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2010 a Massive Success...
After much preparation and planning, Bournemouth Ink 2010 was a massive success. We had over 4000 pe...
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Press
Bournemouth Ink review from Total Tattoo - 2009
Words by Doralba Picerno
The first Bournemouth Ink tattoo show took place at the end of May, and being on at the same time as another UK convention (Liverpool) did not hinder its success one bit.
The show was set in the enviable location of the Opera House, a lovely theatre in Boscombe, in the outskirts of Bournemouth, and only a 10-minute walk from the sea.
The show was a national affair, with no foreign names, but plenty of local talent.
Artists such as Xed LeHead (or Meesta Om, if you meet him at a convention!) added a bit of international lustre to this perfectly formed show, but the rest of the guests showed equal amounts of talent and good work. The show was most remarkable, in my eyes, for the return with a bang of Steve A, whose work was plentiful and exquisite. Plenty of established artists and studios, such as Madam Butterfly, Derek Campbell, Derma Funk were busy and produced great work alongside up-and-coming studios such as The Gallery, No Pain No Gain, Timeless Ink, White Flame, Tribal Urge, Ink, Forever & Ever, and many more.
There were plenty of eating options, and even a cosy bar within the venue itself. The show was laid out on two different floors, the theatre’s central area provided the hub of the show, with most of the tattoo stalls and the stage, while the upstairs was divided in two areas: the gallery, overlooking the downstairs area, and a bright room with its own stage (this is were the judging of tattoos for the competition took place) and wonderful art-deco bar as well as more body-art and clothing stalls.
Setting up a vintage clothing and jewellery stall as well as a vinyl record stall was also a very good idea, I have not seen either at other tattoo shows, and they both made perfect sense, I saw plenty who browsed and bought. I appreciate the thinking that allows tattooed people to browse for more than just the most literal tattoo-inspired items.
The fact the theatre is on a busy high street helped the show get a lot of exposure, and it made it really easy to get to, although as soon as the shops closed the streets were soon quite empty. Luckily there was loads going on inside the Opera House, as the organizers put on a tireless selection of acts on both days from early on, ranging from bands to burlesque and freak shows, to suspensions and acrobatics, there was plenty to entertain even the most hardened expo-goer. The volume of the bands’ music was sometimes a bit loud on the Saturday, but on Sunday everything was down a notch or two, and the atmosphere was just perfect.
This was a fun week end, eventful and well organised, I know I for sure would love to be back!
Words by Doralba Picerno
The first Bournemouth Ink tattoo show took place at the end of May, and being on at the same time as another UK convention (Liverpool) did not hinder its success one bit.
The show was set in the enviable location of the Opera House, a lovely theatre in Boscombe, in the outskirts of Bournemouth, and only a 10-minute walk from the sea.
The show was a national affair, with no foreign names, but plenty of local talent.
Artists such as Xed LeHead (or Meesta Om, if you meet him at a convention!) added a bit of international lustre to this perfectly formed show, but the rest of the guests showed equal amounts of talent and good work. The show was most remarkable, in my eyes, for the return with a bang of Steve A, whose work was plentiful and exquisite. Plenty of established artists and studios, such as Madam Butterfly, Derek Campbell, Derma Funk were busy and produced great work alongside up-and-coming studios such as The Gallery, No Pain No Gain, Timeless Ink, White Flame, Tribal Urge, Ink, Forever & Ever, and many more.
There were plenty of eating options, and even a cosy bar within the venue itself. The show was laid out on two different floors, the theatre’s central area provided the hub of the show, with most of the tattoo stalls and the stage, while the upstairs was divided in two areas: the gallery, overlooking the downstairs area, and a bright room with its own stage (this is were the judging of tattoos for the competition took place) and wonderful art-deco bar as well as more body-art and clothing stalls.
Setting up a vintage clothing and jewellery stall as well as a vinyl record stall was also a very good idea, I have not seen either at other tattoo shows, and they both made perfect sense, I saw plenty who browsed and bought. I appreciate the thinking that allows tattooed people to browse for more than just the most literal tattoo-inspired items.
The fact the theatre is on a busy high street helped the show get a lot of exposure, and it made it really easy to get to, although as soon as the shops closed the streets were soon quite empty. Luckily there was loads going on inside the Opera House, as the organizers put on a tireless selection of acts on both days from early on, ranging from bands to burlesque and freak shows, to suspensions and acrobatics, there was plenty to entertain even the most hardened expo-goer. The volume of the bands’ music was sometimes a bit loud on the Saturday, but on Sunday everything was down a notch or two, and the atmosphere was just perfect.
This was a fun week end, eventful and well organised, I know I for sure would love to be back!
Bournemouth Ink review from Skin Deep - 2009
Words by Al Overdrive
Life is a gamble. Without a doubthosting the first Bournemouth Ink Tattoo Convention the same weekend as the well established Liverpool Convention was a massive gamble. One that would either be a stroke of genius or a complete failure.
However, if you know what you are doing the odds can be stacked in your favour. Fortunately for everyone attending, the organizers of Bournemouth Ink had the right idea. This convention had more to offer than simply tattooists at work; circus displays, festival markets, live bands throughout the day, theatre performances and a range of tasty on site café’s provided you with little reason to leave.
I didn’t know what to expect as I walked in to the venue. Once inside I was instantly hit by the beauty of the Opera House and the large numbers of attendees milling around the stalls. The on-site staff were friendly and the vibe permeated the entire afternoon. With the show being split between two levels, multiple rooms off each side and a main stage for the performances, it was hard to know where to start!
The Transmutants solved this dilemma for me by putting on their classic Japanese themed show involving the ‘ladder of swords’ amongst other tricks. During their performance the crowd numbers swelled and were waiting with baited breath for the Vivid Angel to take to the stage. As we have come to expect, the Vaudeville freak-show entertainer put on an impressive burlesque show combining her strong stage presence with charismatic performances. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see her performing with fire, but I suspect this might have been considered an unacceptable risk to local authorities and the venue owners.
The Transmutants made another appearance on the main stage, this time entertaining us with the Bed of Nails and Human Light Bulb experiments. Unlike some performers they managed to keep on the right side of taste (after all, this was a family friendly event and not just for those with strong stomachs) resisting the urge to push in to pure freakshow.
There were many well known tattooists attending, including Xed le Head, who won the Large Black and Grey competition on the Sunday. Later in the day I got to photograph a back piece he had just finished doing on a lucky gent and really was blown away bt the detail.
Being London based, I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a good tattooist, so conventions are often a good time for me to see what’s going on outside of the bubble that is the capital. Walking around the balcony level one artist did catch my eye; Ben Hamill (of Ink Studio’s) was hard at work on a sleeve based around an oriental lady with the most striking eyes I have seen in a while.
Luck would have it that I was standing in the perfect place to see ‘The Amazing Ari’ perform his innovative aerial maneuvers and wow the crowd as he took his body to the edge of it’s limits. In fact, my muscles start to ache just thinking about how hard his act was.
Returning to the venue early on the Sunday morning, there was already a long queue forming outside the venue, attracting many a stare from some of the local elderly residents. Once back inside; the day quickly took off and I was spoilt for choice when finding people to take in to the Skin Deep photo booth to have their picture taken. After a busy morning my assistant and I needed to get a breath of fresh air and stock up on snacks (believe it or not but it’s actually hard work covering the entire convention by yourself). Outside the venue stilted walkers were ‘terrorising’ a amused and bemused crowd of attendees who had popped out for a quiet cigarette break.
Back to the tattooists at work on the main floor and it was pleasing to see that pretty much everywhere I looked everyone was hard at work. Madame Butterfly seemed to spend the entire weekend with machine in hand. She was kind enough to stop tattooing just long enough for me to talk to her about her experiences of this convention and how excited she was to have won Saturday’s ‘Small Black and Grey’ with a traditional pin up girl riding a bomb.
Unlike some conventions this felt more like a family affair – by the end of Sunday I recognised most of the faces and was receiving friendly nods and winks on my way back to the Skin Deep photo area to document more awesome tattoos. Dan Gold, of Skunx Tattoo and also London Ink fame, was working away in the corner without a care in the world, being allowed to do what he does best: tattoo. Minutes before packing up my stuff at the end of Sunday night, I was approached by a gentleman who had Dan spend several hours on his hand piece… a finely executed tattoo machine which almost leapt off his hand in to my camera.
Part of the success of this event was the rounded nature of it; if you ever felt like you needed a break from the performances or the sound of tattoo machines then you could pop into the side bar to watch the music showcase. Over the two days there were a variety of acts performing music ranging from folk-rock such as Phil King, through to uplifting surf influenced reggae from Si Crockett.
One thing that added to the event was the choice of on-site caterers. Meat eaters and veggies were offered a range of reasonably priced, well prepared food. All in all, this attention to detail was visible throughout the weekend. My only complaints were the early close times (7pm on Saturday felt premature) and the mood lighting. The lighting suited the venue, but it was evident by the number of tattooists who returned on the Sunday morning with multiple desk lamps, that the lighting didn’t suit the tattooists who had to work.
The tattoo contest on Sunday was a good way to wrap up the events, especially since I had the pleasure of sitting next to Mad Allan (of the Transmutants) as he came with his own commentary on the contestants as they came up. Joking aside, the weekend was full of welcome light hearted banter and a range of high quality tattoos. I almost feel sorry for the judges, in fact they had to call several people back on the Sunday, as they really couldn’t reach a clear winner for several categories.
At the start of this piece you might have been thinking “Does the UK really need another tattoo convention?” hopefully after reading this you will already be thinking about booking your ticket for the 2010 Bournemouth Ink convention. I know I am…
Words by Al Overdrive
Life is a gamble. Without a doubthosting the first Bournemouth Ink Tattoo Convention the same weekend as the well established Liverpool Convention was a massive gamble. One that would either be a stroke of genius or a complete failure.
However, if you know what you are doing the odds can be stacked in your favour. Fortunately for everyone attending, the organizers of Bournemouth Ink had the right idea. This convention had more to offer than simply tattooists at work; circus displays, festival markets, live bands throughout the day, theatre performances and a range of tasty on site café’s provided you with little reason to leave.
I didn’t know what to expect as I walked in to the venue. Once inside I was instantly hit by the beauty of the Opera House and the large numbers of attendees milling around the stalls. The on-site staff were friendly and the vibe permeated the entire afternoon. With the show being split between two levels, multiple rooms off each side and a main stage for the performances, it was hard to know where to start!
The Transmutants solved this dilemma for me by putting on their classic Japanese themed show involving the ‘ladder of swords’ amongst other tricks. During their performance the crowd numbers swelled and were waiting with baited breath for the Vivid Angel to take to the stage. As we have come to expect, the Vaudeville freak-show entertainer put on an impressive burlesque show combining her strong stage presence with charismatic performances. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see her performing with fire, but I suspect this might have been considered an unacceptable risk to local authorities and the venue owners.
The Transmutants made another appearance on the main stage, this time entertaining us with the Bed of Nails and Human Light Bulb experiments. Unlike some performers they managed to keep on the right side of taste (after all, this was a family friendly event and not just for those with strong stomachs) resisting the urge to push in to pure freakshow.
There were many well known tattooists attending, including Xed le Head, who won the Large Black and Grey competition on the Sunday. Later in the day I got to photograph a back piece he had just finished doing on a lucky gent and really was blown away bt the detail.
Being London based, I’m spoilt for choice when it comes to picking a good tattooist, so conventions are often a good time for me to see what’s going on outside of the bubble that is the capital. Walking around the balcony level one artist did catch my eye; Ben Hamill (of Ink Studio’s) was hard at work on a sleeve based around an oriental lady with the most striking eyes I have seen in a while.
Luck would have it that I was standing in the perfect place to see ‘The Amazing Ari’ perform his innovative aerial maneuvers and wow the crowd as he took his body to the edge of it’s limits. In fact, my muscles start to ache just thinking about how hard his act was.
Returning to the venue early on the Sunday morning, there was already a long queue forming outside the venue, attracting many a stare from some of the local elderly residents. Once back inside; the day quickly took off and I was spoilt for choice when finding people to take in to the Skin Deep photo booth to have their picture taken. After a busy morning my assistant and I needed to get a breath of fresh air and stock up on snacks (believe it or not but it’s actually hard work covering the entire convention by yourself). Outside the venue stilted walkers were ‘terrorising’ a amused and bemused crowd of attendees who had popped out for a quiet cigarette break.
Back to the tattooists at work on the main floor and it was pleasing to see that pretty much everywhere I looked everyone was hard at work. Madame Butterfly seemed to spend the entire weekend with machine in hand. She was kind enough to stop tattooing just long enough for me to talk to her about her experiences of this convention and how excited she was to have won Saturday’s ‘Small Black and Grey’ with a traditional pin up girl riding a bomb.
Unlike some conventions this felt more like a family affair – by the end of Sunday I recognised most of the faces and was receiving friendly nods and winks on my way back to the Skin Deep photo area to document more awesome tattoos. Dan Gold, of Skunx Tattoo and also London Ink fame, was working away in the corner without a care in the world, being allowed to do what he does best: tattoo. Minutes before packing up my stuff at the end of Sunday night, I was approached by a gentleman who had Dan spend several hours on his hand piece… a finely executed tattoo machine which almost leapt off his hand in to my camera.
Part of the success of this event was the rounded nature of it; if you ever felt like you needed a break from the performances or the sound of tattoo machines then you could pop into the side bar to watch the music showcase. Over the two days there were a variety of acts performing music ranging from folk-rock such as Phil King, through to uplifting surf influenced reggae from Si Crockett.
One thing that added to the event was the choice of on-site caterers. Meat eaters and veggies were offered a range of reasonably priced, well prepared food. All in all, this attention to detail was visible throughout the weekend. My only complaints were the early close times (7pm on Saturday felt premature) and the mood lighting. The lighting suited the venue, but it was evident by the number of tattooists who returned on the Sunday morning with multiple desk lamps, that the lighting didn’t suit the tattooists who had to work.
The tattoo contest on Sunday was a good way to wrap up the events, especially since I had the pleasure of sitting next to Mad Allan (of the Transmutants) as he came with his own commentary on the contestants as they came up. Joking aside, the weekend was full of welcome light hearted banter and a range of high quality tattoos. I almost feel sorry for the judges, in fact they had to call several people back on the Sunday, as they really couldn’t reach a clear winner for several categories.
At the start of this piece you might have been thinking “Does the UK really need another tattoo convention?” hopefully after reading this you will already be thinking about booking your ticket for the 2010 Bournemouth Ink convention. I know I am…
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