Mondial du Tatouage

Mondial du Tatouage is known as one of the world’s largest conventions with over 30,000 visitors and over 300 artists. In this post our Italian contributor Ilaria Pauletti shares her first time at Mondial du Tatouage convention in Paris… 

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This was my first time in Paris and my first time at Mondial du Tatouage. A dream come true!
It was Friday 4th March and obviously I woke up very early, feeling pretty nervous as usual but also very excited for my upcoming appointment with Rodrigo Souto– I just couldn’t wait.

The Grand Halle de La Villette was very easy to reach, located just 200 m from its own metro station, which was great and made the whole trip a lot easier. Giving me loads of time to walk around and see just how many people were attending the convention.

6_Hannah and GuyHannah Sykes and Guy Le Tattooer 

The doors opened at 12 and there was a huge queue at the main entrance, while waiting, I met a lovely Sardinian couple of tattoo collectors who had an appointment with Dane from Inkamatic – Trieste, and a German girl, Eva, who was waiting to get tattooed by Samuele Briganti. She got a beautiful black and grey lady head on her arm.

I ran to get into the convention, powered by excitement,luckily the map of hundreds of booths was right in front of us and I could immediately get to Rodrigo’s one.
He made me feel at ease and he totally got what I wanted on my skin. After he drew the design onto my arm by hand and I had a look in the mirror we were ready to go.

I have to say the pain was pretty bearable but that elbow/ditch spot was actually really for me. And my friend Marina, who was there with me, can confirm the struggle was real!
Three hours later my arm was like a giant sausage, and then I could walk around the convention.

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Ilaria’s peony

I met a lot of the artists I have been tattooed by, for instance Guen Douglas, Morg Armeni, Arianna Settembrino. They were all working hard! I also saw local tattooists who were also very busy, like Mikael de Poissy and Guy Le Tatooer. The booths were a lot larger than ones I have seen at other conventions, meaning that both the tattooist and client could enjoy themselves with no awkward positioning of limbs and machine.

I treated myself to lots of amazing prints by some of my favourite artists, it was really hard to decide what to buy and what to not. The main stage showcased the Best of Day contests, with some great judges including; Kari Barba, Filip Leu, Bill Salmon and Luke Atkinson.

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Yall Quiñones getting tattooed by Roberto Borsi

I hope to be back and I can’t wait to see what’s next, because tattoo conventions are made of this: good company, quality tattoos and a great location!

Fashion Pearls of Wisdom: Tattoo Tea Party

Last weekend saw Tattoo Tea Party return to Manchester for its fifth season and our columnist Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom popped along to see what this year’s convention had to offer… 

An action packed convention with an all the fun of the fair theme- dodgems, waltzer and side shows galore. Hosting over 350 artists over the sprawling Event City we wandered the maze catching up with old friends and discovering new. Tattoo styles were diverse with many artists choosing to offer walk-ups all weekend what better place to get your latest tattoo fix.

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We chatted to Bex Lowe who was offering the most kawaii flash think smiley pizza, grinning tea cups with some old school gamer influences too, Hadoooooken anyone? Tacho Franch came armed with bold traditional Japanese flash peonies, neko, Noh masks and fat toads. Whilst we and many others gathered around to watch in fascination the hand tapped tattooing by Lawrence Ah Ching.
Tea Party is a vibrant, family friendly show which return next year 4th-5th March 2017

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@fleckystattoo

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@tachofranch 

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@bexlowetattoos

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@goldiloxtattooer

ttt@tileproductions

Let’s Talk About Tattoos: London Pop-Up Photo Booth

WOW! Women of the World Festival

 

This Sunday 13 March, we’ll be teaming up with blog Women with Tattoos to stage a pop-up photo booth at the annual WOW! Women of the World Festival at London’s Southbank Centre.

Come see us and get your tattoos photographed by Eleni (the brains behind Women with Tattoos) and chat to Things&Ink editor Alice Snape about what your tattoos mean to you.

Where: Level 2, Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX
When: Sunday 13 March, 11am – 6pm

Alice Snape Women with Tattoos

Editor Alice Snape photographed by Eleni for the Women With Tattoos blog, check out her interview at: womenwithtattoos.co.uk

Pearls of Wisdom: Tattoo Conventions

Our guest blogger is Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. In this post she’ll be talking about getting tattooed at tattoo conventions… 

I went to my first tattoo conventions this summer, the first Liverpool Tattoo Convention, the second Leeds International Tattoo Expo. They were two fairly different experiences, Liverpool being a huge gathering spread out over a warren of rooms filled with artists and merchandise stalls whilst Leeds was a smaller, more intimate affair. I enjoyed both equally.

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Before my first convention I wasn’t sure what to expect, admittedly getting tattooed with an audience wasn’t on my list of fun activities but it was an occasion to get tattooed by my artist without having to travel as far. So I booked in to have my knee cap tattooed by Max Rathbone who had tattooed the rooster on my shin the year before. Yep my knee cap, in public – one of the most painful places or so I’d been told. I wasn’t getting tattooed until later in the afternoon so I had chance to say hello to friends and watch my boyfriend James get tattooed by Andy Walker. This is where we differ as a couple, I like to book my tattoos in advance whereas he prefers to be spontaneous on the day and go for walk-ups (choosing from the artists flash or pre-dawn designs on the day). He also got a little filler from Ad of Folklore Tattoo– a super fun bunch. My turn came and Max scribbled on my knee with coloured pens, he assured me these freehand scribbles would be a peony so I trusted his word and let him crack on. Max had tattooed me before and I was familiar with his style so I could sit back and relax knowing I would end up with an amazing tattoo. To my surprise getting your knee tattooed wasn’t half as bad as I’d expected, phew! Although the swelling after scuppered any plans for a night out, it was back to the digs with a pizza and a bag of frozen peas, our arms laden with prints and other trinkets.

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My second convention experience was just as good, after the vastness of Liverpool the intimate nature of Leeds Expo was a real contrast. Whilst there was less to do there was more time to chat. I had booked in with Holly Ashby whose work if been a fan of for a while, having bought some of her stunning prints for our home and as gifts so I was excited to meet her. Even though I’d not met Holly we had chatted before hand and decided on a design, having already been tattooed at a convention I wasn’t freaked out like I had been for the first convention. That said at Leeds there was a lot more people walking past and taking photos, at first I found this a bit weird but Holly was absolutely lovely and it ended up being really fun talking to other people approaching her booth. We got to chat to people from all over the globe including other people there to get tattooed by Holly – it was like joining a special club. Inner thigh was a bit of an awkward spot as I ended up sat on a bench with paper towels tucked in my knickers, but it was worth the slight embarrassment as I adore the placement of my gorgeous pooch tattoo. In one hilarious moment a couple came running up to us brandishing a napkin, after some confusion it turned out they wanted a lipstick kiss print too use as a tattoo template. I am still left to this day wondering if some has my kiss tattooed!

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Natalie getting tattooed by Holly Ashby taken by Graham Pile

Come and take a seat…

Come and take a seat… in the Things&Ink pop-up photo studio, exclusively at London Tattoo Convention 2015.

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Become part of London Tattoo Convention history in a very special portrait project by Things&Ink magazine. The pop-up photo studio will be located on the upper floor in Tobacco Dock and will be set up for the duration of the convention from Friday 25 September – Sunday 27 September.

Floor plan convention

London Tattoo Convention Floor Plan

Come and see us at the Things&Ink stand to grab a copy of The Horror Issue, as well as back issues of the magazine.

A selection of kewpies from Miniature Ink II, a collaborative exhibition with Atomica Gallery, will available to buy at the convention in the Sailor Jerry room down in the basement, with proceeds going to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

The convention address is Tobacco Docks, 50 Porters Walk, London, E1W 2SF and the closet tube station is Shadwell.  This year the convention are providing free travel on classic London Routemaster buses, taking you from Tower Hill to Porters Walk everyday of the show from 10am- 2.30pm.

Advance tickets are available online until 12pm tonight, get yours here. You can also buy tickets on the door.