Looks Like Spring Finally Found Us!

Be sure to visit my Face Book page as I am usually posting something that I find interesting on a daily basis. Not everything I post will be directly about Tattoos because I believe that life happens in between the Ink. 

We are having an amazing warm and sunny day here in Edmonton which is amazing because it was snowing for the past week. So I can just imagine all the people on Whyte ave in skimpy t-shirts showing off their tattoos. lol  Wish I was one of them!

Tattoo:ThePicturesStory Face Book Page

#tattoos #facebook #life  #spring  #Edmonton

Confirmation is a Powerful Thing

Last week I spent an intense three days in a Career Planning Workshop.  During that time, I decided to take off my writer's hat so that I could be open to the possibilities of something else may be out there for me and I wanted to create that open mind for new ideas. The course was amazing. I totally loved Susan our instructor and it was a good group of people who were gathered together. We did lots of self assessments, self discovery and self awareness exercises. The interesting thing for me personally was that the results of my scores always pointed back to the arts and writing. Journalist came up a lot. By the end of the program, I was completely exhausted but filled with renewed ambition to be a creative journalist. What I learned was that I am in the right field and for the right reasons. Even my astrology , Gemini North Node, and double Sagittarius scream Communications and quest for stories and truth. So sometimes it isn't about finding something completely new and shinny, but rather looking at what you already have and polishing it up. 

So now I am embracing my time spent at working towards getting a certificate in Journalism and moving forward with passion towards my project Tattoo: The Pictures Story.  With enthusiasm like a child ... there is a whole new part of life to be explored and great people to meet. 

#career #planning #communications #journalism #enthusiasm #discovery

Spring Greetings

I just took a week or two off from my writing. One thing about many of us writers is that we are deep contemplative creatures. I must admit that I am a perfectionist which is very much the irony of my life because I am actually adhd / dyslexic. In other words, I can never perfect my writing when it comes to never having some kind of a technical writing error. I’m pretty sure somewhere along the way I have mentioned that I have a degree in Communications in Professional Writing. This piece of paper means a lot to me due to the history of my pre-education. In grade nine I was in a special needs class for English and struggled through my other classes. Back then in the 80’s adhd / dyslexic was not being diagnosed. Instead kids like me were just called Daydreamers or defiant. So when I was accepted into the Grant MacEwan University it was like winning the lottery. Completing the degree program was life altering for me on many levels. It made me feel like I could accomplish anything, and it sent me in the direction of becoming an author. 

But I just came to realize that being an author is just one of the small steps of this journey. Books are basically a product that reflect what someone has learned and pieced together. As writers,  we share that knowledge with others. Then the time comes where we start all over again. Another journey. Another adventure of the mind. 

Now that I am working on this project pertaining to tattoos, I feel that I need to pull upon some other techniques of writing such as journalism. But being a bit of a perfectionist has caused me to review my direction and capabilities. Therefore, I am now enrolled in the Journalism online course with the Michigan State University. I have to tell you, I am very excited about this. I have always been fascinated with journalism and am thrilled to have this opportunity. The best part is that it will give me the tools I need in order to perform my best with the project Tattoo:The Pictures Story.  

Being that I embrace the Spring as the official time of the New Year …  Spring Blessings to all of you on your new adventures !!!!!!

#spring #beginnings  #journalism  #writerslife  #adventure

Edmonton Tattoo & Arts Festival : Vendors

One of the things I absolutely love about going to trade shows, festivals and markets is to check out the vendors who are selling their wares. In my youth, I use to be a street vendor and I know how hard it can be to make a small living.  I use to make jewelry and also sell imported accessories in Miami, New York and in Switzerland. My business adventure was a little more renegade than an actual organized vendor at an event, but the job itself isn’t that much different. Long hours and always hopeful the spectator will purchase something. 

Before I was at the tattoo convention, I was curious as to what kind of vendors they would have. My guess was clothing, jewelry, and ink supplies. Once at the tattoo convention, the first vendor I came across was quite possibly my favorite.  It was an artist from British Columbia.

  Simon Haiduk is an incredible artist that combines psychedelic energy patterns with spirit animals in the most beautiful way. He projects his creations onto canvas prints, tapestries, blankets and apparel. I found Simon’s work to be alluring and demand your eyes attention to explore the depth of the picture. There was a warm and calming presence surrounding his gallery.  I highly recommend people to check out his work. https://simonhaiduk.com/

There were definitely clothing vendors at the show, some sporting t-shirts that tattoo artists have done, some vendors had unique face mask apparel, and the one that really caught my eye was called Bad Apple Clothing. To be honest, the clothes were pretty cool, but not the kind of stuff I would personally wear. But what did make me gravitate to their goods was the Hurst bookmarked by two skeleton dogs. Thumbs up for theatrics and props! 

There were other really great entrepreneurs displaying their services like The Witchery with crystals and spell bags, a psychic, and an older gentleman selling Mr. Jerky. I thought the tooth fairy Collection was pretty cool. They were in the service of applying rhinestones or jewelry onto teeth. I was intrigued with the Mammoth Beard Co. Beards can look really great on some men, but lets face it (ooh there’s a pun), beards need to be taken proper care of on a hygienic level. I’m hoping he sold lots of products. One of my other favorite spots was the Pixie Glassworks. A family business of handcrafted figurines and jewelry made from blown glass. There was such intricate detailed work.

And of course there were vendors who were selling products that were tattoo connected. The Tattoo You station was selling and applying Temp Tattoos. I personally like these because for one they are great for kids, and it is also an easy way for a person to see if they would really like to get a tattoo, or where they would like to apply a tattoo. There were also vendors who were selling varieties of ink which would of course be of great interest to the tattoo artists themselves. I was in awe of all the colours that are available.  Another tattoo related station was the H2Ocean Skin Care people. Unfortunately the sound system was really close to this guy who was the vendor, so I wasn’t able to have a good conversation with him because of the volume of the music. But he did make clear that skin care, both before and after is very important. This man came all the way from Florida to be here in Edmonton. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of the tattoo on his head. He was such a good sport. After all, this event was about the tattoos.

#tattoos #Edmonton #vendors 

Happy Easter !

Edmonton Tattoo & Art Festival 2017: Entertainment

One of the things I love about going to festivals or trade shows is the organized entertainment that shakes the place up and makes it come alive. We all know that a good lineup of entertainment will bring in more people.  And the Edmonton Tattoo & Art Festival was no different. Although it was a whole weekend affair, I was only able to be there on Saturday April 1st from 2pm - 6:30pm. But I made sure to absorb everything that I saw and watch every show that came onto the stage. 

The Host for the weekend Entertainment was Brennan Doucet. Brennan lives here in Edmonton and is a male burlesque performer. He also had a show on the main stage called The  Beau Creep Show. As theatrical as Brennan was with his dark and demonic makeup, he really seemed like a pretty sweet young guy to me. 

The first performance I saw was HighKicks, a two man Rock band from Calgary. With Danny Vacon on guitar and vocals and Matt Doherty on drums, they put on a great show with their stage presence. It is amazing how much sound and completion can come out of a two man band. I would definitely go watch them again in a bar setting. 

The 3pm show was supposed to be Lucky Diamond Rich, the most tattooed man in the world. Unfortunately, Lucky Rich, apparently had some complications at the airport and was not permitted to come to Edmonton. Not sure what the details are on that one, but I for one was disappointed in not being able to meet him. He’s one of the few people I did have some questions for. Oh well, all things have their seasons and reasons. 

The next performance, well it wasn’t actually a performance, but it was entertaining, was a wedding. Yes a wedding. Dawn and Brent decided to take their vows on stage at the Tattoo Festival. My guess is that the Tattoo Festival must have some kind of a sentimental nostalgia for them. I thought it was charming that they set up chairs in front of the stage for Dawn and Brent’s personal guests to sit during the ceremony. And the wedding party ranging from adults to children looked wonderful in the black and purple attire. Being that it was a wedding, I didn’t want to go bugging the guests to get the personal scoop, although now, I wish I did. 

The performance by Infuego an original Bassbuss Production was quite excellent. For the first moment it seemed a bit slow moving, but then I realized they were actually telling a story. Three young men and two young women narrate a story of Egyptian power, treason and loyalty. Enacted with dance, lots of fire, acrobatics and fireworks, the story played out. And in the end I was theatrically satisfied. Congratulations to  Joey 'Ero' Vedres, Landon Waters, Luna Ivana, Rachel Lee and Noah Weigel. For a great performance. 

The last show that I personally saw was quite entertaining. It was The Bombshell Brigade Cabaret featuring NOIR. This was a three woman burlesque show that was performed with the musicians NOIR. NOIR consists of three guys: Rusty Meeks, Juicy Jamey and Reggie Suave. The trio was an interesting combination consisting of bongo drums, a saxophone and a DJ electric sound. The beautiful ladies, Daisy DeVille, Miss Randi Lee, and Rubyq(?) entranced their audience with traditional burlesque entertainment. Each lady had her own personal set and then the three joined for a final performance.  I am a big fan of burlesque because I find it to be humorous and engaging with a twist of respectable sassy sexy.

There was of course more entertainment consisting of musicians like Sam Spades, Marleana Moore, and Bambooloo. One of the famous people I did see was a young woman named Sara X Mills. Sara X Mills is a beautiful model who has become famous from the TV show Das Supertalent 2016 and internet sensation for her special talent. This gorgeous young woman can make her boobs dance to music. I might want to add that she wears a beautiful collection of tattoos.  I never got to speak with her due to her being quite busy, but from what I could see, she seemed like a pretty cute young lady with an adorable personality. I would like to end this blog post with Sara’s Easter YouTube video for you. 

#Edmonton  #Tattoo  #Entertainment  #burlesque  #badassbabes  #ArtFestival  #BrennanDoucet  #theatrical  #Highkick  #bands  #weddings  #BassBusProduction  #Infuego  #Noir  #SaraXMills  #Festivals 

Edmonton Tattoo & Arts Festival 2017: Overview

Since this was my first time going to a tattoo event, I really had no idea of what to expect, other than there’d be tattooing, lots and lots of tattooing, and a few scheduled entertainment performers.

Being new to the tattoo culture and community, I’m still pretty much in the dark of who is who and all the big names in the industry. To be honest, when I looked around, most of the artists were on pretty even ground. There was so much talent to be found reflecting diverse backgrounds of styles and techniques. Taking my time to walk up and down the carefully laid out aisles of booths, I watched as artists worked on their customers. Some people were having their backs done, while others had their arms or legs being worked on. One thing I did notice was that 99% of the people in the process of getting a tattoo looked very relaxed and comfortable. There was no grimacing of pain, and many were just chatting away with the artist doing the work or leaning back half asleep. I found this pleasing to see as it eliminated some of my concerns with the amount of pain associated with getting a tattoo.

One of the things I noticed was that most of the artists were busy with clients. I think if a tattooist wasn’t taking a break, they were busy at work. I’m not sure how this system works, but it would make sense that people can make appointments ahead of schedule knowing that the artist they want will be in town during this event.  I am also sure that some people are just spur of the moment and doing a walk in. There were a couple of bigger pieces being done that would take time and planning.

A good example of this would be someone like Kyle Staub, owner of Honor Bound Tattoos from Calgary, AB. Kyle was working on a large Viking back piece that would take a bit of time and planning. (photo on the left) One of the things I really liked about Kyle and his team was how friendly they were. This is important to me as a potential customer because if someone is going to be putting permanent ink on my body, I want it to have healthy happy vibes. You can see more of Kyle's work at  Honor Bound Tattoos.

An interesting and maybe important observation I made was that there was just as many women at this event as men. There really seemed to be an even score of men and women who were tattoo artists and clients.  I’m not sure when the explosion of women artists decided to get involved in the ink community, but they sure have made a place for themselves. And women of all ages (over 18 of course), shapes and sizes were wearing their piece of art proudly. Some women had large pieces while others had simple small designs.  I was certainly in the right place and time when one woman came over to the Crimson Empire table to show her friend the photo of herself that was in the portfolio on the table. (photo right above)

Tattooists were not the only vendors who had been set up at the festival. There were many product related booths such as ink suppliers and skin cream & cleansers which is mostly targeted towards the tattoo artists. But for the average tattoo enthusiast, there were lots of little trinket shops, clothing companies and art booths to shop at. (There will be an upcoming blog post with more focused detail)

One of the things that surprised me was there was an actual wedding that took place on the Saturday afternoon. Yes, you read that correctly, a wedding. I am sure most who did not know them would ask the question “why there”? The wedding was actually adorable. The couple Dawn & Brent were obviously in love and supported by an equally adorable family. Brent was pretty covered up with his suit and tie, but Dawn in her lovely white dress revealed a lot of ink. So my guess is that they know a lot of people in the Ink Community and have some kind of a nostalgic thing for this festival.

Aside from a wedding there was entertainment on the hour. The events Host Speaker was Brennan Doucet. Brennan also performs in The Beau Creep Show. The entertainment varied between musical artists such as Marleana Moore, HighKicks, Bambooloo, Rusty Meeks and Sam Spades. There were also shows performed by the Infuego: Original BassBus Production and the Bombshell Brigade Cabaret Featuring NOIR.  (For more detailed reading, see Edmonton Tattoo & Arts Festival 2017: Entertainment)

I was disappointed to learn that Lucky Diamond Rich was not able to attend the event. He was actually one of the main headliners, and one of the people I was really looking forward to meeting. From what I understand, he had troubles at the airport and was not permitted to leave the country. Hopefully there will be a public explanation to solve that mystery.

But there was a famous woman who was there. Sara X Mills is a beautiful model who has become famous from the TV show Das Supertalent 2016 and an internet sensation for her special talent. This gorgeous and adorable young woman can make her boobs dance to music. I might want to add that she wears a beautiful collection of tattoos.

This may have been my first time at the Edmonton Tattoo & Arts Festival, but it will definitely not be my last. I met lots of really great local people who I plan to do follow ups with to get interviews and eventually some work done. One of the key take away from this weekend was how the art of Ink is no longer just for Sailors and Hardcore people, but an amazing art form that is beckoning people of all walks of life to come and explore. The artistic possibilities are endless.

#Edmonton  #Arts  #Festival  #Tattoos #Entertainment  #Ink  #BodyArt  #Music