I am still traveling a lot and still writing for tattoo magazines and upcoming tattoo books and projects, this all means that i unfortunately do not have as much time to write blogs as i would like, so from now on i will mostly be posting blogs relating to tattooing or painting, for those who make the effort to seek it out.

I am fed up with the tattoo industry in the Uk right now, certain individuals have problems with other individuals and think they should drag everybody into it, bullying and black mailing them, if there is a problem it is between certain individuals and not the whole tattoo industry. telling people if they work certain tattoo conventions they cannot work other ones is bullshit and school yard bullying. over the past few months i have met and talked with a lot of internationally recognised artists scared of working certain shows because of things they have been told by other partys. Artists just want to work shows, tattoo, hang out and have fun.

therefore i shall not be posting anymore of my thoughts on the industry, i shall be watching from afar, keeping my head down and working my hands to the bone like i always do. I will work the shows i want to work in the cities i want to work in and hanging out with artists and friends who are only interested in tattooing and making art and nothing else!

Would you apply for a doctors position with no medical degree?

How about flying a plane? You have a driving license so why not fly a plane?

Now all of these things are fucking ridiculous, so why are people buying tattoo machines from ebay, getting their mates over and tattooing them. Why are people opening tattoo studios who have never tattooed or had any interest in tattooing apart from now they have realised they can make some fast cash from it, these people are the reason tattooing is going down the pan, they open a shop and get some artists in who are desperate for work, second rate artists, foreign artists and artists who have only been tattooing six months. Then they get an apprentice, six months down the line the apprentice thinks they know it all and is also sick of getting treated like shit so they leave and open their own studio, then they get an apprentice of their very own, who they in turn treat like crap and so the cycle continues.

These shops operate because the general public are stupid morons who know nothing about tattooing and would happily pay £20 for a shit tattoo because it’s a bargain and their mates all tell them its amazing.

The same people who buy a dvd player from asda for £10 and then buy one every six months because they keep breaking, when they could have just bought an £80 one that would have lasted for many years. While the country remains to be full of retards with the IQ of a turkey twizzler tattooing will continue to go down the pan, while the people we all hate carry on raping its lifeless corpse.

There are no ethics, no honour and certainly no respect, if I turn away a nineteen year old because I won’t tattoo his neck I know he will go get it tattooed somewhere else, because there is some other artist desperate enough to need the cash.

The tattoo apocalypse is coming, some shall remain but by god yo will have to jump through hoops to stay, the weak willed will fall as will the talentless chancers and scrathers, we will lose old timers and great artists, but tattooing will carry on as long as people are on earth.

Most of the people posting this are hypocrites and I will tell you why.

These tattoo magazine’s and conventions put out tattoo talent to a huge audience, they also promote upcoming talent and introduce people to artists from all over the world they may not have heard of before, for the most part they are promoting tattooing in a positive light.

Most of the people bitching about it have been featured in the magazine and worked their conventions, in fact it was skin deep and tattoo jam where I discovered a lot of these artists myself, it appears they are happy to lay in bed with the devil when it suits them, and then once they have got what they want out of it they turn their back on it and call it a whore!

Some of their arguments are “these people only make money from tattooing” well what do you do apart from make money out of tattooing? Ok you sit in a shop and tattoo but what do you actually put back into the industry? These conventions and magazines are constantly promoting artists both established and up and coming. And its not as if they have just popped after the boom tattooing has seen in recent years, this magazine has been around for sixteen years.

You make money from tattooing to live and eat so do they.

Most of these people buy their tattoo supplies from company’s that have nothing to do with tattooing, they are not tattoo artists themselves, all they do is make money from tattooing? Yet their happy to support them by buying supplies and equipment from them.

Most of the tattoo conventions in the UK are not organised by tattoo artists? In fact most of the biggest tattoo shows in the world are not organised by tattoo artists.

There are also a lot of tattoo shops out there owned and operated by people who do not tattoo, and this is a problem you can fix, if they didn’t have artists to work for them they couldn’t stay in buisness.

This is exactly how I see it, and sadly there will always be people who want to destroy the success of others. This is not hate mail towards anybody and I am certainly not taking any sides I think people just need to get some perspective, even if you are against skin deep and their conventions if they were not doing it somebody else would be.

Also I would like to add something about the new “great British” convention, which people see as being in direct competition with the London convention. Firstly London is a huge city, seven million people live there, a country like New Zealand has four million people living in the whole country yet they have three conventions there a year, and they all do well. Secondly London is a very well established convention, which has the best artists from all over the world working it, it is quite literally the cream of the crop and has a three year waiting list for booths, it is a prestigious event that most tattoo artists in the UK cannot work, not because their not good enough, but because they are not a big enough name. It is a goal many of us strive to achieve, working this show means you are in the very small top percentage of the artists in the world. The “great British tattoo show” is giving those other artists a chance to work a show in the greatest city in the world.

Some of you may well be reading this now and thinking “well you are bias as you write for skin deep magazine” well let me tell you this, i “contribute” to the magazine, I do not get paid for my article, I am a freelance writer and have no allegiance to anybody. However for the past year I have spent my time (and money) visiting tattoo studios across Australia, New Zealand and given them some exposure and introducing them to a new audience, people who work hard within their craft putting out great tattoos deserve some recognition. I do this because these people’s work deserve to be seen, I do this because I feel it’s my way of giving something back to the industry I make a living from and I do this because I love tattooing.

people know my views, i have always been straight up with everybody and never tried to hide anything.

Seek out the truth, read the facts from both sides and make up your own mind, because there are far to many people who want to make it up for you.

As you probably know I have been travelling a lot so haven’t really been on top of things like my website and certainly haven’t had time to write any blogs. Also i am still writing a monthly article for skin deep magazine which is around 1000 words a month so that pretty much eats up my writing time. I hit the road in october 2010 and i am still travelling, so far most places i have tattooed and visited have been very enjoyable. I am back in england for two months and then i will be heading over to mainland eruope to work a bunch of conventions and guestspots.

People always tell me how they couldn’t travel for so long, but for me the positive aspects of travelling to work far outweigh the negative, I have become a lot less materialistic as everything i own has to fit in one back, I constantly have new inspiration around me for tattooing and am constantly working and watching new artists learning and keeping my skills growing. my eyes have been opened to new cultures, religions and customs which i have embraced and try to take part in when i can. Returning to england i am now realising how small minded some people and certain religions are, how unaccepting and disrespectful they are of the world in general and what has come before. I have always hated people telling me whats right and wrong and when the people telling you haven’t even experienced anything else you realised how messed up views and religions are in this country, and i feel sorry for those people.

keep your mind open, embrace new culture, shut up listen, watch and learn from it.

Hepatitis C is transmitted through blood,  if an infected person has been tattooed and the equipment, instruments and area have not been cleaned properly then there is a risk. An infected person blood can enter the body through penetrating the skin with a tattoo needle, I know what you are thinking.
“But! But! He changed the needles, I saw him do it”
It does not matter. It doesn’t have to be from a needle or the tube. The infected blood could be on the table, spray bottle or any surface and Hepatitis-C lives up to 4 days outside the body. Proper tattoo studios have to be registered with their local council, to be able to operate the council inspects the premises and all sterilisation equipment, this ensures the general public who are getting tattooed are safe.

So if you or your mate or a family member are going to get tattooed in a mates kitchen think again, get educated and share your knowledge, and when you get tattooed check that EVERYTHING is new, clean and sterile!

So over the past few months of travelling I have worked at many shops and each new city I come to one thing is coming more and more to my attention, the amount of new tattoo shops opening up.

When I pick up a magazine there seems to be two or here adverts every month for new shops looking for artists, first thought you may think this is good as tattooing is becoming more mainstream its becoming more successful. Well I don’t think this is true. Any tom dick or harry can open a shop without any qualifications or artistic merit, as long as they are registered with the local council. And what’s more a lot of respect is disappearing from the industry because of this. People seem to do an apprenticeship for six months then leave and open their own studio and get their own apprentice. They are not working hard or paying their dues they are not respecting the artist who took the time to teach them.

Every artist thinks its their god given right to open their own studio, however if your working for the right person there should be no need to, if your working for cool people in a creative and fun environment why would you want to? This is a double edged sword, there are a lot of studios owned by people who simply don’t give a shit, they want to make money they give their artists shit deals, don’t treat them fairly or with respect, they don’t look after them.

I hear so many people complain about the amount of new studios opening the answer in my eyes is simple, if you want someone to work hard for you and stay loyal treat the people who work for you fairly, treat them with respect and look after them.

will this over exposure lead to a dilution in the quality of work? with so many spaces to fill and other conventions to compete with some of the smaller shows sell artist booths for a price and don’t ask for a local council certificate or check the quality of the artists work meaning anyone can get a booth an tattoo at there shows. Getting tattooed at a convention is not a sure bet you will get some awesome artwork, so this leads to the un educated members of the public getting shoddy work done. the bottom line is always check portfolios, get to know an artists work and make sure they are capable of doing what you want them to tattoo, even at conventions!

Im now doing a guestspot at Happy Dayze tattoo in Lilydale which is 40 minutes out of the city, the guys down there are totally laid back and cool, its a great shop to work in so come get some work while im in town!

Keeping yourself busy and having lots of projects on the go always creates more oppertunitys for you, word of mouth is the best advertisement for a tattooer, your only as good as your last tattoo! so keep on giving it 110% doors will keep opening and people will keep coming back for more!

“do not worry about the past for you cannot change it and dwelling on such things can consume a mans mind, the future is set from the path you walk today and therefore will worry about itself, so live for today, be the best person you can be and maybe you can abate in the knowledge that you did the best you could”

you have the power to change everything in your life, you alone and no one else, if you don’t help yourself who else is going to? If an opportunity arises take it, if a door opens walk through it, you can achieve anything you want to if you put your mind to it and work your hardest, my long neglected girlfriend India will tell you how many nights she sits watching tv alone while I am finishing a painting or a design for a customer.

“Ohh your so lucky being able to go travelling” its not luck, I made a choice to drop all my material possesions book a flight and leave, I worked damn hard to save money to be able to afford it, and I will work damn hard while I’m away to support it. Too many people get sucked into to the circle of life, doing a job that is ok, going home to their ok flat, with their ok girlfriend thye met at school, goin out drinking in the same places that are ok and why? Because you are too comfortable to look outside the box, you have become your parents, small town syndrome has struck you down and made you part of a cycle. Similar to a conveyer belt in a factory that pumps out the same thing school-job-girl-house-kids-retire-die it is a mediocre existence, you have the power to do what you want to, but the further down the production line you get the more closed vision your sight becomes. You loose sight of your dreams, your ambitions, your want to travel, experience and learn things from new cultures!

Follow your heart while you are young enough to do so, there is nothing worse then being old and living with regrets and unfulfilled desires. If you want to do something do it! Make the effort, work that extra shift for money to afford it and take that chance while you can!