Rosalie Hurr, Author at Things&Ink

January 29, 2019January 29, 2019

Interview with Tattoo Artist Liv Frost

24-year-old tattooist Liv Frost works out of Tattoo HQ, Chesterfield, UK where she creates amazing blackwork tattoos. We chat to Liv about her recognisable style and love for patterns found in nature…

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When did you start tattooing and what made you want to join the industry? I joined Tattoo HQ seven years ago in March. I had been searching for a shop to take me under their wing as an apprentice for quite a while beforehand and then I got introduced to Brenden Jones and Chris Cross the owners. Who I not only look up to as inspirational tattooists and bosses but also like father figures (I’ve got a tattoo for them on my leg saying “HQ Pops”). Truly lucky and grateful to have to them in my life and for everything they have done for me over the years.

What did you do before tattooing? Did you study art? I did an art and design BTec at Chesterfield college when I left school, specialising in ceramics and jewellery making in my first year and then textiles in my second year. Looking back at old sketchbooks and pieces drawn/made throughout this time, they all reference tattoos, whether that be the style or the history. Tattooing was something I’ve always just been drawn to and interested in. I’ve always had a strong mindset – if you want something bad enough, you have to go out and do it, regardless of what others say, you’ve got to do it for you!

How would you describe your style? What drew you to blackwork? I originally started out wanting to tattoo traditional based work, but something wasn’t quite right. I’m a lover of textures, a mix of line thicknesses and patterns. I think that’s why I use a heavier lines for the main outline of my work though as I like that bold statement that traditional work gives. When I was apprenticing I used to draw on little wooden boxes to sell and Bren and Chris suggested I tried some dotwork out on them. I loved it and I would happily sit for hours dotting away on them. I then drew flash sheets of bugs and butterflies in this style and it all started from there. Just black, dots and lines. Various textures creating depth and forever learning what liner would create the best dotted fade or how adding the smallest of line details can make such a great impact on a piece. When tattooing I only show the customer the main outline of the piece and add all the fine linework and dotwork as we go along. I find that this way, the piece flows better! Trusting customers are everything!

What inspires you and what would you love to tattoo? I love butterflies and moths, the unique prints on them and just like leaves and petals, the impressions from their veins. I love tattooing floral pieces and mandala/pattern work, I’ve found they go hand in hand with each other for creating larger scale work! Another of my favourite things to tattoo is small frilled hearts with anything inside them – often writing or something Disney related! I’d love to tattoo more large scale pieces, I’ve got a few back pieces coming up that I’m really looking forward to and this year I’m definitely going to focus on drawing up more flash sheets based around nature, patterns and of course some more Disney will pop up in there!

Do you have any guest spots or conventions planned? I currently don’t have anything lined up for any guest spots or conventions but I’m definitely going to change that! My books reopen in March so by that time I’m hoping to have a few shops booked for guesting at! I always post about anything up and coming on my Instagram and work Facebook page!

January 24, 2019January 25, 2019

Interview with Tattooist Artem Iam

32-year-old tattoo artist Artem Korobov Iam works out of a private studio, in Tel Aviv Israel and creates tattoos in what he describes as a graphic style. We chat to Artem about his unique tattoo pieces and what inspires his abstract work…

How long have you been tattooing? How did you become a tattooer? I work at my private studio in Tel Aviv Israel. I opened this space together with Shiran, my girlfriend who is also a tattooer – our shop is called DUMIYA. I’ve been tattooing around four or five years now. I become a tattooer when I was in Spain, that’s when the idea of tattooing came to me. Before tattooing I worked a lot of different jobs – almost most of them shitty.

What drew you to the world of tattooing? I’ve been drawn into the world of tattooing, mainly because I think the time, place and everything was right and felt right. Everything was exactly how it needed to be! I know that now I have found myself!

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How would you describe the tattoo scene in Israel? What sorts of reactions to tattoos get over there? The tattoo scene in Tel Aviv is a little bit better than in the rest of Israel. Because Tel Aviv is the centre, and Israel is not a big country, most of the good artists can be found in Tel Aviv. I don’t really have a lot to say about the scene in Israel but it is good. Everything is moving slowly here, but the clients that are here have open minds which is so good! You can also find some super unique artists here as well. But you can count them on one hand, if you know what I mean.

I love to tattoo in Israel though, it’s my home. From a really young age I grew up in this country, although I was born in Siberia. So I love Israel, when people ask I say I was born here. I also really love my clients, well almost all of them! They are open minded with me, which is great for me as I can do what I love and what I like which is a great thing!

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How would you describe your tattooing style? I would call my style graphic Avantgarde. I mix different techniques with some graphic realism, abstract texture or different kinds of elements. Some of these I make on my iPad and some of them I draw, or I make the parts on Photoshop and then mix it altogether to get the design. Sometimes I make some abstract works that are all freehand.

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What inspires the pieces you create? Everything is inspiring to me, it could be a sport, a player or fighter. It could be music, good movies, lyrics from songs or writers that I love. Other times it can be the weather or the atmosphere around me – really I think I am inspired by everyone and everything.

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Do you admire any other artists and do they influence your work? There are a lot of good artists that I love and that I am inspired by. I travelled around the world for two years meeting loads of good people, whose work I loved as well. My good friends are from Brazil, they’re like my brothers and they inspire me a lot. But also lots of the other places I have been have an affect on my work too.

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What do you like to tattoo, and what would you like to do more of? At the moment I like to tattoo women’s faces with a mixture of different emotions. I also like to tattoo abstract stuff, I like to improvise and experiment. Every time I do this I am finding more and more out about myself! I don’t really know what else I want to tattoo, I do want to progress. I’m always looking to make something, new and fresh, or at least try to!

January 21, 2019

Kewpie Tattoos

If you’ve been following us for a while, you’ll know that we’re just crazy about kewpies. We first shared our love for these adorable dolls in Number 3 of Things&Ink magazine – The Love Issue. Now we’re seeing that a lot of tattoo collectors and tattoo artists share our feelings for these little cuties…

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@drewlinden

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@jodydawber

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@juliazombitattoo

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@attackofthe50footwoman

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Do you have a kewpie tattoo? Tag us in your photo on Instagram so we can see it!

January 19, 2019

How Getting a Tattoo after Rehab Helped me to Stay Sober

Shaira is a marketing supervisor of a retail store in Denver City, Colorado, and this is how her personally designed tattoos helped her to stay sober. The 26-year old shares how she started getting some ink after successfully getting out of rehab, and how it led her to design tattoos for others…

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When did you start getting a tattoo? I was actually 21 years old then. I had just got out from rehabilitation in Colorado and felt that I needed a diversion. I came across the Things&Ink blog and saw how liberating it was to have that freedom to do art on your own body. I was more enticed when I saw the other guest bloggers whom themselves are tattooed. It was also that time when Ink Master and other similar shows started to gain traction. I got hooked.

Before then I was hanging out with older people who became my friends. They taught me how to drink alcohol until I barely was sober. That was when my parents sent me to rehab. When I got out, ink became my diversion. I started designing for myself, and since then, I would get one whenever I found myself desiring alcohol.

How many tattoos do you have right now? I actually have 70, most of my tattoos were inked soon after my release from rehab. The urge to go back to drinking was much stronger then and the feelings of depression were still strong. So, I got one after the other. It’s both a good thing and a bad, that I am gaining more control over my desire to go binge drinking because I feel more free from the disorder. Unfortunately, I no longer have that extra reason to get myself tattooed again.

What prompted you to start designing tattoos? One of my closest friends saw me designing my tattoo one time. She was amazed and wanted one for herself, but I was hesitant back then. This was something that I was mainly doing for me, and I didn’t have the courage to do other designs. But I started checking out sites of other tattoo artists and found that designing can be learned. The artist in me was awakened. I believe that it helped me to get over my depression and squashed my desire to abuse alcohol.

Can you tell us more about tattoos helped you overcome alcohol abuse? It was in one of my Denver AA meetings that I encountered the idea again of doing art as part of the substance abuse treatment. It was part of my treatment package when I was in rehab, but it was not my time yet. It did not strike me much then probably because I was still not ready to leave my addiction behind me. The experience proved to me that the process of rehabilitation really takes time. Just like how I acquired my alcohol dependence which became a full-blown disorder, being treated from it is a step by step process. One cannot just wake up and feel relieved from alcohol addiction.

I started studying the relationship of art as part of rehabilitation from substance abuse disorder. I read a couple of articles online and realized that art therapy and music therapy are vital aspects of complementary and alternative medical practices (CAM). CAM shows a positive effect when implemented parallel to the implementation of treatment programmes for substance use disorders that are evidence-based. When someone finds a healthy way of channeling his or her creative energies through art therapy, their attention is diverted to more positive activities. People like me who suffer from a substance use disorder are provided that comfort from art, and we are relieved of our worries and burdens, especially concern over remission.

What encouraged you to share your experience? The increasing statistics of people experiencing substance use disorder, especially alcohol use disorder, is really bothersome. I underwent the same battle, and I know how difficult it is once the person is already alcohol dependent. But there is hope. That hope is the main reason I’m sharing my experience.

I want more people to know, especially women, that it is not the end of the battle. There are options available for treatment. Rehabilitation facilities offer different treatment options for recovery. Grab the opportunity to free yourself from that disorder. As per my part, I will be willing to help anyone in any way I can. I offer my services to those suffering from substance abuse disorder who want to have a tattoo. I have shared some of my designs to other members of the AA meetings Denver area. I know it is a small favor that I have given them, but it also makes me happy to know that I have a share in their recovery.

Interview by writer Patrick Bailey

January 17, 2019January 17, 2019

Tattoo Conundrum: Saving Space

Editor Rosie shares her thoughts and fears about running out of space on her body for tattoos – and saving a gap for that artist who works half way across the world…

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If you’re anything like me, most of your time is filled up with scrolling through Instagram soaking in all the new tattoos created that day as well as stumbling over new tattoo artists. Like many tattoo collectors I know, I have a hefty wish list – a list of design ideas and a list of tattoo artists that I have to get work from. Sometimes these cross over, and I have in mind a specific design that I know an artist will nail.

Being based in the UK, many of the tattooists on my watch list are scattered across the globe from Australia to Canada, Germany to Brazil. There are simply too many that I covet, and so too many to choose from – and that’s where the issue lies. There are hundreds of amazing artists and I don’t have enough bare skin! When you factor in tattoo apprentices in the early part of their career and those people that haven’t even begun tattooing yet my anxiety rises further.

As we start to fill up our bodies with designs, we have to make decisions: whose work do we want more? How far am I willing to travel? How much money can I spend? Who does the best work in that particular tattooing genre? Who has the best style for that design I have in mind? How long am I prepared to wait? If I go to an artist more than once, am I missing out? Do I save space on my arm for that artist in Australia, in the vain hope that they guest in the UK or I make it half way across the world? Should I get work off my awesome local tattooist instead?

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These are just some of the thoughts that I have on almost a daily basis, and surely I am not alone? I reached out to my followers on Instagram to find out how others feel about saving space and filling up too fast…

Nia Howarth, Huddersfield:

“I wouldn’t say I’m heavily tattooed! But I’m only 23 and I’m very quickly running out of space. There are artists who are out there who I love and really want to get tattooed by but I don’t think I’ll have the space for everyone! I also love having my boyfriend (Callum Glover) tattoo me because it makes me so happy seeing how proud he is that his girlfriend has work by him.”

Loll Montgomery, Birmingham:

“I got tattooed a lot by the same person during my twenties and now think I should have saved the space and had work from different people. I do love the work I have, I just regret taking up so much space, but I was young and wanted to get tattooed once a month.”

Jen Adamson, Leicestershire:

“I’m not heavily tattooed yet, so fill me up!”

Kiaya, Galway Ireland:

“I totally get you. I’ve FINISHED my sleeves but taking a huge break now to wait and collect on my legs. Has to be special – all killer no filler. One leg is almost full so have to be selective.”

Claire Smith, Derby:

“I think this all the time! I worry about conventions and the fact I don’t have many easily accessible gaps left for artists I love. I see pieces by artists and worry whether I’ll be able to get anything by them because I’m filling up so fast! And yet I love all my tattoos. It is so difficult. I think you will always want ‘one’ more and there are always going to be new artists you discover but it doesn’t stop you loving the collection and choices you’ve made.”

But are all of my thoughts and some of yours caused by a worry that our tattoo journeys must end someday? And will that be when we are full? Or does filling your skin never truly end – I mean I could blast over it all and start again?

Photos by Amie Louise Thomas