No doubt about it, the Canadian province of Quebec has heaps of talent when it comes to tattooists, as well as a thriving tattoo scene.  Artists such as Yann Black have made an international name for themselves working out of Montreal, and this year’s Art Tattoo Montreal convention hit record high attendance numbers with over 10,000 people visiting the event throughout its three day duration.

Yet despite the apparent love for tattoo and the talented artists who call the French-Canadian province home, the Quebec government is seriously lagging behind the rest of Canada when it comes to tattoo regulations.  In short, there are none.

“…despite repeated efforts to try to get Quebec to set up regular health inspections, for example, nothing has been done to monitor tattoo shops and the quality of the work being done there.”

After being forced to deal with this for too long, Quebec tattooists are taking a stand and making it known that the time is now for the Quebec government to begin putting measures into practice that will ensure a provincial tattoo standard.

‘”I think it’s unfortunate because people are left to do whatever they want, and not everyone knows what to do,” said Frank Lewis, who co-owns the Derm FX tattoo parlour in Montreal.

He thinks his shop meets health and safety guidelines but, without a set of standards in place, can’t be sure. Lewis also admits it’s been a long time since he first learned his craft.’

Unfortunately, the provincial government of Quebec doesn’t seem to think that there’s any sort of problem with the way that things currently are.  They feel that rather than set a standard and create an inspection unit that goes from tattoo studio to tattoo studio ensuring that said standards are being obeyed and that equipment is up to code, they prefer to use “educational campaigns” like posters, which tell tattooists to ensure that they properly sterilise their equipment.

Man.  This goes beyond ignorant.  Here we have tattoo artists actually asking for standards and inspections in their industry and the government refuses to play its role.  I always thought that it was the government’s job to ensure that its citizens were kept safe and healthy.  Yet here’s a case of a government that plainly doesn’t care to even entertain such a thought.  Not only that, but I’m sorry to say that artists sterilising their needles is only one potential problem.  Any sane artist sterilises their needles, but what about the scumbags out there who don’t care about doing that kind of thing?  They exist.  There might not be tons of them, but they exist.  By refusing to set standards and by refusing to take a peek into this rapidly growing industry, the Quebec government is taking the laziest, most irresponsible route that they can take.  Listen to the people who work in the industry when they tell you they want changes that will improve things for everyone.  Otherwise, things can only get worse.  And that would be a real shame in a thriving tattoo environment like Quebec.

Tattoos have long been attached to gangs.  From street gangs right up to high level forms of organised crime, it unfortunately seems that tattoos have always had a place within those worlds.  In the last few years there have been a few programs run by various organisations to remove tattoos for free from former gang members who want to make a fresh start with their lives.  While these programs are great, they are often burdened by financial woes, or theft – as was the case earlier this year in LA when a $50,000 tattoo removal machine was stolen from Westlake’s non-profit Sunrise Community Outreach centre.

One man in St. Louis however, is taking things into his own hands and using his tattoo studio Black Pearl as a sort of haven for those who no longer want to lead the gang life or bear the marks of a gang member.  44-year-old Roland Page is an ex-cop who has run Black Pearl Tattoos for sixteen years and counting.  He’s decided that he wants to do something to give the youth of St. Louis a better chance at life and first and foremost that better chance involves getting rid of those gang tattoos.  That’s why he’s offering free cover ups for anyone with a gang related tattoo, provided that they take part in a four-part educational/vocational course called Operation Mask.

‘In order to have their tattoos covered up for free, which otherwise could cost $100 or more, participants in the program must attend four one-hour courses at Innovative Concept Academy, in North City, where they’ll be taught job-seeking skills like resume writing and prep for the G.E.D.’

Page’s son Roland Jr is an up and coming rap artist known as Yung Ro, with quite a healthy following in the St. Louis area and beyond.  It was his idea to begin covering up gang tattoos in his father’s tattoo studio after experiencing violence at some of his shows.

The idea of covering up gang tattoos was actually conceived by Yung Ro, who helps out in his dad’s parlor when he’s not busy recording. A year ago, Yung Ro was grazed in the head by a stray bullet after a performance at a downtown club.  It wasn’t the first time trouble had followed him to his shows; there have been times when police were forced to shut down some of those gigs prematurely. The teenage impresario realized that a violent fan base didn’t make much business sense, so he hatched up the plan for Operation Mask. The initiative fit in neatly with his existing non-profit organization, Runway 2 Empowerment, which focuses on health, education and literacy.

It’s a great thing that the Page’s are doing, giving back to their community and city through the power of tattoos.  I like the idea of covering up the old ink with something fresh and new and starting a new life with a firm foot on the ground.  An inspiring story.  I wish them all the best and hope that things really work out well.

If you’re a regular reader of The Tattoo Blog, then no doubt you’re familiar with the once a week profile of various tattoo artists that I do.  These profiles come from tattoo artists that I’ve grown fond of and who I’ve discovered through word of mouth, magazines, news, etc.  There are numerous ways that I find out about tattooists, but what it all typically comes down to is searching the internet, following links and reading.  From that point, whichever work best catches my eye and holds my attention is going to be featured.

All that being said, over the last couple of years I’ve come to formulate a few specifics that I look for while searching for artists to profile.  Through these specifics, I’ve realised that it isn’t just my own preferences at work, but general methods of self promotion that need to be addressed amongst so many tattooists.  As a result, I’ve decided that this week rather than profile a particular artist, I’m going to list some of the things that I feel can help a tattoo artist get themselves and their work noticed online.

The number one single most crucial piece of advice that I can offer is whether you’re just starting off or you’ve been tattooing steady for thirty years and counting, get a decent website up and running that showcases your work.  While registering your own domain name and getting a professional (or at least a computer savvy friend) to design and maintain the site is the best possible route to go, if money is an issue, just grab a free blog from WordPress or any one of the numerous other free blog sites out there.  The important thing here is to have a place to upload photos of your stuff and create the best online portfolio possible.  Stay away from using a MySpace or Facebook page as the primary source to showcase yourself and your abilities.  In short – they suck.  They’re cluttered and too busy and overall unimpressive.  As bad as it may sound, when I come across an artist whose only source of self-promotion is a MySpace or Facebook page, I just pass them by.  If you’re going to take the time to upload your work online, go the distance and get yourself a real site.  You’re an artist, you work in a creative field.  Create a page that makes a positive impression and attracts people, not one that repels them.

Once you’ve got a page and you’ve uploaded your work, get a bio down.  By bio I don’t mean three lines saying that you like to tattoo and draw.  While that may be the more tempting option, it doesn’t tell people anything about who you are, where you’re from and how you got to be where you currently are.  People like to know about the artist that is potentially going to tattoo them and a strong or interesting bio helps a lot.  Don’t be shy to tell people about what you’ve accomplished, what awards you’ve won, which magazines have featured your work.  Remember, people have come to your site because they’re interested in what you do.  Give them a reason aside from your work to be impressed by you.

Last but not least, keep your site updated.  If the last time that you updated your site or let anyone know what’s been going on with your career is 2003, then people aren’t going to bother coming back very often.  Not only that, but you’re also doing yourself a disservice by not uploading your most recent work on a regular basis.  Everyone improves with time and if the only work that you have on your site is seven years old, then people who visit your site really aren’t going to come away with a good idea of your ability.

So there you have it.  Just a few of the things that I think are pretty vital for any artist who wants to help themselves stand out from the rest.  Of course, the actual tattoo work itself is the most important thing, but that stuff is hard enough as it is.  Why make things even more difficult for yourself with a crappy/non-existent online platform to showcase your artistry?

Here’s a few examples of excellent tattoo artists and their sites:

Virginia Elwood – A basic WordPress blog that she’s rocked in her own way, proving that you don’t have to dish out tons of cash to have an impressive site.

Nick Baxter – One the best tattoo artists currently working runs a site that has tons of info about tons of stuff, plus its good looking and easy to navigate.

Mike Devries – Professional, well organized and best of all, home to a seriously rad tattoo artist.

Miss Arianna – Great art, great site, much respect goes out to Miss Ariana.  Magnifico!

Just when you thought (and maybe hoped) that reality TV’s relationship with tattooing and the tattoo world was going the way of the dinosaur – as evidenced by the truly pathetic nature of soap opera fodder like LA Ink – Oxygen Media steps in and proclaims that there’s still life left in this dead, bloated horse.  So what the hell, let’s beat it some more.

Okay, maybe that’s not fair.  Reality TV has given tattooing a great boost in terms of its acceptability and transition into the main stream.  Still not satisfied?  Well, how about hope that this time around, we might *gasp* get a tattoo reality show that’s actually about tattooing???  At least that’s the way it’s looking with Oxygen Media’s new show, Best Ink. Check it out:

‘Oxygen Media has given a greenlight to Best Ink, a reality show that pits 12 tattoo artists against each other for “a cash prize and bragging rights.”

The artists will give tattoos to real people in a variety of challenges.

“Many of our viewers choose to express themselves through the ever-growing phenomenon of body art,” said  Amy Introcaso-Davis, svp of original programming and development in a  statement. “We hope to capture the best and brightest tattoo artists and celebrate this unique art form.’

If it’s truly about the tattooing and not some over-glammed, ridiculous carnival where tattoo artists compete in different tasks like having to tattoo ten midgets head to toe while standing in a vat of live scorpions, then forget it.  But if it actually comes across as an interesting insight into the lives and talents of various tattoo artists, and if it portrays these artists as they deserve to be portrayed without all the trumped up pageantry and underhanded editing that is so prevalent amongst reality TV shows, then maybe, just maybe it will turn out to be something worth watching.

Until then, you can call me a sceptic.

Thankfully at this time of year, the good ‘ol charity wagon seems to run along pretty steadily.  I’ve said it time and time again, but tattooists have regularly proven themselves to be some of the most generous and giving people out there.  Every year around this time, there’s never any shortage of charitable events or drives that are headed up by folks who tattoo or who have a connection to folks who tattoo.

Such is the case down in El Paso where event promoter Michael Fierro has conjured up a nice little tattoo competition called Christmas Inked, in which the proceeds will all be donated to the El Paso Rescue Mission.  Aside from inviting local bands and DJs to play, Fierro has also managed to wrangle up a celebrity judge for the tattoo competition by inviting LA Ink’s Amy “My Face is Painted On” Nicoletti.  Nicoletti will be joined at the judges table by local tattoo artists Sin and George Galindo.

In addition to her duties as judge, Nicoletti will sign autographs at Finch’s Timeless Tattoos on Wednesday December 22nd and on the 23rd, she’ll tattoo from 9-4 at Finch’s (by appointment only), before heading off to Christmas Inked to judge the competition.

The entry fee for the Christmas Inked competition is $5, with $100 cash prize in each of the five categories: Latino, colour, portrait, tribal and religious.  Competitors are also asked to bring one live specimen in order to showcase their work to the judges.  Admission to Christmas Inked is $15, though you can get five dollars off the ticket price if you bring a donation in the form of non perishable food items, clothing, toys or new hygiene items.

Sounds like a good time.  Best of luck to everyone who enters the competition!

What’s music without tattoos?  Not much if you ask me.  While Celine Dion fans might not exactly be rushing out to get their full-back portrait of the French-Canadian chanteuse, there are endless amounts of people out there who have gone and immortalised their love for their favourite band with a tattoo (or two).  It’s a risky bit of tattooing, if you ask me, mostly because music changes so quickly and people’s opinions of that music can sometimes change even faster.

Not that I myself haven’t felt the urge at one point to get a favourite band tattoo.  I can recall in my early twenties being a devoted disciple of the legendary stoner rock duo Ween.  So dedicated to the boys who gave us such memorable classics as I Gots A Weasel, Big Jilm and of course Buenos Tardes Amigo (to name but a few), that I was on the verge of getting a tattoo of the band’s mascot, The Boognish.  Well, time and sobriety eventually gave my head a shake and in the end I didn’t go with a Boognish tattoo.  Today of course, I’m quite thankful that I didn’t get that tattoo even though I still love Ween’s music very much.  As far as tattoos go, it just didn’t really have any relevance to my life other than the good times I had while listening to Ween’s music with friends.

Sometimes though, having a good time with friends while listening to a specific band’s music is more than enough reasons for some to get a band tattoo.  And while everyone has their own favourite musicians and bands, some band tattoos always end up being more prevalent amongst the tattooed than others.  Perhaps it’s part of rock n roll’s legacy or perhaps it’s just fun.  Whatever the case, Westworld’s Backbeat music blog has just put together this list of the 20 bands that inspire tattoos like no other.  See if any of your favourites (or tattoos) made the cut.

Not all tattoos are good.  By good I don’t mean the quality of the artistry, but what the tattoo itself actually represents.  Yes, we’re all aware that this is the case: from Nazi imagery to gang symbols, there are plenty of tattoos that anger and offend people.  It’s an unfortunate aspect of the tattoo world, but one that’s so miniscule it typically isn’t even worth acknowledging.  Sometimes however, we’re forced to acknowledge these sorts of tattoos and not always at the most opportune times.

Most recently in Germany, a surgeon was faced with precisely this dilemma when he noticed that the man he was to perform a thyroid surgery on had a tattoo of an imperial eagle perched atop a Nazi swastika.  The surgeon was Jewish and refused to operate on the man.

‘”I can’t operate on this man. I am Jewish,” the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung quoted him as saying. Leaving the patient anaesthetised, he found a senior colleague, who then performed a successful operation.

The 46-year-old Jewish doctor, who works at hospital in the city of Paderborn, explained later that his conscience prevented him from treating people he suspected of having neo-Nazi sympathies.’

Sufficed to say, this issue has now caused quite a controversy in Germany and beyond.  Many people are very critical that this doctor could back out of his duties because of the political beliefs of a patient, while others applaud the doctor for sticking to his personal and ethical convictions.  In Germany, all images of the swastika are banned and anyone caught displaying this imagery can face up to three years in prison.

It’s not that often that tattoos are at the centre of a political controversy.  Typically the main controversies surrounding tattoos have more to do with people’s narrow minded views and opinions of what a tattooed person or tattooist is like.  In this instance however, the tattoo itself does tell us the politics of the barer, but is that enough to refuse them medical aid?  It’s a tough question indeed.

Every tattooist has their own particular strengths and weaknesses.  There’s nothing to be ashamed about sticking to what you know how to do and honing the skills that help you do it.  It’s only when an artist tries to overstep their own abilities that they venture into murky creative waters and end up producing work that falls short of quality on numerous levels.

Thankfully, Denver’s Sandi Calistro is plainly confident in her abilities and knows exactly what it is that inspires her best work: women.  In the very small bio available on Sandi’s personal webpage, she explains her fondness for women in her art:

‘Women have always been the focus of most of her paintings. The beauty, flow and character of women have intrigued her for as long as she can remember.’

If you take a look through Calistro’s portfolio, you will come across a great deal of tattoos, from which (in my humble opinion) the best ones are of women.  There’s a classical sort of beauty that Calistro gives to her work, creating almond faced characters that seem to be filled with equal parts mystery and attitude, all of which translates perfectly into vibrant looking tattoos.

In addition to being a tattooist, Calistro also paints and sketches.  She also makes greeting cards that are available at her Etsy site. She can be found in Denver, Colorado, tattooing at Kaze Gallery.

Losing a friend or family member is always tragic, but when that tragedy comes as a senseless act of violence, the people who are left behind will inevitably have to endure an unbearable amount of questions that may never be answered.  Last Thursday in Saginaw, Michigan, 25-year-old Sean Stennett was gunned down through an apartment door.  The shooter fired eight shots, and several of these struck and killed Sean.  As he lay dying, his final words were “I’m going to miss this place.”

It’s all pretty disturbing, to say the least.  Last Thursday, over a hundred friends and family of Sean turned up at a candlelit vigil and there is another vigil planned for this Saturday, December 11th.  Faced with the loss of their friend, many of Sean friends have gotten together and created a Sean Stennet memorial tattoo, which they’ve already been tattooed with.  On Sunday, December 12th, the tattoo will be available free of charge to any friends of Sean’s at Drunken Monkey Tattoo in Saginaw.

‘“Everybody was really touched in a really amazing way,”  said Nicole Nino, 25, of Saginaw, Sean Stennett’s girlfriend since 2008. “And I really believe that’s pretty much the effect Sean was striving for, and it worked.

“Everybody feels inspired by him. They all look up to him.”’

Given what is undoubtedly an extremely difficult situation to deal with, it’s very nice to see Sean’s friends getting together and having a method to express their sadness over their loss, while at the same time creating a bond between them all in memory of their friend.

I’m trying to stay in a festive mood lately, which means being kind to people and not getting angry over the little things.  For the most part it’s been working pretty well, but today I saw this article about a Chesterfield, Virginia tattoo studio and its battle to open its doors.

Tattooists Eric Waite and Eddie Espada had thought that they were in the clear to open their new tattoo studio in Chesterfield’s Tower Shopping Center.  The pair’s application for business had gained recommendations of approval from both the planning commission and the planning department.  But now, just as there seemed to be no question about the decision to allow the studio to open, the do-gooders have reared their ugly heads.

‘Residential leaders – Judy Stoneman, Phil Lohr and former Bermuda Supervisor Jack McHale – believe the shopping center is in a residential area, and the tattoo parlor would attract the wrong clientele, affecting property values. The county’s map shows mostly commercial zoning around the center with some industrial nearby.’

These people had plenty of time before hand to raise their voices and let their concerns be heard.  Yet they did nothing, and now when the livelihood of both Waite and Espada appears to be on the line, this handful of ignorant morons steps forward to cause problems and create controversy where there clearly isn’t any.  It’s so easy to place vague accusations of wrong doing against tattoo artists and their studios, stigmatising them as the wrong element in any good and decent society.  Well excuse me, but the last time I checked, shopping malls have always done pretty well on their own attracting the “wrong clientele” without tattoo studios.  Gangs, drug dealers, thugs – who hasn’t seen all those types of people in malls before?  And guess what?  Any time I’ve seen them in a mall, there wasn’t a tattoo studio to be found.  Wow, shocking isn’t it?

Maybe the Chesterfield do-gooders should consider incidents like this November 2010 shooting in a Detroit shopping mall, in which two men were killed or this report from April 2007 when a gunman shot and killed three people at a Missouri shopping center, none of which had anything to do with tattoos, tattooists, tattoo clients or tattoo studios.  What they did have to do with however, were shopping malls.  So why then are residential leaders like Judy Stoneman, Phil Lohr and former Bermuda Supervisor Jack McHale as well as their supporters worried about tattooists and not the shopping mall itself bringing in the wrong clientele?  I guess it’s just so much easier to garner support based on bigotry.

‘”Bermuda Supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle voted against that case, saying tattoo parlors have “a negative stigma” and “are a sign of decline.” Then she added, “I don’t know why people want to mutilate their bodies.”’

It’s okay Dorothy, you don’t have to know why, but you do have to respect their right to do it.