This isn’t the first time that 43-year-old Belgian artist Wim Delvoye has been in the news.  Hell, this isn’t the first time that Wim Delvoye has been featured on this blog.

The controversial artist, who is known for art projects that have involved such things as a video of him popping his zits (I’m not kidding), to a “feces machine” (also not kidding), has been tattooing live pigs since the 1990s.  He doesn’t seem to be slowing down now, either, despite complaints from animal rights activists and a ban from last year’s Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.

Instead, Delvoye works at tattooing his pigs on a farm that he purchased (most likely with his zit popping, poo-machine and pig tattooing money) in Beijing, China, where tattooing pigs isn’t a big deal at all.

The tattoos are done after the pigs have been drugged, so that they remain unconscious throughout the procedure.   According to Delvoye:

“They don’t feel it, they don’t even know they have been tattooed afterwards.  The pigs enjoy better living conditions than millions of poor Chinese.”

Hmmm…well, my inevitable question to Delvoye would of course be, how the hell does he know whether or not the pigs feel it or if they are aware of having been tattooed once they awaken?  What is he, totally and completely in tune with the animal world?  I don’t think he is, because if he were he’d probably hear the pigs saying “Please don’t tattoo me and then sell me so that people can hang my skin in their home.”

Anyway, he’s recently tattooed 12 more pigs and if you’re interested in seeing some of the photos, you may do so here.

Apparently singer Rihanna not only loves tattoos, she has decided she would like to give them as well. Unfortunately, her scratcher ambitions have landed the diva in hot water with the New York police dept.

For some ungodly reason three of the tattoo artists who work at her favorite tattoo studio, East Side Ink, allowed the tattooed singer to pick up the holy instrument of tattooing and apply an umbrella and the letter “R” on their collective hides. A big no-no in the eyes of the NYC Law Department.

According to the NYC Department Ri-Ri could be slapped with three misdemeanor  charges with fines of $300 for the first offence, $500 for the second, and $1,000 for the third. A grand total of $1800. Not a very huge sum for a pop singer, but still, more than most would care to fork out.

East Side Ink will be in it’s own hot water for allowing Rihanna to indulge her fantasy with hefty fines of their own as the NYC Law Department is opening it’s own investigation saying, “”Only licensed tattoo artists can administer tattoos in the city according to the City’s Health Code. We are sending someone down to follow up on this.”

At this point I have to wonder; What the fuck were they thinking?! Knowing the law, and knowing just how much training goes into learning the art of tattooing, why would any artist allow an untrained scratcher to practice on their hide? Celebrity or not?! That’s just ignorant.

Dudes, I know she’s cute, I know she’s a celebrity, but damn! Talk about a major brain fart!

Meet Teresa Johnson.  Teresa owns and operates the ElectroLadyLux Tattoo Shop, one of Vancouver, Canada’s best spots for quality tattoo work.  ElectroLadyLux also happens to be Vancouver’s only female owned and operated tattoo shop.   

For 12 straight years and counting, Teresa has been running the show and delivering her uniquely vibrant artwork to a steady stream of happy customers.  In fact, she’s something of a legend in east Vancouver, where her shop is located.   

Teresa began work as a tattoo artist in 1990/1991, after graduating from Vancouver’s Emily Carr University of Art and Design.  She then went on to acquire a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.  In 1995, Teresa opened her first tattoo shop, in Vancouver’s Gastown district (the same district in which tattoo artist Adam Sky currently tattoos from).  That location proved to only be temporary, however, and in 1995 Teresa moved ElectroLadyLux to its current location on Commercial Drive, Vancouver’s answer to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district.

Since that time, Teresa’s efforts have received mention through a wide variety of media and publicity, including a stint as a tattoo consultant for an episode of the cult sci-fi TV series, The X-Files.  She’s a mother to a son whom, according to Teresa’s bio on her site, has quite a few tattoos by her.  Cool.

Check out Teresa Johnson’s online gallery here.

MICHEAL JACKSONS EYES!! THERS NOT MUCH DETAIL TO DESCRIBE REALLY. BUT IT MEANS ALOT TO ME AND IM SO HAPPY WITH IT!

TattooLaPalooza
July 10-12 2009
Miami, Florida
Miami Beach Convention Center
Tattoo & Motorcycle Convention

Live Free or Die Tattoo Convention
July 10-12 2009
Manchester, NH
Radisson Hotel
Contests, Side Show Performances, Concert Saturday

4th Annual APT Tattoo Rendezvous Convention
July 16th-19th 2009
Kansas City, Missouri
EmbassySuites-TiffanySprings
7640 N.W. Tiffany Springs Pkwy.

Pomona Body Arts Expo
January 17-19 2009
Pomona, California
Fairplex
Tattooists, Contests, Merchandise

5th Annual International
Stavanger Tattoo Covnention
July 24-25 2009
Stavanger, Norway

If you know anymore conventions happening in July leave them in the comments…
Content Provided by Tattoo Conventions.com

Michael Jacksons “Pretty Young thing”

I love Michael Jackson!!!!
I got this tattoo about a year ago…I guess I need to add a couple of dates now, huh?

West Frankfort, Illinois native Dan “Curly” Summers seems to love three things: 1. The Three Stooges 2. Wrestling 3. Tattoos.  He also probably loves those three things in exactly that order.

How much does Dan love The Three Stooges?  Well, while growing up he claims that every Saturday night at 11pm, regardless of who or what he was doing, he would get home to watch the The Three Stooges television program.  The Stooges were Dan’s life.  Then, after some time Dan decided that he wanted to honor his favorite comic trio by getting some tattoos of them.  But why stop at one?

14-years of tattoo work later and Summers had his body covered with 86 tattoos of varying sizes, all of which, were of the Stooges.  Still eager to show off his love for Moe, Larry and Curly, Summers decided that there was plenty more room on his face and so, Dan “Curly” Summers proceeded to have 13 more Three Stooges tattoos done right on his mug and dome, including an inner lip tattoo which reads “4th Stooge”.

The thing was that after some time, having 13 Three Stooges tattoos on his face got a little bit tiresome. Dan got sick of having Three Stooges tattoos all over his face (go figure) and decided to have them removed.  He even found a doctor in LA who agreed to perform the removal procedures for free, provided Dan allow him to take before and after photographs.  Dan did and wow, I must say that the doctor did a great job.

These days Dan trains to be a pro-wrestler.  His face is tattoo-free, but all the other Stooges tattoos remain, including a particularly massive back piece of Curly’s face.  The spirit of the Stooges seems to be pushing Summers on toward his goal of entertaining people.  He even claims that he’ll be the WWE Champion of the World in 2 years.

I don’t even know what to say.  Check out this video of Summers practicing his wrestling, chatting with reports and mugging the camera with Stooges moves.

In the past I’ve written several posts about the various manners in which tattoo art is making its way into the mainstream.  I see now that I was wrong all along.  Tattoo art isn’t making its way into the mainstream, tattoo art is the mainstream.  And if you need proof of that as I apparently did, then you should read this article from The Baltimore Sun.

It never surprises me to see a new addition to the tattoo art on (insert object here), but now it seems as though companies are scrambling to find a surface to display any form of tattoo art possible.  Ami James, star of “Miami Ink”, for example, has designed the “Do Not Disturb” door hanger signs for the Dana Hotel and Spa in Chicago.

Don’t get me wrong, I have no objection to Ami making a buck – I know that he’s just a squirrel trying to get a nut too, and all that – but some of this is just starting to feel a little bit, well, I don’t know…a bit much, I guess.  I can only speak from my personal standpoint, obviously, but my personal standpoint is that tattooing has never been about trying to fit into that whole is it cool or isn’t it scene.  Tattooing, I think, has always been above all that, without ever adopting a holier than thou attitude.  When I hear or read things like this:

“The look is popular with hipsters,” says Allan Gordon, president of Wholley Sheet, a Los Angeles company that markets the Ed Hardy Home Collection. “People who are ‘fly’ love the look.”

Hipsters?  The same guys that wear skinny jeans and sport Keffiyeh scarfs around their necks? Those guys? Hey, no offense guys.   If you want to wear skinny jeans and Keffiyeh scarfs, then more power to you.  But do we have to quantify tattoos in the process?  Do they need to be made into something exclusive, something that defines who is cool and who isn’t?

At one point, people who had tattoos were considered bad, outlaws, troublemakers.  It seemed that you were either a good person with no tattoos, or a bad person who had tattoos.  The idea that a tattoo could dictate what type of person you were was laughable to those who knew better, but still widely regarded to be true by society in general.

My point is that tattoo has never excepted the notion of being or acting as any sort of judge.  Tattooing just is what it is: a personal and permanent artistic expression.  That’s the way that it should be.  So when people talk about hipsters and how “fly” (seriously, I can’t believe that dude used the word “fly”) people like tattoo clothing and products, well…I get a little defense. 

When it comes to Celtic art you would be hard pressed to find a better tattoo artist than Pat Fish. Trained by the legendary Cliff Raven, Pat has gone on to carve out her own unique identity as the go to person when it comes to Celtic tattooing.

By her own admission Pat had no ethnic identity as a child, yet she had a gnawing craving for a connection to a bloodline and history. Typical of unfortunate children who have been orphaned, she sought out her roots and was delighted to discover that she was Pict and Scott of the Clan Campbell on both sides of her families heritage.

It seemed that fate took her by the hand even then, because at the same time she met her true relatives and learned about her heritage she also began her foray into the world of tattooing. Such supposed coincidences could only mean that she was destined to bring the intricate world of Celtic and Pictish art to life in skin.

Featured in the October 2008 issue of Skin and Ink magazine as one of the top 13 women tattoo artists. Pat has also won the prestigious First Prize for Best Ornamental Tattoo at the Stockholm Ink Bash 2008, as evidenced by the picture to the right from her website Luckyfish.

But don’t think for a moment that this amazing tattoo artist is a one trick pony. Just a quick look around at her online portfolio here will soon let you know that Pat Fish is an all around artist capable of realistic work, as well as traditional.

Pat can be found laying ink out of Tattoo Santa Barbara studios at 318 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA. So if you have a craving for some really eyepoping Celtic tribal, both traditional and custom, as many in the know can tell you. Go Fish. 😉