Did you miss the year’s LadiesLadies! Art Show? Don’t worry, we’re sharing some of the artwork from international female tattooers featured at the 2019 exhibition held in New York:
We love kewpies
Rose O’Neill first illustrated Kewpie dolls to be featured in the Ladies’ Home Journal, and they swiftly became extremely popular. Born in Germany, their name derived from the word “Cupid”, for the Roman God of beauty.
Shortly after Rose was 19, she moved to New York city alone with only 60 drawings. Within three months, she had sold them all. She was shocked by their popularity. She began illustrating for children’s books and was highly successful, appearing in many popular publications including Harper’s Bazaar and Good Housekeeping. She drew over 700 cartoons for the humour magazine, Puck, which was a predominantly male-centric title at the time.
Her career was unparalleled and she truly demonstrated the traits of a strong woman. During her success, she sent her earnings home to her father, who converted their two-bedroom cabin in Missouri into a 14-room mansion. Rose also bought homes in New York, Connecticut and the Italian Isle of Capri. In a time where women could not even vote, she was truly supporting her family and allowing them to live a life they were not previously accustomed to.
Rose took inspiration for her work from many different areas of her life. Her Kewpie dolls came to her in a dream. Rose O’Neill had a dream of small little cherub-like elves jumping on her bed, one night in 1909. When she woke, she hurried to her drawing desk and sketched the first Kewpie. From there, her love of the small Kewpie never faltered.
Kewpies took their doll form in 1913, manufactured in Germany, designed by Joseph Dallas. They were five inches tall, with jointed arms, painted eyes and a distinctive moulded face. They became highly collectable, and in 1939 a Kewpie doll was entered into a time capsule in New York’s World Fair. Early dolls now raise thousands of dollars, and are highly collectable. But they were not only captured in celluloid and plastic; Kewpies were immortalised in colouring books, stationery, cups, plates and poems. More recently, they have been commonly eternalised in tattoos. Many artists now tattoo the dolls in many different outfits and styles, but always keeping to the distinct Kewpie characteristics Rose O’Neill designed.
Kewpies were popular in tattoo flash around the time of their conception, but faded out by the 1950s, being seen as old-fashioned. Today, they are almost as famous in tattoo flash as other bold traditional designs, such as the pin-up girl. Many artists are known for their amazing renditions of these cherub-like children, such as Kim-Anh Nguyen, Lauren Winzer and the late tattoo legend Mike Malone.
Kewpie necklace, by Bete Noire.
Empowering mastectomy tattoo by Lianne Moule
Back in August, we spotted this absolutely stunning mastectomy tattoo by Lianne Moule, who works at Immortal Ink in Chelmsford, after she shared it on Instagram. So we got in touch with Lianne to find out more about the process, we’re sharing the story here to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
“Around four years ago, Liz was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer: sarcoma. The type and size of the cancer dictated that Liz’s only real option was a mastectomy with delayed reconstruction. The process must have taken a huge amount of strength and courage but I’m so grateful she allowed me to be a small part of her inspiring journey.
“Having never had a tattoo in her life, I am awe-inspired that she found me to request a mastectomy cover-up. Liz emailed the studio and told us about her situation and what she wanted to do. When I met Liz for her first consultation, she was very nervous. But she bravely told me her story. When she was diagnosed and told she would lose her breast, she was overrun by emotions. She even said to the consultant that she would rather die than lose her breast. She was aware that even though it seemed a dramatic reaction, her emotions were all over the place and she genuinely felt that. All of a sudden, she was aware of the fact that she felt her breasts gave her femininity, she questioned whether or not she would be able to love her body afterwards.
“Liz told me that throughout every stage of her diagnosis, surgery and aftercare, she was given so much support by the different departments – every team would explain what would be happening to her body and what the options were for her in the future. She decided to go ahead with a nipple graft onto the reconstructed breast, but at this point in the surgeries, she still didn’t know what she wanted to do with her body.
“When Liz was looking at the option of getting tattooed nipples, she came across some pictures of some flowers over mastectomy scars. Liz told me many times that she would never have had a tattoo if it hadn’t been for this journey she has been through. When Liz’s breast was taken away, it was replaced with what she calls ‘a lump of flesh’ – she said it never felt like her breast. With these feelings, Liz said she wanted to make it ‘her own’. Having a beautiful picture on it would make it finally hers, after having many operations without choice, she could finally make a decision to do what she wanted with it.
“Every time I tattoo a breast cancer survivor, it is always about reclaiming their body. It’s the decision that they get to finally make about their own body, to get closure of their experience. Having their bodies cut and poked and prodded and tested without really having a choice, it’s empowering to finally make a decision.
“Liz’s tattoo is one of my favourite pieces of artwork, she looks beautiful and I really hope she feels it. It’s detailed and colourful and I forever hope it gives her confidence.”
Research shows that one in seven women in the UK will develop breast cancer at some stage in their lifetime. October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is so so important to check your breasts (if you need help with this head to coppafeel.org).
Interview with tattoo artist, Cassandra Frances
The face issue Things & Ink was published in 2013, this is an interview with its cover star, tattoo artist Cassandra Frances.
I first met Cassandra in 2012 at End Times in Leeds where she used to work – I instantly fell in love with her warm nature and dedicated work ethic. She put me at ease while she tattooed me, chatting about life, music and magazines. We were like old friends, talking away, of course the conversation always returning to tattoos.
When the decision was made to make issue 2, ‘The Face Issue’, I knew I wanted Cassie on the cover. With her fiery red hair and delicate porcelain skin, you almost don’t notice that she has facial tattoos. Her tattoos are so delicate and feminine, and will certainly make people think twice about their preconceptions about women with facial tattoos. The image on the cover is very powerful in its beauty. I hope it will make a statement to anyone with preconceived notions about women who choose to tattoo their face. We chatted to Cassie about her life as a tattoo artist, her style and how she decided to get her first ever face tattoo…
Who did your face tattoos? Andrew Mirfin, who owns End Times in Leeds .
How did you decide to get your face tattooed? First one (now covered up) was to celebrate getting my tattoo license. It felt like it was all official and I wanted to mark it with something special.
Who did the first one? The first one is now covered up, and was done by my old boss
Don Richards, just a small outline of a heart. I decided to make it a bit bigger and bolder
after time. Andy has done all the others.
How did you feel when you were getting tattooed? I trust Andy, so I wasn’t really nervous and I knew I definitely wanted it. The tiny ones hardly registered, but the bigger heart was fairly painful and gave me a headache. It was over in 15 minutes or so, though.
What kind of reaction do you get to having tattoos on your face? None really. I very rarely get any kind of reaction from anyone, I’m never sure if I just don’t notice it, but even my mum was sitting looking me in the eye over lunch for an hour and didn’t notice the heart and flower, I had to point it out.
Do you feel any different about your face now? After getting my beauty spot on my cheek, I instantly felt a million times more confident. When I draw women I more often than not give them a beauty spot, just something about them really appeals to me. If I didn’t have tattoos I think I’d be pretty boring to look at. My face looks how I want it to look and that’s all that really matters.
Do you think there is a difference between men and women getting such visible tattoos? Never really thought about it. Not in my little world really. Whether people think it’s unfeminine, I really don’t care. I like myself and so do the people who matter. If a man judged my level of attractiveness on that, he wouldn’t be worth the time of day anyway
Would you ever tattoo a face? I am too scared to tattoo a face, it is such a huge responsibility.
Has anyone ever asked you to tattoo their face and what did you say? My best friend wants me to do her a beauty spot on her, but I just don’t feel comfortable with it.
How would you describe your style of tattooing? It’s pretty feminine. I think my work naturally comes out quite delicate. If left to my own devices, I like to use red, gold and green, and I’m happiest when working on smaller pieces. My favourite thing to tattoo is lady faces and wish I could do that all day every day.
How do you feel about the tattoo industry? Including tattoo magazines/media. I’m not sure I know enough of the industry yet to have a valid opinion, I’ve been working away in a little bubble really. I do feel excited to be a small part of something so amazing and exciting, though. Tattooing is the love of my life, and some days I kind of hate it, but even on those I know deep down I don’t want to do anything else.
How did you feel about doing the cover shoot? To be honest, not 100% comfortable. I’d rather people looked at my work than my face. Bit of a strange experience having a room of people focused on me for that long. I feel honoured to be asked to do the cover and said yes as I’m not sure anyone will ask me again!
Did you enjoy it? It was an interesting experience and a nice bunch of people. Spending a day with people telling you repeatedly how beautiful you look is good for the ego.
Would you do it again? I’m desperate to be photographed as a flame-haired Pre-Raphaelite.
Holly Astral: ‘The Art of Tarot’ Project
After seeing sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes pics from some of our favourite tattoo artists taking part in ‘TAROT the art of Tarot’ we couldn’t help but be intrigued!
We caught up with Holly Astral, the woman behind ‘TAROT the art of Tarot’ and Gravity Tattoo Studio to find out more about the project and how you can get your own piece of it…
What inspired you to start the ‘TAROT The Art of Tarot’ project? It just came up spontaneously! Me and the girls in the shop love reading tarot, and one day we started talking about how fun it would be to design some tarot cards between us, and the idea for the show just clicked into place! Since I got the keys to the building that is now Gravity Tattoo Shop I’d always said I’d like to hold an art exhibition in the ground floor reception area, and this seemed perfect!
You’ve taken part in exhibitions at galleries across Europe and America, was this part of your motivation for the tarot project? Totally! Before I was a tattoo artist I was a toy designer, and ran my own line of designer toys. During that time I put on a couple of collaborative art shows in London, and one in LA. Each one showcased toys which has been customised by other designers in the industry and were so much fun to put on. My main motivation for this show and those that I’ve organised in the past is to showcase the talent of those around me – I figured I’d put on the kind of shows I’d like to attend.
What message do you hope to spread? I’m interested to get the conversation going about tarot cards, and how people view them. I am relatively new to the concept, having dabbled a little as a teenager. I had a very rough start to this year and got into it as I was looking for answers. I don’t believe in divination or mediums, rather my take on tarot is that whatever you latch onto within a reading is your subconscious trying to tell you about a part of your life you need to look a little deeper at, or maybe an answer that you already know and need permission to bring to the surface. We all have the answers to our problems inside of us and activities like tarot reading can help us to bring the answers to the surface.
The Tarot project aims to raise funds for Hula Animal Rescue, does that charity mean a lot to you? Absolutely! We raise money for them throughout the year, and last year put on a flash day to fund raise for them. Gravity is a vegan tattoo shop and animal welfare is important to us, Hula are a wonderful small charity doing great things for animals.
You’ve brought together 78 individual artists for the tarot project – how did you pick them? Well at first we were going to do just the 22 major arcana from the tarot deck, so we asked some friends if they’d like to design a card for the show and it just got bigger and bigger! Before I knew it we had the entire deck being created, we were just blown away by the response.
Is there a wide variety of styles, mediums and interpretations? It has been incredible seeing all the artwork come back for the show! We left it up to the artists how they wanted to create their cards – any medium was okay, the only proviso being that it needed to fit in an A4 frame for the show layout. We have paintings, drawings, digital artworks and even a couple of embroidered pieces in the show. Seeing how everyone interpreted their card’s meaning has been so fun to see, with so many unique and interesting designs coming back to us. All the pieces they’ve created for the show were available to purchase for £100 each (a steal!)
Will they only be available to purchase at the show? First dibs on purchasing artwork from the show will be given to everyone who attends on the night of the party (August 24th 6-9pm) with any remaining artworks sales being opened up to the internet in the weeks after the show.
Will tarot sets be available to purchase too? We can’t wait to do a reading with them! Yes! Pre-orders are now closed but were available through our big cartel: gravitytattoo.bigcartel.com/product/tarot-cards.
Celebrating the art, design and creativity of tattooing will the tarot project be exhibiting anywhere else before the pieces go to their new owners? Nope! Tarot is a one night event!
You used to create your own plush toys ‘Cavey’ and even exhibited at ToyCon, was this integral to deciding to create a physical product from the exhibition? My background in product and the toy industry definitely helped, and I also recognised that not everyone can afford £100 for an artwork and wanted to make an item that everyone could afford, so they can still contribute to the charity. Making the deck of cards seemed like the perfect idea, and a great way to showcase all the great art from the show! We enlisted the help of a local printers to help us make the cards as fab as possible.
This is your first exhibition at your studio Gravity Tattoo Shop, has doing the Tarot project given you a taste for curating tattoo art exhibitions again? Absolutely! We’ll be doing another, different show, next year!
Don’t miss the launch of ‘TAROT The Art of Tarot’ on August 24th at Gravity Tattoo Shop in Leighton Buzzard from 6pm- 9pm or follow over on Instagram for more information!
Interview by Amber Carnegie originally posted on the Barber DTS Tattoo Supplies blog.