to join in as well and expand your book. Typically we make them as anniversary gifts, birthday surprises, for family reunions, memorials, etc., but lately we’ve been making a lot of community projects. What that means is that everything is the same, except that there’s no invitation necessary. Anyone can participate and add their stories and photos, and that’s what this project is: a collection of stories and photos of tattoos that anyone can add to to share their art, their personal expression, and their passion for ink.

How did the project start? Starting the project took no time at all; once I decided I wanted to do it, all I needed was a title, and then boom, there it was. Having so many tattoos means people are always stopping me to compliment them, ask questions about them, and share their own stories, and I’ve heard so many interesting things that way. I figured it would be really cool to give people a place to share their own tattoos and the stories behind them in a place other than a blog or a Facebook status. This begins online, but eventually it’ll be a printed book, something more tangible and permanent than just posting something quick on a passing internet thread.

What inspired you? Tattoos are more common today than they have been in the past, but there’s still a bit of a stigma surrounding them. I just find it really fascinating hearing how many different reasons people have for getting tattooed, seeing what they chose to have on them forever, and knowing what their lives are like behind that. Yeah, some tattoos are on gangsters or prisoners, but some are on millionaires, rockstars, investment bankers, old men, young women, etc. The point is that there are people from every single walk of life who have tattoos, and they all have unique stories. Those are the ones I love to hear.

How can people get involved? Getting involved is literally as easy as clicking here and sharing your experience. It doesn’t cost anything, you can sign in via Facebook, and you aren’t obligated to purchase the book once it’s created. All you’re doing by getting involved is adding your thread to the tapestry, making the story better for everyone who wants to go there and read them or buy it when it’s done.

I put a story into each thread to give people an idea of the kinds of things I’m looking for with this project. My own tattoos are mostly video-game themed, most of them go back to my childhood in some way or another. My entire right arm down to my hands and fingers is a Pokemon-themed sleeve, with the exception of a couple of Legend of Zelda pieces on my knuckles and forearm. I grew up on those games and I think the artwork is just really beautiful, really colorful and engaging. I’ve got all three rows of my knuckles tattooed, and the last one says LEFTOVER, because I toured with a band a while back called the Leftovers with some of my good friends from high school.

Can you tell us about your tattoos? I’ve got a full chest piece of a bleeding winged heart, and it doesn’t mean anything at all, I just got it because I like the art; a lot of people seem to have trouble understanding why you’d get a tattoo without a meaning behind it, but it’s just art to me. I’ve got some World of Warcraft pieces on my chest as well, a salute to a few years back when I almost played the game professionally. I could go on and on, I’ve got too many tattoos to name them all, but that’s the gist of it. They’re mostly gaming pieces and nods to important things in my life, but a few are just there to look cool.