Meet MEAT

Meat is the new collaborative fashion venture of London based designers Alis Pelleschi and Bo Claridge. Specialising in rubber wear, the brand was born out of their belief that the material could transcend fetish-wear clichés. Reflecting the pair’s backgrounds as digital natives, Meat is a brand fully in tune with the internet. Not only in the inspiration they draw from online culture, but also in their adoptions of the internet as a presentation platform in itself. The ideology of Meat is to constantly evolve and reinvent itself with every season.

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How did you start MEAT? 

Alis Pelleschi: It happened quite organically out of our own desires to wear latex, but no-one was really making latex that suited our own styles. So Bo started making us pieces to go out to clubs in and stylists started requesting pieces. We suddenly realised that we’d found a gap in the market and it started from that. We both have different skills that compliment each other, so we’ve been pretty lucky that we can be as self-contained as we have been. And then along the way we’ve had so many lovely talented people help us achieve the MEAT dream. Neither of us have come from well off backgrounds, so we’ve had to do this on our own, off our own backs and we’re just genuinely really lucky to have talented friends and meatbabes around us!

How long has MEAT been running for?

AP: Three years. (Scary.)

Do you have a background in fashion?

AP: Neither of us studied fashion but we both came from studying Visual Communication. Before that I was shooting fashion editorials and knew the fashion and art world, whereas Bo came from the more art / tattooing world. So I knew what was needed to bring together these ideas and make a fashion brand. We both felt strongly that it wasn’t just about the clothes, we wanted to create this whole world via photography, video, ideas, music, stories and people.

What do you love about working with latex?

AP: Latex as a material is so futuristic to me and so sexy. It’s unlike any other material. There’s a reason why latex as a material gets fetishised, as it is so luxurious and unusual. There is nothing that makes me feel more sexy than slipping on a sexy latex dress. It’s empowering!
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Do you guys have any tattoos?

AP: Bo has lots, she’s currently 2/3 way through a big back piece by our friend Stewart OC.  I actually have no tattoos. I have up until now quite liked the idea of never having any, as I like being able to transform myself and evolve. However, I have been contemplating a few for a while. So planning to get my first tattoo in the new year.

What made you use Grace Neutral for you latest shoot?

AP: I’ve been fascinated with Grace for a long time… she is this perfect futuristic alien princess. She was actually one of the easiest models I’ve ever had to shoot as she is just so effortlessly beautiful and she’s super nice, so that helps. I really love the idea of a ‘meatbabe’ being anyone and making it your own and we like to use either hot friends or creatives we admire who are bold, full of self confidence and doing their thing. She has really honed in on her craft, it’s inspiring!
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Meat clothing can be purchased via their website and they can be found on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Interview with Hannah Hill

21-year-old Hannah Hill is the talented lady behind independent business, Hanecdote. Since 2012 she has been creating cute and quirky embroidered patches, along with establishing the Ghoul Guides International club. Not only does her stitching wizardry make you smile, with slogans such as “Avocado Angel” and “Pizza Princess”, but they also bring awareness to subjects such as mental health, racism and feminism.

Amber Bryce caught up with Hannah to talk about her art, inspirations and amazing collection of tattoos, of course…

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When did you first start embroidering? I started embroidering when I was about 17, at college studying a BTEC Art and Design course, where I was given the opportunity to experiment with a wide variety of mediums and techniques. Saying that, my mum has always knitted and stitched so the influence has been around me for most of my life.

Where do you find your inspiration? My sources of inspiration can vary a great amount. I find beauty in kind people and my intense love for my best friend, nature, architecture, pop culture, emotions and politics, girls, identity and family. I find huge inspiration and support in my online feminist art babe community, and people constantly making me want strive to be better and make even more meaningful work.

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Are you interested in any other art forms? I love all kinds of art forms and styles, although hand embroidery is my main skill. Both of my grandparents were architects, which influenced my outlook on the world around me from a very young age, and as I mentioned, my mum is a very talented crafter, who has done projects including mosaic, stained glass, knitting, painting, floristry, embroidery and sculpture. All my life I have been surrounded by art/design in one way or another, whether it was crafternoons, gallery trips or work experience. This year on my fine art course, I hope to expand my textile techniques as well as explore my identity further. This is something I am really excited about, and look forward to seeing where my work goes.

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Do you have a favourite artist? There are plenty of artists who I love but I don’t think I could choose just one. I recently saw Ai Weiwei’s exhibition at the Royal Academy and it was incredible. What stood out to me in particular, other than the deep historical context and emotion behind lots of his pieces, was the beautiful craftsmanship, which just further represented aspects of China’s history.

I also love Yayoi Kusama’s work and am really inspired by her resilience through mental health issues and how that transpires in her hypnotic, colourful work. Right now I am obsessed with Reuben Dangoor who has been painting Grime artists as if they were landed gentry, which combines my love of grime music and classical painting. I am all about changing up the art world, and injecting the variety of cultures now residing in the UK into what we think of art and history in England, and this series really represents that crossover.

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Which of your creations are you proudest of? Over the past year, my embroidery has grown from teeny patches expressing hobbies and interests, to more biographical pieces, which are much more detailed. I love both kinds equally, but the patches that are closest to my heart are ones that support and encourage little victories, activities that are hard for people with mental health issues but still deserve to be rewarded. Knowing that I have impacted someone’s mental health, and helped them to not feel so alone is so heartwarming to me.

I personally love the embroidered self-portrait I made last year, which was challenging but my hard work really paid off. It had originally started of as a self-care project, which turned into really fun way of working for me.

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What are your future plans for Hanecdote? As far as my shop, its had to be put on the back burner while I’m back at university, but I do hope to reopen it soon, just selling machine embroidered versions of my classic designs while I study. Next summer I will have more time to commit to my business, introducing some clothing, expanding the machine embroidered range and also offering customised embroidered hoops, similar to the ones I have been making. I love being able to share my creations and designs with people, but I wouldn’t say I enjoy business, so I kind of make it up as I go along, improving and learning constantly, and I would like to grow personally as an artist for a while before committing to my shop again.

What advice would you give to others wanting to start their own business? It takes a lot of patience, that’s for sure. I struggle to think of sound advice as it is all about trial and error for me, and I’ve been running Hanecdote since I was 17 so there really has been a lot of learning and figuring out the best process. I was making and sharing kind of crap things for a year or more before I made my Ghoul Guide patches and they got popular online, which propelled me into the patch machine I have turned into over the past two years. I guess be confident in your products, work ethically, don’t copy other peoples designs and have fun expressing yourself.

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Tell us about your tattoo collection? I got my first tattoo a week after my 18th birthday, which is a bum in a heart shape and could still be one of my favourites as my mum also got tattooed with me and it brings back fond memories. I also have a black cat on my wrist; a matching honey jar with my brother, which commemorates a fond memory with our grandpa; an interpretation of my popular Too Cute To Care patch; a palm tree, which I got in Antigua with my boyfriend; a pin up girl with a snake wrapped around her, inspired by John Collier’s painting of Lilith and Salma Hayek’s character in From Dusk Till Dawn; a skull pin cushion; a Friday the thirteenth embroidery sample; a sad girl; a crying eye; lil ghoul; a heart with a G inside; a heart saying ‘mine’; a nude Polaroid, and a butterfly.

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Have you got plans for anymore in the future? I have lots of ideas for tattoos in the future, including some mermaids, no doubt more embroidery inspired ones, some more babes, and I’ve been really thinking about a beautiful under boob tattoo. I think I’m gonna go easy for a while though, if I can help myself! Matching tattoos are my favourite and I would love to get some more. Hopefully one day I can convince my dad to get one with me

Interview with Gem Carter

20-year-old Gem Carter works at Stay True Tattoo in Ashburton Devon and creates beautiful lady faces and tattoos inspired by nature. We chatted to Gem about her developing style and love for traditional tattooing… 

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When did you start tattooing? March 2014

What did you do before, do you have a background in art? I went to art college and I worked in graphic design for a clothing company for a little while. I tried commission drawing for a bit, but I was never sure about any of it. I had a strong art influence from my family too. I always wanted to do something artistic, but for a while I just wasn’t sure what. Tattooing is the only thing that’s really kept me interested!

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How did you get your apprenticeship? It was luck really. I was sort of looking for a while but was in no rush as I was quite happy to do the uni thing. On the off-chance I sent an email to a shop who had an artist leaving and wanted an extra pair of hands to help out. He liked my work so took me on as an apprentice, I quit my foundation course and started my apprenticeship a few weeks later.

How would you describe your style? People ask me all the time and I never know what to say! I started in a small shop in a small town where I literally couldn’t afford to turn down any of the work that came in so I quickly had to pick up a lot of different styles. That’s stuck with me and I still do a bit of everything. So style wise I’m not sure, but subject matter wise, I love anything floral, animals, anything vintage, lady heads, all the good stuff. Oh and disney! Lots of disney.

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Lately you have been tattooing mainly black and grey, is this what you want to focus on? It’s just what people seem to want. I love the etching type stuff and it’s a style I’m really comfortable with, I love working in black but I wouldn’t want to limit myself. So many artists have such distinctive styles and I just think how do they do it?! If I focused on one thing I would never have any work! Hopefully one day I’ll find something I can easily do forever, and that people recognise and specifically come to me for. (Watch this space!) If people come to me because they like my black work then that’s really awesome, but at the moment I’m happy to do everything, and try to improve in all areas.

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How would you say your work has developed? I started off pretty timid and scared of challenging myself. I’m so thankful that I was able to move to my current studio, it’s a great environment and I feel more inclined to just give everything a go. I’ve learnt a lot. I think my work is more grown up because of it. I hope so anyway. I’ve still got a long way to go before I’m properly happy with everything I do but it’s nice to be slowly getting there!

What inspires you? Nature, plants and animals mostly. I’m so lucky to live where I do and be surrounded by these things every day! I love old books and vintage illustrations. I take huge inspiration from all the artists I follow too. It’s this constant stream of awesome tattoos and artwork, it’s amazing if you’re having a down day and need some motivation.

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What would you like to tattoo or do more of? I always enjoy traditional, I don’t get to do enough, so it would be fun to do a bit more. I’ve also only ever done one full back piece which is still a work in progress, and only a small handful of sleeves, so I’d love to do some more large scale work. If that fails, just girl faces and animals please!

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? I have a few from local artists, a couple of ropey self-made ones, and a few from artists I’ve travelled to see. I wouldn’t say I really regret any but it’s definitely a weird mix match of stuff. I started off just getting tattooed for the sake of it, it’s only been in the past year or so I’ve actually travelled around the country to go and collect pieces from artists I love. I got tattooed by Guen Douglas this year and it’s honestly my favourite thing I own! I don’t get tattooed that often, it’s so difficult to find the time, but I’m in no rush to get covered, if it takes me 20 years then that’s okay.

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One Hundred Years of Tattoo Trends

Casey Lubin got 11 tattoos in  one week to celebrate American tattooing history. Each tattoo represents a different style through the decades and the tattoos are based on the work of some iconic tattooists, including Ed Hardy.

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Cut Video create a series of videos titled 100 years to show beauty trends from around the world and throughout the decades. They advertised for a model to get 11 tattoos in a week and Casey volunteered and got tattooed by tattooist Clae Welch.

Casey is really pleased with her new tattoo collection, explaining that:

If your body is your temple, then you should be able to decorate it the way you want, right?

Watch the video below to hear Casey’s stories and see her tattoos:

 

Luke Oakman Guests with Daryl Watson

Things&Ink contributor Maisie Manning and her boyfriend tattooist Luke Oakman travelled to Rock ‘n’ Roll Tattoo in Dundee recently, where Luke tattooed alongside Daryl Watson. Maisie documented their travels and chatted to Daryl about all things tattoo

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Luke tattooing Daryl

Nestled in a sleepy part of the country that founded BrewDog craft beer is Rock’n’Roll Tattoo and Piercing, – part of a chain that was founded in 2006 in Edinburgh, and has since expanded to have shops in Glasgow and Dundee, the latter being where tattoo artist Luke Oakman and I were, where Luke was guest artist for a busy few days. The guest spot came about when I messaged Daryl about getting a tattoo, to which he replied that he really loves Luke’s work, would like to do a tattoo trade and could sort out a few days of work for Luke. We managed to get everything arranged and it all came together nicely, leaving us ready for a few days in Scotland. Outside may have been rainy and dull, but inside is anything but, with resident artists Daryl Watson, Piotr Gie, Raf and Bart Janus focusing solely on custom work in a range of styles to suit a range of tattoo needs. Whilst staying in Dundee and spending a few days at the shop, I took the opportunity to ask Daryl a few questions.

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Daryl tattooing Luke

At just 22, Daryl Watson has an impressive tattoo collection, including his face (which he is intending to add to), and goes against every stereotype that could be thrown at him. Spending a few days with him, and through conversations, I discovered him to be a sweet, considerate guy, with a lot of ambition and high aspirations.

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Tattoo by Daryl

Originally from Teesside, neo traditional artist Daryl Watson, who recently exhibited a Kewpie in Miniature Ink II at the Atomica Gallery, found himself living in Dundee, after completing his apprenticeship in the Glasgow branch of Rock’n’Roll. From a young age, he was constantly drawing – encouragement from his artist dad, lead him to GCSE art and ultimately into a fine art degree. Daryl found that, for him, university wasn’t a place to evolve his style like he wanted, and felt too pressured to decide on a future career path. He had known from around the age of 13 that the art of tattooing interested him; this was around the time that his older brother started getting tattooed, which lead Daryl to start looking into tattoo artists. So after the first year of university, upon speaking to various people it was decided that he should embark on the journey to become a tattoo artist. He spent the next year building up his portfolio, before looking for an apprenticeship. Speaking of the first sleeve tattoo he completed, Daryl describes it as being his weirdest creation to date – he was given a lot of freedom, but also a lot of suggestions, which suited him fine. The whole sleeve consists of animals in costumes with accessories, including a monkey with a shirt, bowtie, braces in RayBan sunglasses.

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Tattoo by Daryl

Daryl’s love of antiques, animals and flowers permeates his work, and his love of antique shopping and visiting museums with his girlfriend, Roisin, is clear through both his unique sketches and tattoos. Taking inspiration from his favourite artists, who happen to be predominantly tattoo artists (although Daryl admits that a few illustrators interest him), including Eckel, Sneaky Mitch, Matt Adamson, Håkan Hävermark, Joe Frost and the artist he has always had a connection with artistically – Uncle A. Decorative frames, bejeweled animals and brightly coloured flowers are amongst his favourite things to draw – although he expressed a desire to tattoo more of a dark style, including crows, candles and death, along the same lines as the work of Eckel, as he doesn’t really get to do much – he gets given predominantly fairly ‘girly’ design ideas to work with, which although he enjoys, would like to branch out.

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Tattoo by Daryl

Our time at Rock’N’Roll tattoo was over too soon – everyone part of the R’N’R family was so accommodating and friendly, well worth a visit!