I have to admit that I knew next to nothing about Ireland before we went on this trip. I read a book on Irish history (or more of a historical novel) but nothing really sunk in. I knew that Guinness comes from there and my half Irish husband Kevin loves Guinness so through Kevin I had some sort of connection. 

We flew into Dublin for the Guinness factory first thing. The next day we took a 4 hour bus ride to Derry where the convention was being held. Derry is in Northern Ireland and even though we did not get to see views of the touted western coast the rolling hills and green counrty side allong the bus route made me look forward to future trips with more time to explore. Derry itself is a beautiful historic city and the only completely walled city in Ireland with walls built from 1613-1618. Now the walls serve as a walkway or promenade around the inner city about a mile long so it makes for a nice stroll.

This was the second Maiden City Ink show. Derry is nicknamed the Maiden City because it's walls were never breached back in the day when they worked to fortify the city. Here'a few pictures from the show with a couple of the tattoos I did.  I really didn't get many pictures in since I was tattooing all weekend. It was one of the smallest conventions I'd ever worked and yet it was as busy as any other show I've been to.  The size of the town, the size of the crowd and the number of artists seemed to be in perfect proportion. Everyone was working away and both days I had to turn down customers with a full schedule. We met so many great people between the customers, the crowd, the tattooers (hey Albert at Nautica! )  and especially the organizers. Gary, China and everyone else went out of their way to be sure we were looked after.  I even won a trophy for a snake and dagger for "Best Old School Tattoo" That was a really nice surprise since I didn't even know John was entering the contest! (Thanks for everything John!!)

The trend in conventions these days seems to be to see who can throw a bigger tattoo show than anyone else.  Biggest either in square footage, number of tattoo artists or number of vendors with results both good and more often than not bad.  The only person I've met who's managed to get the crowds and the artists necessary to consistently succeed at the mega show is Miki who runs the London and Milan shows. There's others out there that I haven't made it to but Miki is up to his 14th show in Milan, it's not his first rodeo and he has the formula down. I'm hearing about more and more conventions these days with lots of tattooers sitting around with not enough people to fill up the aisles let alone sit down and get tattooed. Add a high price at the door and the crowd gets cut in half. 

Bigger does not always mean better for a convention. This was a great opportunity to visit a place we might not have visited otherwise. The people were probably the friendliest we've met *anywhere*.  Don't let the "troubles" keep you away from such a nice place to visit. We will be sure to go back, that is if we're invited.... (us Daredevils are notorious trouble makers wherever we go ;)

I got to see my friend Tommy's shop in Dublin. Super cool shop by the way Classic Ink Tattoo in Temple Bar. But Dublin is not the whole of Ireland,  so try to get out and enjoy the country side while you're there and get up north!

Now that my flight is delayed almost 5 hours I have a minute to share this weekends travel plans with you all. I will be at the Maiden City Ink Tattoo convention in Derry City, Northern Ireland. Come one Come all to say hello if you're anywhere close to that part of the globe. This will be my first visit to Ireland so I am very excited to say the least. 

Other news around the shop our guest artist Owen Williams  is enjoying his time in New York so much that he's decided to extend his stay a bit. If you would like to line up some time with him give us a call. 

Ok cars here...gotta go!!!!!

The shop was quiet yesterday with all the heat outside but Twilight movie star Nikki Reed  and her brother made it in to Daredevil for new tattoos. They got matching white tattoos on their arms. Nikki plays blonde Rosalie in "Eclipse". 

Some words on white ink tattoos. Despite the efforts of many tattoo artist to steer clear of doing white tattoos, white tattoos are becoming more and more popular. Tattoo artists generally don't like doing white tattoos because they don't alway show up very well and they don't heal into a true white. There are some things to take in to consideration when getting a white tattoo. The LIGHTER your skin is the better the white ink will show up. Tattoo inks are not opaque so they need to show through your skin color. The darker your skin is the less the lighter colors will show up. Very simple images work best as white tattoos. I prefer to only have an outline of the image in white. Solid areas of white filled in don't always heal evenly. These are some of the reasons tattoo artist don't like doing white tattoos.  We try to explain what to expect from a white tattoo but often cannot guarantee the results. It looks more like a scar than white ink.  This is what is appealing to some people about having a white tattoo. But buyer beware because white does not heal up the same on everyone however it can be tattooed over with a darker color or black if it turns out to be too subtle for your taste or if you don't like the color it heals into being.

All the way from Melbourne Australia we have guest artist Owen Williams stopping off on his world tour. Owen is taking appointments from July 7-14. We met Owen at the Singapore Tattoo convention. This will be his first trip to the US. Other cities on Owen's tour include Malaysia, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, LA, and  San Jose. Give a call to Daredevil if you would like to set up time with this amazing artist before he OD's on Katz's pastrami. You can also contact Owen directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to set up an appointment.

July 8-13 Jeremy Sutton will also be visiting. Jeremy works at Ink & Dagger Tattoo in Decatur Georgia. This will be Jeremy's first time working in NY as well and Jeremy can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for an appointment. 

We have a busy July coming up!