Rosalie Hurr, Author at Things&Ink

April 2, 2014

ATOMICA GALLERY PRESENTS: ‘VISION QUEST’

A GROUP EXHIBITION TO CELEBRATE ONE YEAR OF ATOMICA GALLERY

17 APRIL – 18 MAY 2014

OPENING NIGHT: THURSDAY 17 APRIL 2014, 6-9pm. Beers supplied by Red Stripe.

We’re so happy to have been a part of Atomica’s growth from the very beginning, from their pop up shop down Brick Lane to their brand new gallery space in Covent Garden.

Celebrating their one year anniversary Atomica Gallery presents a group exhibition of original artwork from exciting new contemporary artists. ‘Vision Quest’ opens on 17^th April in Seven dials, Covent Garden.

The art exhibited in Atomica doesn’t need to be labelled to be appreciated . It’s the art that comes out of our culture: it’s the books you can’t put down, it’s the music that moves you, it’s the stuff you get up to with your friends, and it’s the flickering glow of half-remembered movies across your eyes. It’s the ink on your skin. It’s the weirdness that plays out in your dreams. It’s the art that you’d make if you had a paintbrush in your hand – and mad skills, of course.

The new exhibition is a visual delight of kaleidoscopic proportions, mind bending weirdness and femme fatales.

Full list of participating artists:

APAK (US) / CASTRO SMITH (UK) / CHRISTOPHER CONN ASKEW (US) / DEREK YANIGER (US) / ELEONOR BOSTRÖM (SE) / FEMKE HIEMSTRA (NL) / JACK PEARCE (UK) / LUKE THOMAS (US) / NIAGARA DETROIT (US) / RAMON MAIDEN (ES) / RICARDO CAVO LO (ES) / RICHIE FAHEY (US) / RYAN HESHKA (CA) / SOPHIE ALDA (UK) / TOM BAGSHAW (UK)

Just a small selection of the stunning artwork on display:

Christopher Conn Askew

Femke Hiemstra

Tom Bagshaw

Address
Atomica Gallery, 29 Shorts Gardens, London WC2H 9AP

Opening Hours

Monday – Friday: 12pm-7pm
Saturday: 12pm-6pm
Sunday: 12pm-5pm

Can’t wait to celebrate with you all, see you there!

April 1, 2014

Jungle Fever – Man sells tattooed skin on eBay

Tattoo Artist Artur Mrozowski has spent 300 hours getting his entire body inked with jaguar spots by his wife, Monika at their tattoo studio in Blackpool.

His obsession with the big cats doesn’t stop at his skin, as he goes by the name of Jaguar.

He has put his skin on eBay for a whopping £75k, but you can only claim your item once the wearer has died. He hopes that the money will help provide for his family… I can think of better ways… and thinks the price is worth the pain he has endured. The listing has since been removed, but the bidding had reached £26.

He believes that his skin is a once in a lifetime opportunity for wealthy collectors, it will create the highest quality leather. He even states that it is in great condition due to his vegetarianism. Indeed there is a market for such oddities, with ‘legal’ human leather being sold in countries such as India. I am currently studying for a Masters degree in publishing, and I have come across book makers being asked to create bespoke books bound in tattooed human leather during my studies.

Also Amsterdam’s Tattoo Museum, houses a small specimen of preserved human skin.

My boyfriend and I have joked before that if we were to lose a body part that was heavily tattooed, we’d possibly keep the limb, or find a way to preserve the skin, mainly due to the money and pain that went into creating each tattoo.

Have you ever considered selling or preserving your tattooed skin? Let us know what you think by commenting below.

March 27, 2014January 23, 2018

Tattooed on the Job – the Perks of being a Things&Ink Intern

Our intern Rosalie interviews tattoo artist Lucy O’Connell while getting her tattoo sleeve started…

I took the train to visit Lucy O’Connell and Ruth Rollin, both from Red Tattoo and Piercing in Leeds who were doing a guest spot at Painted Lady Tattoo Parlour in Northfield, Birmingham.

The studio is absolutely beautiful, like no other I have ever been in. Forget sterile white and tiled floors Painted Lady is like stepping into your much loved eccentric Auntie’s house. Instead imagine ornate frames, muted green walls and bare wooden floor in what was once a living room. The collection of art and taxidermy is incredible and the homey feel is so relaxing, this is how I want my house to be like! There was so much to look at while Lucy tattooed my forearm for three hours with her practically silent tattoo machine.

Owner of the Painted Lady, Dawnii Fantana, one of Lucy’s inspirations, was so welcoming with cups of peach tea and cake! What more could you want? Other inspirations of Lucy’s include; Xam (who she’s planning to get tattooed by when he guests in Leeds), Emily Rose Murray, Valerie Vargas, Jason Minauro and Claudia de Sabe (who is tattooing Lucy’s hands very soon) – Lucky thing!

Lucy had drawn the Chinese lantern design with a cute bird a while ago and I had to snap it up for the start of my sleeve, I love everything she does! I’m a real Instagram stalker, even recognising the fruit fillers that Amy Savage had tattooed as belonging to Lucy. We chatted and laughed the whole way through the tattoo swapping stories about not crying at films, university courses, her love for Robert Downey Jr, (we were watching the new Sherlock Holmes) and other nonsensical things!

Lucy has been tattooing for only two years, yet her style is so distinctive; with women and flowers featuring heavily, as she could tattoo these all day. ‘I do try to turn everything into a woman! I try to get away with as much as I can!’ Fine by me, I especially love her flowers with women faces, perfect.

At first when she started out in the industry Lucy thought she’d specialise in realism but her imagination ran away with her, although ‘it is nice to be given some direction’, creating your own art is more enjoyable.

I can’t wait to get stuck into my sleeve, having already spied on Lucy’s Instagram a gorgeous Indian inspired lady face, which I hope she can recreate for my own collection. My arm will be filled with Indian goddesses, tigers and fans at The Femaletattoo Show, in Leamington Spa where Lucy is working at on 14^th September.

Lucy also has numerous guest spots planned:
One Day Gallery, Manchester 28^th-29^th May
Loaded Forty Four, Manchester 10^th-12^th July
As well as exhibiting originals of her work at The Old Bones Emporium in Edinburgh 6^th-12^thJune

I also got my first ever hand-poked tattoo by Ruth Rollins. I picked a little wishbone from her sheet of cute small dot work flash, to bring me luck. I found being tattooed in this way so relaxing and part from a few points it was pretty painless. I could have lain on the table for hours… I asked Ruth which method of tattooing she preferred: ‘it’s too hard to say which I prefer, they are too different and you’re not comparing like for like’. While tattooing with a machine allows Ruth to create larger tattoos, she, like the person being tattooed, finds hand-poking therapeutic. Ruth is also working at the Femaletattoo Show in September and I’ll be popping down to have another little relaxing hand-poked piece of art!

Having these lovely northern lasses tattoo me yesterday was only made possible by Dawnii Fantana (have a look at her beautiful gypsies), Ruth explains that ‘as relative newbies to the tattooing industry it is brilliant having people like Dawnii who help and encourage you’, Hurrah! To Dawnii, her gorgeous shop and supportive nature! Definitely on my growing to-be-tattooed-by list! I hope I don’t run out of space first!

February 5, 2014December 16, 2023

Should your partner influence your decision to get tattooed?

Should your partner influence your decision to get tattooed? asks our intern Rosalie.

‘”I have numerous tattoos, all of these, bar one, are on my legs, and have been, for the winter, months hidden under leggings. I have been thinking about getting a small jewel tattooed under my boobs, and when my artist created a flash sheet of pretty jewellery inspired designs I became even more excited by the idea. The small ornate jewel would sit nicely under my boobs and look pretty and match my other jewelled pieces. The sternum placement has become increasingly popular, not only with celebrities and tattooed women, but with artists who are creating designs to enhance this area. I am not keen to jump on the bandwagon, as such, but there is something about this placement on women that I find beautiful.'”

Matching tattoos by Charlotte Timmons, Modern Body Art Birmingham

“My boyfriend of five years has not protested to any of my other tattoos, and although I rarely show him sketches of what I am getting, he is always happy with the design, and often chuckles at my subject choices. We met when neither of us had any tattoos and we got our first ones together in our home town, now we both have small collections and he is working on two sleeves. Tattoos for me are a way of capturing memories, showcasing my personality and more recently to simply make myself and others smile. My partner generally allows me complete freedom to permanently adorn my body how I please, and it was he who started my love affair with tattoos.”

“This was until I suggested the jewel under my bust, for reasons unknown to both of us he has been protesting. He has no problem with my other tattoos and says they are sexy, but I think it is the close proximity to my boobs and the design being on my torso that he is having difficulty with. In his mind I am still a bare skinned 17 year old, when, in fact, I am fast becoming a tattooed woman, and loving it!”

Avocado tattoo is by Hanan Qattan, Infinite Ink Coventry

“So should your partner have a say in your subject choices for tattoos and should they influence your decision on the body area which you choose to place the tattoo?”

“As the owner of my body I would say no, but with much internet searching I can sympathise with the partners who argue that it is partly their body, as well. They are the ones who will view your body especially as age affects your tattooed artwork, and they are the ones which we expect to love us as we grow old.”

Moth by Sophie Adamson, The Projects, Plymouth.

Have you denied yourself a tattoo because of the views of your partner? Or do you not consider them in the decision, as you are the owner of your body?

“As for me I am slowly bringing my boyfriend around to the idea, but he also knows that if it is something that I truly want I will go ahead and get it anyway!”