After 23 years of tattooing, I’m still amazed and extremely
grateful for what this profession has enabled me to do. The places
that it has taken me, the opportunities that it’s provided, and the
great people that I have met in every journey are un-measurable. It’s
a great feeling to return home and share with friends and family
something that they might not ever get to experience.
The main reason for travelling to Singapore was to attend the 2nd
Annual Tattoo Expo. There were
four of us going in total, including myself. My loyal
apprentice Andy, my business partner from NY, Michelle and her husband
Kevin. The trip started out a little rocky. I had anticipated the
travel would be daunting but the first challenge was just departing St
Louis. When leaving St. Louis headed to NY the flight was cancelled
due to mechanical problems. Although, this was paled in comparison to
how the return trip would play out. Anyway, after a 12-hour flight
from NY to Dubai, and another 7 hours to Singapore, we landed to 90
degree, humid heat.
With a steadily growing tattoo scene in Singapore, artists from
around the world stayed busy throughout the weekend. The event venue
was a huge convention “mall”, with several other events taking place
simultaneously. If it wasn’t for all the foreigners, it would have
felt as if you were in any American convention, with a 7 Eleven,
Subway and a Burger King all contained within the complex. This is the
new Orient!
Dr Dave has had a great idea. He's asking tattoo Artists from all over the world join together to help out the good people of Haiti in their time of desperate need.
Here's the idea.
Individual tattoo artists donate the money from one tattoo they do to the Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund to help out the people
suffering in Haiti from the recent devastating earthquake. It does not
matter what the tattoo is, who the client is, or what the amount of
money is.
The money is paid directly to The Red Cross at THIS LINK
CLICK
the "Haiti Relief and Development " button and donate whatever amount
you collected from your ONE client for that ONE single tattoo. And you're done.
THEN,
please send us your name, the name of your shop, the amount you donated
and, if possible, a JPEG image of the tat so we can post all that up on
the WEBSITE (which will be up soon).
Send all that information to his EMAIL
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
You can also POST your tattoo and comments on This Blog .
DO NOT send us any money, gifts or funds. Donate DIRECTLY to the RED
CROSS as indicated above. Just send us the INFO about the tattoo.
Our goal is to get 100,000 tattoo artists from all over the world to make one single donation each.
Let's show the world that tattoo artists and tattoo people know how to care and how to show it
Thank you in advance for your help.
Founders of
www.Ink4Haiti.org
Dr Dave in NYC
&
Michelle Myles
(Dare Devil Tattoo in NYC)
PS
- please send this BLOG ADDRESS to ALL tattoo related websites, tattoo
shops, tattoo artists and anyone involved in the tattoo culture / arts.
This weekend Eva Huber from Off The Map Tattoo in East Hampton
Massachusets will be visiting Daredevil. Give a shout to the shop if
you would like to set up time with her.
Real quick while I can still get online here's a short video clip from the Singapore show. I'll be doing another video when I get home but this one's pretty cool with the dancers from the closing ceremony.
Check out this month’s issue of Inked Magazine. Yours truly is featured in the Inked Icon section with a three page interview by Marisa over at Needlesandsins.com. Here’s a brief excerpt from the article…
INKED: This interview is for our Icon section-
BRAD FINK:What’s up with this “INKED Icon”?
That’s what we call the renowned artists we profile who have contributed to tattooing over the years and continue to advance the art.
Wow. I’m flattered, but you’re making me feel self-conscious. [Laughs.] Icons are people who are dead or at least old. I only just turned 39.
You’re nevertheless internationally known and respected in tattooing. Enjoy it.
I have a hard time with it when, at tattoo conventions, people come up and ooh and aah over me, because I feel like I just started – like I was just one of those kids who went to their first convention and saw Jack Rudy or one of those dudes and was blown away.
You’ve been tattooing more than twenty years. What do you mean when you say you still feel like you “just started”?
A lot of times I find myself saying how amazed I am at how fast time goes. A couple of weeks ago, a guy who I used to tattoo in my kitchen in high school came into the shop to get another tattoo. Or my grade school art teacher just interviewed me for a local magazine in St. Louis. I ended up tattooing her and she was so happy.
Of course, I’m definitely happy where I’m at and cherishing that I have three successful shops with great partners – Michelle Myles and Mark Andrews-and most recently, partners in a clothing line called Me Against the World. When I started I wasn’t thinking about where I’d end up. I just did what I did and never gave it much thought. All of a sudden here I am, an INKED Icon.
Remember, in 1987, people didn’t put these fuckers on a pedestal like they do now. None of this reality TV shit. We were just skin mechanics, laborers, blue-collar dudes. I’m from the old mind-set. Tattooing is something I cherish and am protective of. Although I will say that with all the TV shows and media, there is more positive than negative coming from it. People are more educated when they come into the shop.
LeRoi Manhattan 174 Ludlow Street NY, NY 212-253-6402
94 Saint Marks Pl. New York, NY 212-353-8282
This weekend 
174 Ludlow St. New York, NY 212.533.8303