Inkstitution Tattooing

The Big Buzzz…..

Hi everyone..! I've been receiving several e-mails/request from people who asked me for an appointment at the London convention next April. I reply them that i WON'T be in London in April but in September 2012..!!

So there's a buzz going around in Tattoo-land about a Tattoo event called The Great British Tattoo show versus The London Tattoo Convention organized by Miki Vialetto. If it is of any interest or concern to you where i stand in this matter, please continue to read this message.

Ok, some people would probably label me somewhat 'conservative'. I don't mind really…on the contrary, that means i prefer 'old standards' when it comes to; work, reaching goals aswell as social behavior.

When i first started out tattooing, about 20 years ago, i found that the 'Tattoo scene' was a well protected environment. And that one had to work hard, not only to reach a certain level of quality of drawings and tattoos, but also to get the attention of the established 'elite'.

Once accepted it felt like one big family..! It is exactly that feeling and those standards that made the tattoo industry unlike any other..! Having that said…due to the new generation of tattooers i met and of which i had a fair share in my own studio, i came to realize over the years that not everything can stay the same. New people get interested in tattooing, and buy their first kit as i did 20 years ago. With the fresh blood come fresh and new ideas…new techniques, better pigments, pre-fab needles etc. Most new developments i have embraced as needed improvements of our industry, in order to keep it 'alive'…

However, one of the most concerning development in the industry, are the people who are in it just for the money, or because it's a fashion and hip to have tattoos or to have anything to do with tattoos or the tattoo industry. They don't seem to have any passion whatsoever toward the Tattoo in general. Ask any given Tattoo Convention promoter who Martin Hildebrandt or Charlie Wagner is, and i bet you they look at you if you need anything else…or just asked them for the moon..! I don't mind to make a living out of the effort i put into my work, but i can honestly say that i breath, eat, drink, go to bed and get up in the morning with tattooing on my mind. In short…i live my passion.

About 16 or 17 years ago i was in a bar in Hamburg somewhere around St.Pauli, because i worked at the Hamburg Tattoo Convention. Someone introduced me to this Italian dude who looked like an straight up Indian. He introduced himself to me as Miki Vialetto…promoter and editor of a tattoo magazine called Tattoo Revue (if i remember correctly..:-)). As time went by and i found my way around the European Tattoo scene, i developed more and more respect for the 'elite' and felt more and more honored the more i got accepted as one theirs.

Miki, as no other, understood those standards, values and respect. And it's because of that, that his magazine became one the leading magazines in the field. Because of that his conventions Milano and London became the leading conventions in the industry. Because of that the London Tattoo Convention is provided with the highest possible level of tattooing in the world..!!! And because of the respect he shows towards others and simultaneously being humble towards the Tattoo industry, he deserves the respect back from both the artists and the public.

This is my personal opinion, as it is my decision also to support Miki Vialetto's London Tattoo Convention (for all the above stated reasons), by hopefully go work there again in September 2012.

This message is not intended to put anyone down in any manner, but just to pay some respect to a guy for whom tattooing is all about passion, not about fashion. If you, like me, feel the same way about values, standards and respect towards this ancient trade we call Tattooing, please feel free to repost or share this message.

Hope to see you all at the official London Tattoo Convention..!

Thanx for your attention, Errol