blondsense

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Dispatch from the 5th Annual NYC Urban Tattoo Convention

Today marks the third and final day of the 5th Annual NYC Urban Tattoo Convention and if you haven't gone, be sure to head down to 233 37th Street in Brooklyn in "Industry City" (across from Costco). The show opens at 11 AM and closes out at 10:00 PM.

I had a whirlwind day yesterday, meeting artists and vendors, checking out tattoos, interviewing people for upcoming Tattoosday posts, and enjoying a second Saturday in a row of body paint.

It was great seeing Ink Master contestants in action, like Jackie "Ink Bitch" Jennings

and "B-Tat"

It was great meeting new talent from other locations, like Josh "Eon" Johnson out of Denver, who did this back piece:

There's never a dull moment at the show, with plenty of paint, ink, and power to entertain.

Thanks to Chis Styles and the Awesome Al Fliction for being such great hosts and putting together such a great show!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Darkwing Duck!

Last week in Bowling Green Park I met Chris, who had a ton of tattoos, one of which is this:

He told me that this is Darkwing Duck, one of his favorite cartoons growing up.

Chris credited this to Dru from Scars of Desire in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. He said that Dru has since moved to Florida.

Thanks to Chris for sharing some of his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

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Thursday, June 26, 2014

The 5th Annual Urban Tattoo Convention Starts Tomorrow!

Tomorrow marks the launch of the 5th Annual Urban Tattoo Convention, in Tattoosday's home boro of Brooklyn.

Located across from Costco at 233 37th Street, the show opens Friday at 3pm and runs to midnight, reopening Saturday from 11AM to midnight and Sunday from 11AM to 10PM.

The URBAN Tattoo Convention’s (UTC) mission is to empower tattooist from diverse cultural heritages to showcase their art and tattooing skill set. UTC is committed to the recognition of experienced tattooists, the development of up-and-coming tattoo artists and the cultivation of the growing urban art community.

I attended last year's expo and had a blast. I wrote about it here and featured work I spotted through many posts over the summer (link the tag here).

You can get tickets here: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-annual-nyc-urban-tattoo-convention-tickets-10304339557?aff=efbevent

I plan on live-blogging from time to time and look forward to seeing readers there!

There is nothing quite like this show, and I am thrilled to be going again!

Hope to see you all there!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Erika Helps Us Remember Michael Jackson

Five years ago today, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, passed away.

That being said, it seemed fortuitous that yesterday, across from the New York Stock Exchange, I met Erika, who has a bunch of tattoos, but whose left arm is just plain "Bad":

This iconic image is from this cover:

Erika explains:

"I got the Bad album cover because that's my favorite Michael Jackson album ... I think this was, like, right before he started to fall off the wagon, kinda, but this is the last good Michael as far as his face and his appearance ... and I'm an '80s baby, so that was my favorite album of the Eighties."

She credited this great work to Chris Mensah at Pinz-N-Needlez Tattoo in Washington D.C. I last spotted Mensah's work in 2009 here.

We also commemorated Michael's zombie self two years ago here.

Thanks to Erika for helping us commemorate the passing of one of the greatest musicians of our time!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Maria Shows Off An Incredible Sleeve by Bugs at the Mermaid Parade

It's always exciting when I find work by artists I admire out on the street, so when I met Maria on Saturday at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade and I learned that her sleeve was by Bugs, I was thrilled:

I love Bugs' take on the Bird of Paradise flower here and the sleeve is punctuated on Maria's fist with this skull:

Bugs works out of L.A., but I've seen him work at the NYC Tattoo Convention and Maria said some of this sleeve was completed when he did some guest spots at a shop in New Jersey. See other work I have featured by Bugs on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Maria for sharing this great work with us here on Tattoosday!

Sunday, June 22, 2014

A Mermaid Welcomes in Summer

Yesterday was the first day of summer and I celebrated by heading out to Coney Island for the annual Mermaid Parade.

This was my second time at the parade, having gone first in 2012, and there are wonderful tattoos everywhere. Here at Tattoosday, we'll be sharing tattoos from the parade over the next couple of weeks.
But let's start with the first person I met along Surf Avenue:

This tattoo belongs to Alix, who was dressed up as a mermaid and had a tattoo to match.

"Any story behind this?" I asked, foolishly.

"That's MY story," Alix replied, "I like mermaids."

She credited this to Alex Rios from Hard Knox Tattoo Studio in Yonkers, New York.

She also had phenomenal work on her back, as well:

Thanks to Alix for sharing her awesome work with us here on Tattoosday!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Reposting My Tiger for the Class of '89

This weekend, my college classmates are gathering for our 25th reunion at Occidental College.

Alas, I am on the other coast, but I wanted to let them know I am thinking of them by sharing my tiger tattoo, when it was crisp and fresh in 2010.

Our school mascot is the tiger, which made getting this piece in honor of the Year of the Tiger much more appropriate.

Much thanks to the talented Shon Lindauer, now working out of High Seas Tattoo Parlor in Hollywood, California, for doing such a great job.

See the original post here.

Hugs from NYC, old friends, hope to see you all at our 30th in 2019!