tattoos Archives - Page 55 of 91

November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

Charlotte Clark: Tattoo Inspired Ceramics

Charlotte Clark is a designer maker from Stourbridge, West Midlands who creates tattoo inspired ceramics. We chatted to Charlotte about what inspires her and how she makes each piece…

How did you set up your business? I fell into it really, after graduating from university with a degree in glass art, I was making and doing craft fairs to get some money whilst I was looking for a ‘real job’ and it ended up being rather more successful than I had imagined! I have now gone from dreams of just making a living to thinking the sky is the limit!

What inspired you to do so? I have always been creative, and wanted to go into arts management after uni, but found it really competitive in the current economic climate, so having worked unhappily in many retail jobs whilst searching for the dream job I was inspired to create my own job!

Do you have a background in art? Yes, I did three A Levels in art and design in college, before going on to study glass art at university in Wolverhampton.

How do you make your ceramics? What is the process? All pieces begin with an idea, whether that is when I see the perfect unusual piece of china to use, sparking a ‘I know what I’m going to do with that’ moment, or an idea which takes me a while to think around! My pieces are designed digitally, then the transfers are printed using my decal printer and applied by hand to the ceramic piece, before being fired in the kiln to melt the surface glaze and allow the ink of the decal to imbed onto the china. As my pieces are kiln fired they are all dishwasher proof.

What inspires your designs? How do you create them? Designs are all inspired by anything that grabs me! Sometimes the concept will be born first and I will look for something for it to go on, and other times it will be led by finding a piece and knowing what it should have on it!

Where do you source things from? All over the place! I am always on the look out for unusual pieces to use!

Where can people buy them from? Do you do commissions? People can buy online or at one of my outlets (currently mostly Midlands based) or at one of the shows I go to – all details are on my website!

November 3, 2015November 3, 2015

Fashion Pearls of Wisdom: Tattoos are for Sailors

Our guest blogger is Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. In this post she’ll be talking about tattoos and relationships…

I couldn’t have told you whether my grandfather had a tattoo. No matter the weather he would always wear long trousers and a sleeved shirt, occasionally folding up his cuffs an inch in summer. He passed away when I was 12 years old taking any secrets with him. As I write this there is a gentleman sat across from me on the train, dressed in a manor my grandfather would have seen fit; blue striped shirt, grey slacks, polished Oxfords. His snow white hair putting him at around my grandfather’s generation. As he sat down he slipped off his damp over coat, revealing shirt sleeves rolled up to just below the elbow. Scattering his pale freckled skin a series of small blue tinged tattoos. Now smudged with age it is difficult to make out the designs, a swallow perhaps and an anchor. With a nudge and a disapproving tut from the lady beside him he pushes down the sleeves, with it a knowing eyebrow raise and a quick grin to me. His look said it all, this wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last his wife would plead with him to cover up those tattoos.

This exchange got me thinking about tattoos in relationships. When I was still dating I had a few odd comments, a general consensus that guys didn’t like tattoos on girls – even guys who were tattooed themselves. I had one guy tell me on a first date he wasn’t really bothered about my tattoos so long as I didn’t get any more, needless to say I never did call him again. I’ve also spoken to people both male and female who have admitted they’d rather their partner not be tattooed, or in contrast wish that they were.

After meeting my boyfriend for the first time my mum had said to me ‘you’d best keep this one you might not find another who likes your tattoos’ I’m still not entirely sure if she was joking or not. My mum likes my tattoos, although she thinks I’ve got enough now – not sure how to break the news to her when I get my sleeves done but that’s another story. But she is from a generation filled with tattoo stigma. Before I met my boyfriend’s parents she said I might want to wear something pretty and on the sensible side, hiding the tattoos and toning down the extreme fashion. My boyfriend said the opposite, don’t cover up your tattoos because otherwise they will wonder what on earth we have in common – a university lecturer and a builder (he’s the builder). In the end I wore something in between, just what is normal to wear to go for dinner and didn’t worry about it. Getting a tattoo is a permanent body modification, it’s not like a dodgy jumper you can eventually talk your partner out of wearing – or shrink in the wash. After all they do say love is about compromise, but, for me, someone not loving my tattoos would be deal breaker.

November 1, 2015

Never too old to show some love

85-year-old Cyril Cooper honoured his love for his late wife by getting his first tattoo. The traditional design is a tribute to his wife and simply shows his unwavering love for her.

Cyril told Wales Online:

I lost my wife of 40-odd years in May. She was the love of my life and I wanted to get a tattoo in remembrance of her. I’ve always wanted a tattoo and I knew I simply wanted a heart with an arrow going through it with Sheila’s name inside.

Photos and quote from Wales Online

October 27, 2015

Apprentice Love: Luke Oakman

We chatted to Luke Oakman a 24-year-old tattoo apprentice about his developing style, inspirations and how he started working at Edshead tattoo studio in Chelmsford, Essex…

How did you start tattooing? Tattooing was something I’d always wanted to do towards the end of school and college, I just never really took the leap towards chasing an apprenticeship at that point as I was never confident enough to take chances. After being told enough times over the years following college I was ‘a wasted talent’ because I did nothing with my art, I decided to pull together a portfolio and just go for it. I’m now well into my apprenticeship at Edshead and looking forward to where tattooing takes me!

How long have you been tattooing? Coming up to nine months now. Which is the first time I picked up a machine to use it, I did a little shark tooth on my leg.

What did you do before, do you have a background in art? The only background in art I have is college, I did my A Levels in art and photography, the only things I truly enjoyed at school. Right out of college I got a job in IT, which I did for too long! I got settled into that routine until the end of 2012 when I decided I needed a big change in my life, so I set myself a new target and began building up my first portfolio.

How would you describe your style? I guess I would fall under neo-traditional. It’s hard not to label a style of tattooing, I just call it my work and hope people like it really.

How has your work evolved/developed since you started? I drew a hell of a lot during my apprenticeship, I was trying to develop a style ahead of tattooing in an attempt to make my work recognisable in some way. My work has slowly got more detailed through the months I added more linework as I began to feel more confident with lining my tattoos, which is a direction I knew I wanted to make from the start. I just had to hold off until I knew it was something I could execute properly I guess.

What inspires you? Easily nature, I’ve always watched a lot of David Attenborough documentaries, my grandad started off that obsession long ago! So now when I don’t know what do draw the first thing is normally an animal of some kind.

Do you admire any other artists, do they influence your work? I admire too many artists to list them all, mainly tattooists these days. I’ll list my top five in no order for anyone that somehow doesn’t know these names/lives under a rock:

Robert Borbas
Kate Gill
Antony Flemming
Natalie Gardiner
Antony Cole

They’re all well known artists and their work speaks for itself really. Their styles among others have definitely influenced my own work and I’d love my work to go in the same direction.

What kinds of things do you like to tattoo? Birds, just putting it out there. I love birds. Anything nature based is right up my street, but I’ll enjoy most tattoos that I can use my own style with.

Can you tell us about your own tattoos? I don’t have a lot of tattoos when I think about it. One arm and stuff all over my legs. Only a couple have any meaning, it’s more art appreciation for me now. If I can give an idea (if any) to a tattooist I admire that I know they’ll enjoy doing, that’s when the best tattoos happen.

I got my first one at 22 by Ant Cole which was a kestrel perched on a compass. The arm isn’t far off a full sleeve now by him, I’m super fussy with who I get tattooed by and waited until I found an artist I knew was perfect for me, and Ant is beyond good. It’ll be finished when I can afford to fill the gaps!

Will you be at any conventions or doing any guest spots? I just finished a guest spot at Rock’n’Roll in Dundee. I was doing a tattoo trade with Daryl Watson, so it was just by chance I was lucky enough to work there for a few days as well. I don’t have any plans just yet as I’m still an apprentice. But one thing I know for sure is I want to travel, so when I’m able to I’ll be on the road seeing new things and meeting new people. With any luck!

October 26, 2015

Fashion Pearls of Wisdom: Inked and Educated

Our guest blogger is Natalie McCreesh aka Pearl, a fashion lecturer, freelance writer and creator of Fashion Pearls of Wisdom. In this post she’ll be talking about her decision to not cover her tattoos at her graduation ceremony…

This summer I had the opportunity to don academic robes for the graduation ceremonies at the university where I work. I gained a PhD in Biochemistry (textile and fibre analysis should you be intrigued) in 2010 however this was the first time since then I would wear my robes, this time to watch my own students graduate. Graduation ceremonies are filled with tradition and seen as formal affairs, dress code is generally smart and conservative. For my own graduations I’d worn smart basics such as a blouse and pencil skirt with some cool shoes for a bit of personality. There is also the practicalities of wearing the gown to consider, they were designed to be worn by men in suits, the hood looping around a shirt button to secure it. Thus wearing it over a dress can cause it to slip around. That said in the 11 years since my first graduation things have changed, the dress code is more about what the students see as ‘their best’ which can be anything from evening gowns to party dresses, t-shirts under blazers and so on. No matter the changing styles it’s an occasion to get dressed up and of course celebrate these amazing achievements.

I’d planned to wear a shirt with loose tapered trousers due to the afore mentioned practicalities, however the day turned out to be a scorcher (robes are heavy and hot at the best of times) so I just threw on a light summer dress, one I wear for work often, instead without much thought other than to make sure I found some safety pins to avoid being strangled by my gown’s hood.

It was only upon putting on the gown and looking at myself in the mirror did it occur to me I should perhaps put on tights to cover my tattoos. As I said these ceremonies are formal affairs. I’m lucky enough to be given the freedom at work to wear whatever I want. As it happens you can’t really see my tattoos with what I wear to work due to the fact I dress in what I deem appropriate – I wouldn’t wear backless dresses or shorts to work say. What I do tend to wear are calf length dresses with jackets, so in the warmer months you can see the tattoos on my lower legs and feet. If anything my tattoos have only brought positive reactions. Although this hasn’t been the case in previous jobs, it has never been a problem for me to cover my tattoos if requested, I think it would be ignorant not to acknowledge the fact there is still very much a stigma around tattoos. Many of my students are tattooed and they are always encouraged to express themselves however they wish, there is no dress code per say for them.

So what made me decide to keep my tattoos visible on this day? It was actually something a friend had said to me ‘look at you with all your education and your tattoos’ and I thought yeah, just look at me, because it really doesn’t matter if you have tattoos or not and we need to break those boundaries. I’m not encouraging anyone to get tattooed, that’s personal choice, but I am in a position to help break the negative stigma attached to tattoos and that I feel is an important place to be.