Rosalie Hurr, Author at Things&Ink

November 23, 2015

Interview with Miss Juliet

Our Italian contributor Ilaria Pauletti chatted to Miss Juliet a tattoo artist working at South Ink Tattoo shop in Naples, about her easily recognisable and unique style as well as her new art project Overlap alongside Fabio Gargiulo…

Tell us about your artistic career, from the beginning until now? Did you always know that you would be a tattoo artist? I have alway been passionate about tattoos, I started as a customer and, after finishing my studies at Academy of Brera, I began to work as shop manager at Don’t Tell Mama, my best friend’s tattoo shop.

How would you describe your passion for tattoos? To me it’s not just a job: it’s my life, my everything! Since I can remember, I’ve always been drawing a lot, everyday and all the time. It’s part of me. Tattooing gives me the opportunity to improve. I love every aspect of the process, from the first design to the execution of the tattoo.

Detailed lines are a regular feature of your tattoos, and with each design they are becoming more recognisable, how did you find your style? I have always worked a lot with lines, even before tattoos. I think it was a mixture of natural evolution and constant research, then I slowly began to understand what worked and what did not.

I noticed you tattoo a lot of animals. Do you have a particular preference for these subjects? I have always had a passion for taxidermy and entomology, I started drawing my collection of moths, investigating illustrative works. From there on I’ve always wanted to do more. Mammals, insects and every other living creature!

I find that many artists focus on their most successful works and then they artistically get stuck. I have noticed your will to experiment with your style and technique, how do you keep up your momentum? I am a very curious and a hyperactive person, I research and I experience all the time, both with design and tattoo. I think it’s a side of my character that is unconditionally reflected in my art. I love to collaborate with artists that inspire me every day, I like to go to as many shows and events parallel to the tattoo world as possible. I believe has a huge affect on my path, because I like to look around, outside of a single creative sphere.

Tell me about the heart with crystals that you tend to tattoo, how was this idea born? This idea came up thanks to one of my clients, four years ago. I was requested to do an anatomical heart inside an ice cube, but it would have never worked as a tattoo. After having confronted him, I proposed an alternative, and from there it came the idea to crystallize and adorn with jewels both objects and body parts.

You are of both Chinese and Italian descent, in your work we can see both your western and oriental side. A dualism that, in my opinion, characterises the uniqueness of your style. Do you agree? Yeah, the dualism has accompanied me throughout life, both in lifestyle and in artistic aspects. I love to contaminate my work with oriental details,

Who have you been tattooed by and which are your favourite tattoos? I am particularly fond of my sleeves: the right one is by Lars Uwe, who taught me so much about neo traditional style. And the left is by Fabio Gargiulo, with whom I’m working at SouthInk in Naples. He is teaching me so much about tattoo technique and style!

What are your future plans? Any guest spot and conventions? I always join a lot of tattoo conventions! I will continue to do guest spots at Family Business in London, but I will also be guesting in other Italian tattoo shops.
I’m also supporting Overlap project, with Fabio Gargiulo. We invite artists from all over the world. This project aims to bring together different tattoo artists and styles in a single artwork. They draw on a life size human body silhouette that is at first split in to arms, legs and torso, and then finally recomposed together, giving birth to a single masterpiece: it’s OVERLAP. The 7th session will be held on 27th, 28th and 29th November, during Naples Convention. Fifty international artists will be involved. So excited!

November 22, 2015

Tattoo Experience: You talkin’ to me?

In this post Anna Casey-Woodward a 24-year-old legal trainee from Oxford who spends the majority of her time knitting, baking and getting tattooed. She talks about her different experiences with getting getting tattooed by different artists…

For me, a large part of getting a new tattoo is meeting the artist and watching the illustration turn into a piece of beautiful body art. And for the most part, this has been my experience. However, there has been one occasion when poor communication with my tattooist almost led me to the dreaded tattoo regret…

Good communication with your tattooist stretches from your first email right until you are talking about aftercare. When I commissioned my tattoo, it was by an artist who I had Instagram-stalked for a long time and was in love with their style. I emailed them with a clear idea of what I wanted, where I wanted it and what my budget was. I was very detailed in my proposal and I hope the tattooist appreciated having such clear instructions. There was artistic licence and of course I wanted it in their style, but we both knew what the finished product was.

The deposit was paid, the appointment booked and the day soon came around. On the morning of the tattoo, I saw the sketch and was in love. I got to the studio and we worked around positioning the tattoo where I wanted it. Because of my career, I have to be careful that my tattoos are easily hidden and my tattooist was more than understanding about this and we got the position absolutely perfect. Then it was time to get the ink flowing! This was not going be a short tattoo, and at the time I was reasonably new to it, so I was a little nervous about managing to sit for so long. I don’t sit like a rock, as much as I want to, but was reassured by my tattooist that when it got too much we could take a little break or have some of that hallowed bactine! As a result, several hours later I had a beautiful tattoo which I adore.

Now to my less positive experience. This was a more impulsive tattoo, I was away on my honeymoon, but I still told the studio what I wanted and the tattoo was some four days later. It was something I had been thinking about getting for quite a while and I had a Pinterest board full of ideas. I had been assigned an artist who was guesting from over 4500 miles away, and I was really keen on the idea of getting art done by someone who I would probably never get the chance to see again.

I got to the studio, and had to wait a good half and hour before the artist was ready for me. During that time, I did a brief sketch of what I wanted (as I liked parts of several different illustrations I had found and wanted to put them all together) and collected my thoughts. When the tattooist was then free, I talked to them about that I had drawn and showed them my inspiration (I really am a terrible artist!). We had a quick discussion about bits of my idea that would not work as a tattoo and ways they could be substituted. The artist then disappeared for another forty five minutes and eventually reappeared with a sketch. They showed me the sketch and… well… I wasn’t sure.

It was obvious in that moment that the tattooist and I hadn’t been on the same page when we started. I went ahead despite my reservations, and the first part was soon done. We then started to talk about colours, and the situation didn’t really improve. I had ideas, they had ideas, and they didn’t match. I didn’t feel that comfortable talking to the tattooist as I felt they weren’t really listening. The tattoo went ahead as they had suggested and about half an hour later it was finished. Throughout the tattoo, the studio was playing floor-thumpingly loud music. As a result, there was not much of a chance to talk to the artist and I didn’t have a chance to say when the pain was too much. It hurt, and my leg bled. None of my other tattoos had ever bled outside of the studio, and this one bled all night. Did I go back to talk about after care and what to do? No, because I didn’t feel comfortable enough to go back.

However, there is a happy ending. The tattoo healed well and the next tattoo I had framed it really well. I was saved from that gut-wrenching feeling that a tattoo wasn’t quite what I had wanted, and I wasn’t sure if I really wanted it. My next tattoo is just under a month away, and I will be chatting my way to another wonderful piece of body art.

Have you had the same experiences as Anna? Has how an artist talks to you changed how you feel about a tattoo?

November 21, 2015November 21, 2015

Interview with Tattoo Artist: Betty Latusek

London based photographer Marta Hawrylow interviewed Betty Beata Latusek who along with her partner Kamil work at Betty Tattoo in Wroclaw, Poland. On the day Betty organised a few of her clients, with healed tattoos, to come into the studio to talk about their tattoos and allow Marta to photograph them…

How long do you know each other? Gosh, ages, we’ve met when we were only kids, 14 years old. We have been inseparable since.

Was tattooing important to you back then? Our love for art and tattoo flourished few years after we met. Kamil was my first skin, he trusted me enough when I was training, now he laughs that one day I’ll have to cover up my first tattoos.

How long have you been collaborating? How is it working out for you guys? We do everything together, always have been. This isn’t our first job under one roof. Our roles are very clear, I draw and tattoo, Kamil focuses on customer service, the clients are very important to him and he is the CEO.

How do you work with clients in order to design a project for them? This is Kamil’s part. He meets every client during the first consultation, he discusses what they want- the colours, size and placement. He also does the first draft, most clients bring in photos and other materials to show what they want in their design. During the session, I chat with the client before we start, over a cuppa.

Does your work depict your personality? I don’t think so. I try to get to know the client and their wishes, I try to portray them, not myself in my work.

What do you like to tattoo most? What is your favourite theme? I love portrait, realism, always have. Even in art school I loved painting faces.

Is there something you wouldn’t tattoo or a part of the body? I’d always said I will never tattoo faces. But broke that rule, and with pleasure I now say to never say never. I love a challenge and nothing surprises or scares me.

What or who inspires you? Do you have any favourite artists? Everything what surrounds me inspires me, from changing seasons to people who come to the studio. There are many ultra talented polish artists whose art I admire like Marcin Surowiec or Giena Todryk. However, I might surprise you here, my favourite artist is our eight year old daughter Nadia, who is so gifted. She became a little star and I tattooed a few of her art work onto people already.

When was the first time you knew you wanted to be a tattoo artist? I knew in high school, when I was studying art and got my first tattoo. After that I was drawing projects for friends and their friends and that is how the love started.

And how did you get into tattoo world? Well, it was a bet with my nephew. And as very stubborn being, I did (and still would do) anything to achieve what I set my mind to.

How long have you been tattooing it? Only seven years, five of which as Betty Tattoo.

How does your own tattoos make you feel? I always wait for super special moments in my life to get them on my skin. Few are a spur of the moment, but most are done by person who helped to change my life, Damian Kowal, my dear friend and my teacher.

If you weren’t a tattooist, what would you be? I probably would still paint or draw, just using different tools. I am a jeweller by profession. Surely I would be doing something creative and interesting.

November 19, 2015November 19, 2015

Careers: Tattooed Veterinary Receptionist

We chatted to 24-year-old Bristolian Sadie Oliver a senior veterinary receptionist at Higcroft veterinary group in Bath about her beautiful tattoo collection and her animal filled days…

My very first tattoo at the tender impressionable age of 17 ( I knew a studio that wouldn’t question my age) was a traditional large red rose of my left foot which I showed off to all my friends but hid from my mum! It truly felt like I had opened the floodgates almost immediately after, I basked in the compliments I received. I still do to this day, I love how they are a starting point of conversation between strangers. The genuine intrigue people have about them that have no work themselves. Flash forward three years I got that same piece brightened up by a different artist, and had a snake added to it weaving in and out of the petals. I’m glad I added to it, it pops out at you a lot more now. I don’t regret the tattoo I chose for one minute.

Rose on Sadie’s foot

It sky rocketed from there and from the age of 18 onwards I’d get a piece a year up until my 23rd birthday when I discovered the amazing Jody Dawber (Our Fruity Issue cover star), then I went nuts and got six large pieces one after another. In between each piece, the empty skin would become more prevalent and I’d want to brighten them up mainly with more animals as I’ve always been passionate about them. I’ve got big plans to start a rabbit back piece based on my bunnies with her next year, which I know she’ll totally nail!

Butterfly by Jody

Leading on from my love of animals I’m very lucky to say I’ve finally found my dream career working with small furries every day at a veterinary surgery where I’ve been since January this year, working my way up to a senior receptionist position.
I’ve had lots of different jobs back in the day, rushing straight into full time work in retail after college. I’ve found through all my jobs that my tattoos have never caused me a problem. I’ve always been asked about them respectfully and complimented, I guess none of them are offensive just bright and beautiful. I’ve always been upfront at interviews and dressed smart but made a point of mentioning them/showing them to the prospective employer if I thought it might have been relevant.

When I was hired at the vets, I won’t lie, I was apprehensive for once that my tattoos would effect my chance of getting the job. It would be the first job I would apply for since getting my neck and hands tattooed. Something I do not regret for one minute and would continue to cover in a heartbeat. At the interview I dressed smartly and covered my tattoos. I remember wanting the chance to walk in there and blow them away without them getting a chance to judge me straight off.
The interview went well, nearing the end I felt confident enough to take my blazer off revealing my arms, which are fairly covered. The lady interviewing me stopped mid question, had a little gasp and asked me straight away about my work. She seemed genuinely interested and asked me to give her a twirl, which I did embarrassingly! She did however go on to tell me that she would have to check with those above her that if I was to be hired the company wouldn’t have a problem with my hands and neck tattoos, as she was aware that tattoos aren’t to everyone’s taste.

Fox by Jody

I just wanted a chance to show I’m no different to anybody else waiting in the hallway to be interviewed, and that I had more than the necessary experience for the position.
A week later I was invited for a trial shift, which was a ton of fun. I was told later that day the good news that they couldn’t wait to have me on board, and that some of the older ladies working on reception found me to be very friendly and helpful, it felt like a victory that I could be myself and prove wrong shitty stereotyping older generations seem to find it difficult to shake off.

Almost 10 months on, I’m super settled in my own branch in Bath, a small practice where I work alongside one vet manning reception and taking complete control of the practice. I get to cuddle puppies and kittens practically every day which is awesome! In particular I enjoy watching routine operations like spays and castrations, and have expressed my interest to go into veterinary nursing school sometime next year.

I’ve only ever had one older chap be a total stick in the mud and try to make a show of me, questioning me why I felt the need to “litter my skin with monstrosities!” I think if I wouldn’t have been professional and at work I would have told him what of it! He asked me “how I got this job looking like I sold the big issue” which particularly upset me. I squared up to him and sweetly explained I got the job for being more than competent at what I do, and that my appearance had absolutely nothing to do with it.

I won’t lie I sometimes receive negative comments from people under their breath, say for example on the bus stop. I think it’s sad when typically older people move away from me as if I’m infectious, but I don’t dwell on it. They’re missing out on a good person so it’s totally they’re loss to be close minded! I’ve always found tattoos beautiful and interesting, I love the idea that we can jazz ourselves up and stand out from the crowd, show everyone this is who we are. Take us or leave us.

I’ve found my home and future career now at the vets, they’re more than acceptable of me and others in the industry who are heavily tattooed, just recently they took on a vet who’s head to toe covered. We do our jobs to the highest of standards, our appearances don’t change our values or work ethics tattoos or no tattoos.

November 13, 2015November 19, 2015

Film Reviews: 5 Best War Films

Our guest blogger is hobbyist film and TV series reviewer and writer Harry Casey-Woodward. On th-ink.co.uk Harry will be writing a series of posts in which he will be sharing his opinions on things he has watched.

Last Sunday was Remembrance Day and World War One is now over a hundred years old. Yet we’re still obsessed with war. War films, that is. Not only does war keep marching across our screens in a variety of guises but we love revisiting the classics and rightly so. War is one of my favourite film genres. You’re guaranteed extraordinary action and emotion when you thrust characters into extreme situations. So here’s a countdown of what I believe are the five best war movies and no, Saving Private Ryan did not make the list.

5. All Quiet on the Western Front, 1930

The power of this film is evident due to the fact that it was censored while troops were mobilising for WW2. Based on Erich Maria Remarque’s novel (which I still have to read), this is a classic story of an idealistic young boy going off to war and getting traumatised and, bar Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, this may be the finest WW1 movie. Not only is it extraordinary for being an American movie about German soldiers but it is beautifully shot and it foreshadows a lot of the anti-war sentiments of modern war films.

4. Cross of Iron, 1977

Film director Sam Peckinpah is a favourite of mine and is notorious for breaking the late 60s/early 70s film violence barrier in such intense classics as the Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs. His one war film is equally violent but like his best films, under the action there is surprising depth. Also casting American actors as German soldiers, the story focuses on a German squad on the Russian front during WW2 and an ideological battle playing out between a disillusioned but caring sergeant (James Coburn) and an ambitious but cowardly captain. This epic wins for depicting relentless action together with the emotional turmoil of war.

3. Come and See (Idi i Smotri), 1985

A Russian film with the familiar storyline of a boy going off to war only to discover how horrible it is. This is, however, still one of the most unique war films you will ever see. It is an artistic, beautifully shot emotional bruiser on how much it sucked to be a Russian peasant during WW2. It is notable for depicting more of the common people’s suffering during war rather than just the soldiers and for getting such extraordinary emotional performances from its young main actors. Be warned, this film will leave you shaken.

2. Full Metal Jacket, 1987

As well as being revered for making The Shining and Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick has directed a handful of the greatest war films. There’s the heartbreaking drama of Paths of Glory and the satiric comedy of Dr Strangelove. But nowhere is his vision of war more savage or bitter than in his penultimate movie Full Metal Jacket. Dealing with the Vietnam war, his depiction of young soldiers is one of the most realistic and biting I’ve ever seen. His characters get kicks out of prostitutes and insulting each other with crude slangs, yet even Kubrick can get humanity out of them when they’re pushed to their limits during the Tet Offensive in Hue City. This war film is unique for spending half its length in the training camp, where young American boys are shaved and broken down psychologically to be rebuilt as killing machines by the unbelievably foul-mouthed Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (a monstrous performance by ex-marine R. Lee Ermey). This movie also boasts a cracking soundtrack, including Trashmen’s Surfin’ Bird (way before Peter Griffin tormented everyone with it in Family Guy).

1. Apocalypse Now, 1979

Another film about the Vietnam war with a great soundtrack. But while Full Metal Jacket is your punk war movie, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse is your prog-rock war movie: a steaming three hour drug-fuelled, hallucinatory, nightmarish odyssey into humanity’s heart of darkness. But this is what makes it such a good movie, that and the fact that it’s shot like a work of art. As well as boasting a gallery of magnificent actors like Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Dennis Hopper (even Harrison Ford and Laurence Fishburne in small roles) and killer lines that have cemented themselves into popular culture like ‘I love the smell of napalm in the morning’ and ‘the horror… the horror’ (taken straight from the novella Heart of Darkness the film was based on, giving a dread history to the line), this epic succeeded in depicting all the faces of war within its rambling episodic plot of an American captain voyaging upriver into Cambodia to assassinate rogue colonel Kurtz. There’s action (helicopter attack set to Ride of the Valkyries), black humour, tragedy and of course the horror. This film also succeeds in rising above simply depicting the absurd nightmare of war and tries to answer the ancient philosophical question of what to do about evil. It’s incredible that such an ambitious, philosophical nightmare got made and came out looking perfect, especially regarding the horrendous problems that plagued production that led to their own documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse. I feel Coppola should be more revered for this than his Godfather movies.