Travel Archives - Page 8 of 10

February 21, 2016

A Chocwork Orange Beer Launch

Last weekend our music writer Amber Carnegie had the pleasure of heading to BrewDog Sheffield to try their latest beer collaboration. Here’s what she got up to…

‘A Chocwork Orange’ has been created by BrewDog in Sheffield, and independents Abbeydale Brewery and Skull And Bones Boys Club. A chocolatey pale malt brewed with a focus on citrus fruits and orange peel. The result- a rich beer with a lasting flavour that left you wanting another pint.

‘A Chocwork Orange’ have nailed it with a chocolate focused beer with none of the artifical taste that you sometimes associate with chocolatey beers. The chocolate notes coming from real cacao nibs and chocolate malts for a moreish flavour that certainly paid off with the first cask selling out in under two hours.

The launch also gave us a taste of the latest Skull And Bones Boys Club collection with baby pinks, pastel blues and intriguing washes framing the bar. As their brand evolves so do their pioneering collections, with already iconic products such as chopping boards and straight razors who knows what SABBC will be adding to their portfolio next.

Find out where you can try ‘A Chocwork Orange’ here.

February 11, 2016

Samantha Fielding: Performer

Samantha Fielding is a 42-year-old photographer and creator of the Performer portrait project, a book celebrating the creative minds and secret worlds of night performers. We chat to Samantha about her upcoming book…

Performer is a homage to the night performer the strong and creative minds that make you forget about the everyday world we wonder in. Night is a time for reinvention. No one understands this better than the underground performer. Bursting free from the limitations of routine and shedding the skin of an every day identity, they become someone else. Someone braver. Someone wilder. Someone truer.For the night time performer especially, there is a certain isolation that comes with putting their vision and endeavour out there. The irony is that they find exhilaration and purpose in their respective acts or identities, and yet they are often judged and mocked as oddballs, outcasts, or freaks.

As both a photographer and interviewer, I shone my light back stage and focussed on the characters behind the parade of masks, eager to capture both the practised pose and the unguarded moments. The result is a series of portraits that capture the beating hearts of a world I feel fortunate to have been able to document. I will say that not only is this book an homage to the featured artists, it also challenges the judgements and preconceptions that we make of others. Either way, I hope my lens conveys a sharper understanding of this misunderstood world. And I hope this work fosters a new communion between the audience and the performer.

I grew up in the south of Spain where my mother owned night clubs. From a young age I was curious of the glitz and glam of the drag queens that had a night club next door. Stunning and tall they always let me sit and watch them put their make up on. I feel at home in this world. I am not a performer but maybe a closet performer. I go to Burningman every year. I actually met my husband there 10 years ago. I have always loved dressing up and have a garage filled with feather head dresses and costumes for all styles and occasions.

I want this book to cover all walks of performance artist’s from burlesque to drag, fire eaters to contortionists. I have given myself three years to travels to London, Berlin, Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Francisco. I hope this book brings an understanding to the every day person that you should never judge a book by it’s cover. Through my journey I have met some of the smartest, happiest, well travelled and well versed artists. These performers choose life.

Watch Samantha’s video below to find out more about the performer project:

January 25, 2016

Gypsy East Desert Erotica Photo Shoot

In the depths of the Rajasthani desert, the Gypsies created magic…

Check out the Gypsy East ASOS for your own magical treasure that the gypsies discovered on their travels

Art direction & styling – The Gypsy East Collective
Model – Emily-Louise McGuinness
Photographer – Alexandre Fantie-James
Shoot assistant – Harry Newbould

January 11, 2016

Tattoos in the Desert

Alexandra Langston is a creative copywriter, editor, and part-time blogger, living and working in Qatar. In this post Alex talks about being a tattooed Caucasian woman in a predominately Muslim country…

There are some parts of the Middle East that are almost indistinguishable from Europe. A huge Western ex-pat community, and the shops, bars, hotels, and events built to accommodate them, plus a booming tourism industry in many places, are a major reasons for this – with Dubai in particular fully embracing Western culture.
Qatar, however, is like Dubai’s little brother: playing catch-up with the economic, architectural, and cultural changes.
When my husband and I moved to Qatar one and a half years ago, we did it completely blind. After plans for a move to Asia fell through, and only a cursory Google of Middle Eastern countries, we applied for a few jobs and Qatar came up trumps. Neither of us had ever visited the region, and we had barely even heard of the tiny thumb-shaped peninsular that is Qatar. So we took a leap of faith, and just two weeks after getting married we had packed our bags, and were on our way to a new life in the desert.

I was terrified. An outspoken, tattooed woman, with a penchant for short skirts and sinking a drink or two; I strongly doubted I would be a good fit for this conservatively Muslim country. Of course I fully intended to respect their laws, religious and otherwise, but I worried about inadvertently offending someone or causing myself problems.
From the very beginning, there was a large amount of pretty uninhibited staring, which I initially put down to being blonde, Caucasian, and female. I quickly realised though that there is a large, mostly male, Indian ex-pat community here too, and that staring is a quite harmless part of their culture.
As it turned out, I really didn’t need to worry about having tattoos at all.
I found that curiosity, above all else, abounds here. It is completely fine to have them, and there is no need to conceal them beyond the expected standard levels of decency, but because tattooing is illegal, and there are no tattoo shops in the entire country, knowledge of tattoos is quite limited.
The most frequent reaction I get is one of surprise, followed quickly by the question: ‘is that permanent…forever?!’ I still get the usual questions about it hurting, even long after healing is complete, and I once had a lengthy discussion about ink entering the bloodstream, but I get the impression that these queries come from genuine interest, rather than judgement – and I have even been asked to model my tats for an amateur photographer!

I’m not sure if it’s the relative rarity of a woman with tattoos, the ever increasing Western influence on the country, or the prerequisite need to cover arms above the elbow and legs above the knee, but so far the consequences of being a tattooed woman in Qatar have been surprisingly minimal.
With more tattoos already planned, I can live with the questions, and I don’t even mind the staring…most of the time.

December 2, 2015December 2, 2015

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!