Features Archives - Page 64 of 152

August 3, 2016

Tattooist Paul Hill on Sailor Jerry’s Ride

Motorbike collector, tattoo artist and owner of Vagabond Tattoo Studio Paul Hill recently joined the team at iconic American brand, Sailor Jerry for The Ride 2016, which pulled together the UK’s most legendary motorcyclists into three motorcycling teams –Kingdom of Kicks, The Originals and FTH – for an epic ride around the UK. We wanted to find out more about Paul’s love for motorbikes and tattoos…

Watch The Ride videos on Sailor Jerry’s YouTube channel…

Do you think motorbikes and tattoos go hand in hand?
Historically certain aspects of bike culture and tattooing have been intertwined. As cliche as it sounds I think that still exists. The kind of person that is into customising bikes is likely to be into customising other things, including their body. Bike styles of the 60s and 70s bring with them an interest in the aesthetics of that era and those bold traditional tattoos are a big part of that.

What made you first fall in love with motorbikes? And also with tattoos?
I’ve always been into customising and putting my own stamp on things, bikes are a good way to channel that energy and tattooing is the ultimate expression of that.

What was your involvement in The Ride? What was it like?
I’ve met a lot of new people and created friendships through tattooing and even more through motorcycling, often both. The community surrounding motorcycles is constantly growing, a lot of the friends I’ve met are in a similar position to me. Young(ish) person usually within the creative industry all supporting each other. For me it has a community feel that allows us all to work and creatively do exactly what we want. My friend James (team Kingdom of Kicks) is one of these people. We met through the bike scene and I tattoo a mutual friend. He got in touch saying Sailor Jerry were planning a ride this year and offered me spot – a bunch of us riding around the UK camping and partying courtesy of Sailor Jerry, hard to turn down!

What was your favourite moment from The Ride?
The ride itself was awesome, there are so many beautiful roads right on our doorstep bikes being the best way to take advantage of them. Riding through North Wales and the Brecon Beacons is hard to beat. My favourite moment by far was making a BBQ using a piece of slate over a bonfire. We had just finished a great day’s riding through some of the best roads we’d ever ridden and all sat around the fire until the early hours eating and drinking. Moshing in a hay bale bunker to Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes was up there too!

What do you like to mix your Sailor Jerry with?
I mix my Sailor Jerry with Ginger beer.

We asked Sailor Jerry to sum up The Ride in a sentence: This summer Sailor Jerry hit the road once again for round two of The Ride, this year three bad-ass, bike building teams from across the UK were tasked with a series of epic challenges and compete against each other on a hell raising journey of balls-to-wall riding.

Paul was in team Kingdom of Kicks, but unfortunately it was The Originals who took the crown. Better luck next year, Paul. Sounds like he had a great time anyway. Check out Sailor Jerry’s Ride competition on their website.

July 28, 2016August 4, 2022

Interview with Karolina Skulska

25-year-old Karolina Skulska tattoos out of Kult Tattoo Fest in Krakow, Poland and creates wonderful floral tattoos. We chatted to Karolina about the natural world that inspires her and how she started tattooing…

How long have you been tattooing? It’s been two years since I took hold of a machine for the first time. But I’m not sure if my first steps could even have been called tattooing!

How did you start? What did you do before? Before I was studying journalism but after a short time I realised that the work didn’t suit me. During that time I was a customer of Kult Tattoo Fest and was getting tattooed by Edek. One day I noticed that guys from TF Mag (magazine about tattoos which is released by people who are a part of Kult team) were looking for another editor. As a journalism student and tattoo fanatic I was a good candidate. I worked there for few years and was drawing a lot of the time, I was tottally absorbed in the tattoo industry.

Do you have a background in art? I didn’t graduate from art school or academy, but I was always drawing a lot and also taking some drawing lessons. I was doing it for no real reason, but I felt that it might be useful in the future.

What drew you to the tattoo world? Since I remember I’ve felt that there’s something in tattoos that attracts me more than other people. When I was under the legal age I was begging my parents to let me get my first tattoo. Then work in TF Mag showed me this tattoo world from the inside. Doing interviews with tattoo artists was helping me to become more more interested in the craft. I wanted to try the things they were talking about and understand them. Now it’s my greatest passion and job all in one.

Describe your style, has it changed? I don’t think it has changed, my career is too short for big changes. I call myself a tattoo florist, because I love to put lots of flowers into my works, lots of leaves and other botanical aspects. It looks great on all body types as it’s easy to fit the anatomy lines of the body. I use strong outlines but in the same time add small details, I love pastel colours and dotwork.

What do you like to tattoo and draw? What inspires you? As I mentioned, nature is the most inspiring thing for me. In my camera roll I have more photos of botanical elements than food and selfies combined. I love drawing these things, I find a great sense of pleasure from the dots, lines and floral designs.

What would you love to tattoo? And what would you refuse to do? I don’t have a list of stuff I want to do, I simply love all tattoos. Colouring people and using machines is great fun and pure happiness for me, so I just want to do it! I will refuse to do motives that are harmful for other people like racist symbols etc. and I’m also not into religious stuff. I also refuse to make designs that I know will look really bad after a few years, like very small and detailed stuff or super fashionable white ink tattoos.

Do you have any guest spot or conventions planned? This summer I will go to Trondheim for a few guest spot for sure, but as I was travelling a lot last month I’ll probably take a break. Then I’ll start guest spotting with renewed energy next year.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? Most of them are made by Edek, but you can also find on me works of Piotr Bemben, Bartek Kos, Marie Kraus, Davee, Mazak, Kay Lee. Most of my tattoos were spontaneous and creates in the happy moments of my life.

July 27, 2016July 27, 2016

Exhibition: Exit Voto

Our Italian contributor Ilaria Pauletti chatted to Rossana Calbi the curator of Exit Voto, the latest exhibition at Parione9 in Rome, on until August, 7th…

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More than 100 artists were involved in Rossana’s Exit Voto, and among them are some talented Italian tattooists including Miss Juliet, Diletta Lembo and Morg Armeni.

Everyone of the chosen artists had the task of recreating a holy picture on paper. They were all completely free from any obligation or limitations, Rossana simply choose the theme and the medium.

As you may already know, ex-voto is an offering given in order to fulfil a vow, normally the offerings are given to saints or divinities in gratitude or devotion (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, “from the vow made”).
Rossana played with this ancient term to show a way that we can exit or enter the holiness that can be found in the everyday, and a way to explore other’s affinities with the divine.

diletta lembo_santa felicita When did the idea of this ambitious project come to you, how did it evolve to become what it is now exposed in the Roman gallery?
The theme of the representation of holiness has interested me for a long time. In 2011 I curated the exhibition Carpe Viam in Elsa Morante multi-functional complex of Rome, in that case the idea was to understand the artistic representation of holiness along the way. In that project were artists who have also been involved in EXIT VOTO, Marianna Pisanu and Pelin Santilli. Following Virgil’s admonition, carpe viam, I embarked on this journey and last year I decided to work with a hundred artists that could reinvent the holy pictures that I saw in the drawers of my grandmother’s home.

Have you commissioned a representation of each saint, giving total control to the artist or have you given them some guidelines? The only instructions I give when curating an exhibition is the theme, format, and in this case the medium- paper. What interests me and what I think is gripping is the development of each project, I love to see how each artist evolves the theme with different techniques and perspectives.

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When did you decide to include tattooists and not just artists or painters? I do not make a distinction between the arts: cartoonists, illustrators, painters and tattoo artists for me are always just artists. I work without categorising the expression and choices of any artist.

What is your personal relationship with the faith?
I need to believe in something greater than me, I need to do this because I need a warning and above all hope.

And with the art of tattooing?
I was interested in the tattoo world when I was younger. I’m always very curious to see the pictures and study the ties they have with the people. Tattooing represents the evolution of symbols on the skin. Understanding the choices and the need to have a mark on the skin means you understand a lot about the individual and also of the group.

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I personally think that tattooing is an act of faith, about trusting yourself. Deciding to change your body, to explore a feeling or taking control of your body, is an important gesture. What do you think about it? Do you have any tattoos? I got a tattoo of a lily when I was 18, and I never liked the result. The ink exploded transforming the design into something poorly defined. It took me years to trust a tattoo artist again. Well, I chose Nicoz Balboa to cover the tattoo on my shoulder with another lily, that should have been there in the first place.

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What is the Exit Voto that represents you the most? The holy picture that struck me the most is the ‘Maddalena Penitente (Penitent Magdalene)’ by Zoe Lacchei. As I said before I do not give guidance on the realisation of the work, but Zoe Lacchei heard what I was trying to produce with the title. But there are also works that I have enjoyed and that can eliminate the heaviness of my spirit, including the ‘Saint Honoré’ painting by Riccardo Bucchioni.

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016

Meet Lorena Morato

We chatted to the awesome tattoo artist Lorena Morato, 31, who is based in Cologne, Germany, about her “mystic neo-traditional” style, weirdest requests and UK guest spots…

What first attracted you to the tattoo world?
The great and magical idea that you can record something on your skin that often symbolises something important, a certain kind of ritual using blood and ink… tattoos can be used as a magic tool too.

How would you describe your style?
My style is neo-traditional, a mix of traditional with a touch of realistism. I use elements of spiritual and mysterious things, animals with a touch of dark magic, obscure figures who are at the same time full of grace, memories of childhood books and stories I used to read and create, and the magic crystals of which my mum once told me that fairies were living in and that they would protect me. I would say I do “mystic neo-traditional” tattoos.

How do you like to work with a customer to create a tattoo?
I ask them to send me pictures of what inspires them, and if they have a story to tell, I like to hear it to feel inspired. I like to meet them in person before the appointment, if it is possible. I like to know a bit about their personality to create the design, I think that is important.

What’s the weirdest request you’ve ever had?
I had many weird requests when I worked in a street shop. There were so many funny moments back then. No part of the body is weird for me now, since I’m working on my own body suit… but what I don’t like to tattoo are armpits and palms. I have denied many requests for armpit and palm tattoos…

What’s your favourite tattoo you’ve ever created?
I have many, many favourites, but the herbal incense I did at Brighton Tattoo Convention this year is definitely one of my favourites [below]. The peony and incense burner symbolise my new path into a more peaceful inner self, a walk seeking inner peace and calmness.

Is there anything you haven’t tattooed that would really love to?
I would love a request for a design picturing the goddess Kali, but I am still waiting, anybody out there?

Do you ever guest in the UK?
Yes, very often! I will guest at The Warren in Canterbury with the talented Amy Savage in October!

What does the future hold?
More meditation, more time for investing in new watercolour paintings, more little projects and hopefully working not five days a week anymore.

July 18, 2016

Shaded: Neil Preston

‘Shaded’ is an on-going interview series created by 21-year-old Bournemouth-hailing music journalism student, writer and editor James Musker, which focuses on tattooists, the interesting people that wear their work and both the artist and canvas’s relationship to the craft.

Neil Preston is a 30-year-old Liverpool based tattoo artist working out of Manchester’s One For All Collective. Once a student of illustration, Neil naturally gravitated towards the world of tattooing and has now been producing beautifully bold work that references the timeless nature of traditional tattoo art for the past four years. Here, as part of Things and Ink’s on-going interview series ‘Shaded’, he discusses his style, influences and where he sees his work going.

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How would you describe your style? I don’t like saying I have a style. I do all kinds of tattoos, I just have my preferences. I try to learn all the time and produce the best tattoos I can. I’m currently trying to make my work as simple as possible. I don’t use many colours. I don’t like blue. Lining a tattoo is my favourite part of the process, and I like thick lines.

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What is currently inspiring you as an artist? At the moment I’m into the art of David Hockney and Edward Hopper. I’m currently collecting old Black Flag flyers. Raymond Pettibon did a lot of them. They’re all weird. I like interior design blogs too! I’ve recently bought a flat, so me and the wife are getting the place the way we like it. I think the environment you choose to live in is incredibly important, and how you arrange and decorate a living space really interests me. I don’t believe in any kind of God, but religious art also interests me. Wherever I travel, I always make an effort to visit a church. I especially like the windows.

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Can you talk me through your journey to your current style? There was a lot of trial and error, but I just kept drawing and drawing. A lot of the journey involves not being happy with every tattoo you do. You have to constantly re-evaluate how you draw, and this naturally transfers to how you tattoo. It takes time. If I look back at what I was doing this time last year, I would change so many things, and I can only presume it will be the same next year. I’m definitely not re-inventing the wheel, I just try to produce tattoos that I would wear.

How do you see your work evolving? I don’t really know. It’s only something I can see when I look back. You can see the way you used to draw things, but I don’t really worry too much about that. I just try and do my best.

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What predominantly inspires you as an artist? Predominantly, traditional tattoos. There’s a lot of artists’ work that I like, but I mainly like collecting vintage photos of old tattoos. I’ve got a few old flash books that I always looks through. It interests me to see old designs and wonder who’s they were. Old design are like ancient pieces of furniture: each piece has its own story. I did a tattoo not so long ago that was a design that was brought in by this girl. It was pretty much an exact copy of one of her Grandad’s tattoos. There’s something nice about that.