Embracing female tattoo culture
We adore carbs in all their various forms: crisps, chips, pasta, noodles, pastry. We think about them all the time. And we’re pleased to see that there are a lot of people who love them as much as we do, so much so that they have chosen to immortalise their carby passion in ink. Here’s a round-up of our fave carb tattoos…
Hmm, now we’re hungry. Share your carb – or any food really – tattoos with us on Instagram #thingsandink
After seeing sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes pics from some of our favourite tattoo artists taking part in ‘TAROT the art of Tarot’ we couldn’t help but be intrigued!
We caught up with Holly Astral, the woman behind ‘TAROT the art of Tarot’ and Gravity Tattoo Studio to find out more about the project and how you can get your own piece of it…
What inspired you to start the ‘TAROT The Art of Tarot’ project? It just came up spontaneously! Me and the girls in the shop love reading tarot, and one day we started talking about how fun it would be to design some tarot cards between us, and the idea for the show just clicked into place! Since I got the keys to the building that is now Gravity Tattoo Shop I’d always said I’d like to hold an art exhibition in the ground floor reception area, and this seemed perfect!
You’ve taken part in exhibitions at galleries across Europe and America, was this part of your motivation for the tarot project? Totally! Before I was a tattoo artist I was a toy designer, and ran my own line of designer toys. During that time I put on a couple of collaborative art shows in London, and one in LA. Each one showcased toys which has been customised by other designers in the industry and were so much fun to put on. My main motivation for this show and those that I’ve organised in the past is to showcase the talent of those around me – I figured I’d put on the kind of shows I’d like to attend.
What message do you hope to spread? I’m interested to get the conversation going about tarot cards, and how people view them. I am relatively new to the concept, having dabbled a little as a teenager. I had a very rough start to this year and got into it as I was looking for answers. I don’t believe in divination or mediums, rather my take on tarot is that whatever you latch onto within a reading is your subconscious trying to tell you about a part of your life you need to look a little deeper at, or maybe an answer that you already know and need permission to bring to the surface. We all have the answers to our problems inside of us and activities like tarot reading can help us to bring the answers to the surface.
The Tarot project aims to raise funds for Hula Animal Rescue, does that charity mean a lot to you? Absolutely! We raise money for them throughout the year, and last year put on a flash day to fund raise for them. Gravity is a vegan tattoo shop and animal welfare is important to us, Hula are a wonderful small charity doing great things for animals.
You’ve brought together 78 individual artists for the tarot project – how did you pick them? Well at first we were going to do just the 22 major arcana from the tarot deck, so we asked some friends if they’d like to design a card for the show and it just got bigger and bigger! Before I knew it we had the entire deck being created, we were just blown away by the response.
Is there a wide variety of styles, mediums and interpretations? It has been incredible seeing all the artwork come back for the show! We left it up to the artists how they wanted to create their cards – any medium was okay, the only proviso being that it needed to fit in an A4 frame for the show layout. We have paintings, drawings, digital artworks and even a couple of embroidered pieces in the show. Seeing how everyone interpreted their card’s meaning has been so fun to see, with so many unique and interesting designs coming back to us. All the pieces they’ve created for the show were available to purchase for £100 each (a steal!)
Will they only be available to purchase at the show? First dibs on purchasing artwork from the show will be given to everyone who attends on the night of the party (August 24th 6-9pm) with any remaining artworks sales being opened up to the internet in the weeks after the show.
Will tarot sets be available to purchase too? We can’t wait to do a reading with them! Yes! Pre-orders are now closed but were available through our big cartel: gravitytattoo.bigcartel.com/product/tarot-cards.
Celebrating the art, design and creativity of tattooing will the tarot project be exhibiting anywhere else before the pieces go to their new owners? Nope! Tarot is a one night event!
You used to create your own plush toys ‘Cavey’ and even exhibited at ToyCon, was this integral to deciding to create a physical product from the exhibition? My background in product and the toy industry definitely helped, and I also recognised that not everyone can afford £100 for an artwork and wanted to make an item that everyone could afford, so they can still contribute to the charity. Making the deck of cards seemed like the perfect idea, and a great way to showcase all the great art from the show! We enlisted the help of a local printers to help us make the cards as fab as possible.
This is your first exhibition at your studio Gravity Tattoo Shop, has doing the Tarot project given you a taste for curating tattoo art exhibitions again? Absolutely! We’ll be doing another, different show, next year!
Don’t miss the launch of ‘TAROT The Art of Tarot’ on August 24th at Gravity Tattoo Shop in Leighton Buzzard from 6pm- 9pm or follow over on Instagram for more information!
Interview by Amber Carnegie originally posted on the Barber DTS Tattoo Supplies blog.
We’ve been following @weemoodyjudy on Insta for a while, we love her style – think black leather trousers and pastel pinks galore – her beautiful tattoos and her inspirational illustration work. Find out more in our chat…
Photos: @ryanmormelo
We totally love your style, where do you get your inspiration from? Thank you so much! My style is so intrinsic to who I am, and what I am going through during certain periods of my life. My wardrobe has definitely seen its fair share of experimentations through the years, all of which were fundamental to the development of where my style is today… regardless of how on point (or not!) each look was during that process! As a child I loved to wear my beloved pair of leather trousers and studded heeled boots. Stomping around in them I would feel so “grown up” and empowered!
Other days, I would leave the house wearing an entirely pink outfit accompanied with sparkly trainers and a cutesy attitude. That juxtaposition has pretty much been a permanent fixture in my style ever since! My style has always helped me to discover a sense of self, and has became a way to visually represent how I feel.
When did you get your first tattoo? What was it and who did it? My first tattoo was a matching one with my late father when I was 19 years old – it was his first one too! We snuck out telling my mum we were having a “Father, Daughter Bonding Lunch,” which she unfortunately was not invited to. We skipped the fake lunch and drove ourselves straight to @blackdottattoo, and met with @tomtomtatts who did our tattoos for us. They were two Canadian rock formations called “inuksuk (inukshuk)” – we got these as a memorial tattoo for my cousin Luke, who was from the North Western Territories of Canada (Yellowknife) and who had died the previous year after just turning 22. I know that will always be my most cherished tattoo.
What made you feel an urge to get tattooed and what do you like about being tattooed now? From a very young age, I always loved tattoos. Growing up I really didn’t know any adults with tattoos… or visible ones at least! Any time I was lucky enough to see someone with tattoos or colourful hair I was pretty much in awe, and knew I wanted to look like them when I was older. When I was twelve years old I even did a presentation in our school assembly: “when I’m older I want to be” about how I wanted to be a tattoo artist – all my slides containing half naked grizzly tatted men… this still makes my mum laugh. Although I’m not a tattoo artist today, it does make me happy knowing I am becoming that person my younger self always dreamed of looking like. Tattoos make me feel in control of my body, who I am, and how I present myself.
Tell us a little about all your tattoos… Currently I am only at the beginning of my tattoo journey, but so far it has been a very enriching and empowering process. My first tattoo with my dad will always be one of my most cherished experiences. I also have a pentacle hand poked on my sternum by @stickaroundtattoo, which I got with my housemates/coven when I lived in Melbourne. Recently I got that pentacle tattoo expanded by @jayrosetattoo to include cobwebs, a spider, and twigs from a bramble bush, which is significant to my childhood. I also have the word CUSTARD tattooed on my side, purely because of the sheer enjoyment I get while eating that golden goodness.
Do you have plans for more? If so what and who by? Most definitely! I pretty much have my entire body planned out, and I’m very excited to see how my ideas materialise themselves by the artists I’ll be working with. Most of my tattoos are planned to be either botanical, witchy or mythological tales. My next one is going to be of Bacchus by Caravaggio and I’m trusting the lovely @patriciashim with that piece.
So tell us… What do you do as job and what do you love about it? I am a stylist and an artist! I’ve styled for various freelance jobs, but I’ve just landed my first full -time position. I am fortunate to have a job that not only I love, but one that comes naturally to me. I recently started my own brand @WeeMoodyJudy, where I am selling prints and pieces of cool merchandise! In time I’ll be steadily expanding this to include clothing and accessories too – you can check out my website at weemoodyjudy.com. Being self employed is a tough gig and I often feel overwhelmed, but there truly is nothing more rewarding than seeing your work develop from concept, to design, to a tangible object which can be shared and enjoyed!
Tell us a secret… The name Wee Moody Judy was given to me as a child because I had serious “wee man syndrome,” which in Scotland means I was hella small with a LOT of rage.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get tattooed but feels nervous? I’m pretty wimpy when it comes to pain, so I definitely wouldn’t be able to do much to sooth their nerves apart from maybe offer them some paracetamol and tell them that it’ll all be worth it in the end. What’s a few hours of agonising pain compared to a life time of self love?
We love your Insta account, what do you hope to share with your followers the most? I hope to be loving and empowering/empowered by the women and queer people who I follow and who follow me. I want to share my art and looks and to be outspoken through them. I want what I share to be truthful to my own thoughts and experiences. I’ve found that when I’m most honest and vulnerable is when I can communicate best through my work. I use those moments of vulnerability and charge them with my own personal style and humour. I usually describe my work as a “fuck you”, but with a smile! So I hope that my followers can get their own sense of empowerment through the message I’m sending out.
A still-life photo shoot with equipment used in the tattoo process…
Photos: Kristy Noble / Styling: Yvonne Achato
We had a fun Things&Ink outing to Brighton back in February for Brighton Tattoo Convention. While we were there, we couldn’t resist getting our nails done at the gorgeous Power Beauty Boutique.
Behind a discreet door on Duke Street, you will climb some stairs and enter a little haven with warm and welcoming therapists who can do anything from nail art and bikini waxes to make-up and micro-blading.
Excitingly, they now have a room to rent that would suit a professional body piercer or tattoo artist. They already have a licence from the council in place, so are looking for someone who is self-employed to rent the space. We can’t wait to pay them a visit again once they find someone… especially as the room looks like a perfect – and private – sanctuary to get pierced or tattooed in… Just look!
If you’re interested in renting the room either on a part-time or full-time basis, contact Rachel at rachel@powderbeauty.co.uk or give her a call 07899884170. Visit powderbeauty.co.uk, for more information. Powder Beauty Boutique is an established salon with a large client base situated in the heart of Brighton’s city centre.