Do You Tattoo?

In case you are wondering, that’s NOT Peter getting his umpteenth tattoo at Disciples Ink.  That’s just our first view of the Cape Town Tattoo Convention last week.  Never missing an opportunity to widen our horizons, we decided to see for ourselves what attracts someone to adorn their body with “art” as well as endure a great deal of pain!

The conference was held in what was once the City Hall here in Cape Town.  (We actually stood on the same balcony where Nelson Mandela addressed over 100,000 people upon his release from prison.) 

The building is now used for all sorts of community events.  It has dozens of large offices all inter-connected.  At the tattoo convention, there were about 30 artists stationed at booths throughout the second floor including several special guests from countries around the world!  The joint was jumping and there was a whole lotta tattooing going on!

This guy was one of my favorites.  I asked him how he was doing and he said, “I hate this!”  I said, “You’d never know!”  The guy was a walking canvas!  Really sweet person…I wanted to take him home!

Peter, on the other hand, had designs (pardon the pun) on this sweet thing.  

When we first met her, walking into the building, she told us that she was excited and nervous because she was going to get a tattoo from a famous American artist, named Justice.  At first, we didn’t think she had ANY tattoos because, while she was walking on our right, we could only see the left side of her body.  Turns out, all her tattoos were on her right side and this was, obviously, NOT her first time on the carving table. (Pun #2)

Bless his heart, Peter seemed VERY concerned for her welfare and hung around Justice’s booth most of the afternoon documenting the procedure.  He even zoomed in on her thigh  for a close-up!  What a thoughtful guy!

There were all sorts of torsos and limbs being “inked” with cellphones helping many of the recipients pass the time.  This guy was taking it so casually, he was browsing through Facebook while his stylist fashioned a tiger in the jungle with a huge pen and a substantial needle!  Ouch!!!!   Next door, this young woman seemed to prefer a more floral motif but still had her I-Phone close by in case she wanted to place an order with 1-800-Flowers. 

Since the tattoo artists had their hands full with their instruments, an I-Pod came in handy!

And, speaking of instruments, this place looked more like a dentist office although I’m not sure I’d want to drink that black mouthwash!

And take a look at some of the equipment these guys use to craft their masterpieces!  High tech and cutting edge (pun #3)

Some of the previously inked attendees at the conference let us photograph their favorite “tats.”  This guy told us he was born just as Apartheid was ending but he never wanted to forget what happened here in South Africa so he has Nelson Mandela imprinted on his calf.

I tried, in vain, to convince Peter to plaster this swashbuckling fellow on his chest…

                                                                                                                                                                                                                           But, he wanted HER!

We agreed to disagree and went home tattoo-less but with lots of new friends and a new appreciation for body art.