Coventry Archives - Things&Ink

October 18, 2018

Tatts for Cats: Charity Tattoos

The feline welfare charity, Cats Protection in Coventry, is holding a collection of tattoo fundraisers to help cats in the local area. Cats for Tatts will showcase three flash days in three different tattoo studios in the city of Coventry…

Saturday 20th October – Queen of Hearts Tattoo Parlour, Castle Yard, Hay Lane
Saturday 27th October – Grizzly’s Art Collective, Belgrave Road, Wyken
Tuesday 6th November – The Drawing Room, FarGo Village

The three tattoo flash days, and the cat-themed raffles will raise money for Cats Protection’s Coventry Branch, part of the UK’s leading feline welfare charity which help around 190,000 cats and kittens each year.

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Cat design raffle prize by Joanne Baker

Each studio and tattoo artist is drawing up sheets of cat related tattoo designs for you to choose from and book. Once you have your tattoo you can donate to Cats Protection, alongside some of the artists who will be donating a percentage of their fee.

In addition there are two cat-themed raffles – one will see four lucky winners get one of four unique tattoo designs – including the Tatts for Cats china cat (above), by the renowned artist, Coventry born, Joanne Baker.

The second raffle includes a number of unique prizes such as a bespoke pet portrait and custom artwork. After all of the ink is dry you can vote for your favourite tattoo which can win the ‘Cat’s Whiskas’ trophy.

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Cat flash sheet by @stephhesketh

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Cat flash sheet by @emilylouise.tattoo

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Tattoo flash designs by @boo_ink

Dolly Osborne, volunteer fundraiser for Coventry Cats Protection:

Tatts For Cats promises to be three really special events – especially as it will help raise some much needed funds to help us care for unwanted cats. We would like to thank all of the wonderful artists who are giving up their time, talent and money to make the lives of little kitties a little bit easier.

As someone who has been a part of the tattoo community for a long time, I am aware it has a long and established history of supporting good causes. It also has a significant number of cat lovers. We thought it was time we brought these two elements together to help our furry friends

Make sure to follow Tatts for Cats on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for more details and updates.

April 4, 2018

Interview with Kerste Dixon

27-year-old tattoo artist Kerste Diston creates beautifully abstract watercolour tattoos at her tattoo studio, The Drawing Room in Coventry. We chatted to Kerste about her style, and running a fully female tattoo shop…

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How long have you been tattooing? I’ve been tattooing around seven years.

How did you start? I started as an apprentice at a studio in my home town in Rugby where I worked for about four years.

What drew you to the tattoo world? Its always something I’ve been interested in. As soon as I turned 18 I was in studios getting work done. I’ve always been more interested in creative industries. I did footwear design at uni before getting my apprenticeship and I did art at college. I can’t imagine not doing something creative as a career.

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How long have you been a studio owner? How did it all come about? I’ve had my own studio for nearly two years. It just sort of happened – I left the studio I worked at in my home town in Rugby and I started working in Coventry. I had an old school friend who has their own business at Fargo Village where my studio is based. When I saw him posting on social media photos of Fargo I was intrigued. It’s a village for creative business and I thought that it would be the perfect place for a studio. They thought a tattooist would fit in well and they had a small unit available. My mum and dad encouraged me to go for it and set off on my own! I’m not sure I would have had the confidence without them to do it. But it’s definitely the best desicion I made. I opened in May 2016, and it started as a small private studio with just me. In May 2017 we expanded into next door and now we have myself and four other full time artists.

Who works in The Drawing Room and what kinds of tattoos do they create? We have myself who specialises in abstract watercolour and black work. Hanah who does super cute girly neotrad work, Emily our apprentice who does blackwork and Haley who does minimilist blackwork

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Was it your intention to have a fully female shop? To be honest it just sort of happened and now it’s a thing. Most of us have a mostly female customer base too because of the style of work we do so it all just sort of fits. That’s not to say if the right artist came to me looking for a job and was a guy I’d turn them down! It just happens that everyone so far that’s been right for us has been female! We also have lots of guest artists – we seem to have made this reputation where ladies like to come guest too, which is lovely! So many people think a big group of girls can be bitchy but honestly the studio is the complete opposite of that – it’s such a lovely place to work and I’m so pleased to have the team I do!

How would you describe your style? Has this changed? I do mostly rainbow watercolour work, however I’ve branched off into doing darker blackwork. It’s still quite abstract but it’s just opened up some more doors for me work wise!

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Do you prefer colour or blackwork? Is there anything you would love to tattoo? I like both colour and blackwork equally – it’s nice to break things up sometimes If I’ve had a week of all colour work and a blackwork piece comes in that’s nice and vice versa! Keeps things interesting! I love to tattoo all things nerdy/ponies and animals mostly!

Do you have any conventions planned? Just one more this year – Scarborough in May. We may look into a few more towards the end of the year though.

December 18, 2017

Interview With Hannah Westcott

We chat to tattoo artist Hannah Westcott, who works at Hales Street Studios in Coventry, UK about her neo-traditional style, her very first tattoo and plans for 2018…

How long have you been tattooing? I have been tattooing professionally now for almost eight years. I started a couple of years prior to this just from home originally; practicing on myself and friends, before obtaining a job as a junior artist/apprentice in Melton Mowbray. I’ve since been based in Leicester, Coventry and until recently, Redditch, Birmingham. I’m now back in Coventry!

What drew you to the world of tattoos? I remember first becoming drawn to tattoos when I started to learn about the alt scene; the alt music scene was a big part of it, seeing musicians I loved with cool tattoos. I remember designing tribal tattoos for myself when I was a kid in school, I’m a kid of the 90s and I’d only really seen tribal work at that time! I’ve drawn ever since I was a kid and would copy stuff that I was drawn to.

When did you get your first tattoo and what was it? I got my first tattoo when I was 18. It was a classic rose on my should blade and it was a little sketch I made in biro, based on a rose I’d seen whilst researching online. I’ve since had that tattoo reworked/covered up as it began to look older than me!

How would you describe your style? I guess I would describe my tattooing style as neo-traditional. I mostly enjoy neo-traditional work, along with Japanese and anything in colour. Although I do enjoy Black & Grey work too and have a few large scale dot work pieces on the go. I’d say I’m pretty varied in the types of work i do. My favourite things to tattoo are animals, birds in particular and anything based on nature. I draw a lot of inspiration from the natural world. I also really enjoy ornate work and colour will always be my favourite type of work to do. I also specialise in cover ups.

Do you have any guest spots or conventions planned? I currently don’t have any conventions confirmed for next year yet but I will be looking to travel around and do some guest spots around the country at my friend’s studios. I find it’s a lot nicer getting to hang out in their lovely studios than the stress of dealing with setting up at conventions and the hustle and bustle of it all. I need to pull my finger out and get in touch with everyone to make arrangements! I can’t wait to see what 2018 will bring!

February 15, 2016

Interview with Holly Marie

Holly Marie is a 20-year-old Disney fanatic tea sipping tattooist who works out of Creative Body Art in Coventry, and creates kawaii bright cute tattoos. We chatted to Holly about her love for Disney, video games and her tattoo collection…

How long have you been tattooing? I have been tattooing professionally from Creative Body Art Tattoo Studio for a year this coming April! I am so pleased with my progress over the past year, but it is still just the beginning for where my work will go.

What drew you to the tattoo world? My first interest in tattoos was way before I can remember, I have always been very into art and appreciated body modification from a young age. I used to watch the beautiful Kat Von D, when I was 13, and tattooing and collecting a large amount of tattoos became my ultimate dream; not one that I ever thought I would get the chance to fulfil though!

What did you do before?
Before I was a tattoo artist I had a couple of retail jobs whilst studying art at college and even considered training to be a dental assistant after receiving my art qualifications but I learnt quickly that I did not suit that career. Luckily I was in the right place at the right time and slowly made my way into the industry in 2013 through a two year apprenticeship which consisted of daily tasks, such as making coffee and sterilizing equipment for artists that I was learning from.

What do you like to draw and tattoo? My most preferred style to tattoo/design is bright and beautiful coloured pieces with bold lines! It still blows me away when people see my designs on social media and ask to have them transformed into tattoos but in general I just adore tattooing all of the fabulous quirky bright ideas that people trust in me to put on their skin. I genuinely find it hard to sleep from excitement if I know I am making (for example, some of my biggest passions) a Disney, Harry Potter or Pokémon tattoo the next day! But following that, I put heart into every tattoo that I do; no matter the size or design. From the smallest dainty infinity symbol to a half sleeve of tribal if it means something to the customer then creating it personally for them means everything to me.

Not just the artistic side of the job makes it the best job in the world though; talking and laughing with my clients is wonderful, I adore hearing the stories from every walk of life and I live to see the smile when they get that first look at their finished piece!

What inspires you? I am inspired to work hard and put everything into what I do by my tattoo family at Creative Body Art, Joanne Leslie, Mia Joyce, Dave Boyle and our talented piercer/receptionist Jessica McGuinness. We are all so different style wise but we bounce off each other and encourage each other daily. When I am trying to inspire myself to create new designs my usual set up is a cup of tea, snuggled in pyjamas with a Disney film running in the background, pens and pencils at the ready with my noble steeds (Chihuahuas) by my side!

Are there any artists you admire, do they influence your work? I admire, respect and follow as many tattoo artists from around the globe as I can but would have to say our lovely local artists at Grizzly’s and Hales St are definitely ones that I will have to mention. They warmly welcomed me into this industry and I hope to see them for more tattoos/conventions with our team at Creative Body Art in the future!

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? I collect a lot of bright and wonderful tattoos that I adore spread across my back, legs and arms! Mostly Disney, Alice in Wonderland and nature themed in a variety of styles and colours, although one exception is a black and grey portrait of my late grandad that I cherish dearly on my arm. I plan on growing my own tattoo collection as I develop more as a tattooist.