RoryQ

To me they are a luxury in the sense that ... let's be clear ... paying the mortgage or paying for my son's needs (yes, his wants as well as his needs) are ahead.
I have a few paintings that have accrued in value since I bought em- enough that I guess they count as an investment. I hesitate to say tattoos could be an investment in that sense ... for obvious reasons. No re-sale value.
But...
I would prioritise spending my truly disposable income on them because, as Graeme said, they're gonna be there till death. You get "use" out of your tattoos daily. So much enjoyment and good memories.
In terms of their perceived value: It's interesting to me that most people here (Ireland) don't consciously recognise the cost. When I see someone with big work then - if they aren't obviously patronising scratchers - then I know they are *probably* either someone with a good enough income that they can afford it out of disposable income OR someone who can budget and exercise restraint to save up. Either way, I admire / approve of that.

Nice! He's come to AllStar in Limerick twice... Maybe next time I'll try and catch him.

I'm going to mention Mo Coppoletta (The Family Business Tattoo).
Mo is not a 'tattoo community' guy and he doesn't put pictures of his work online anymore.
No secret I've got a lot of work by him, but to me he is just getting better and better.

Don't ask for opinions if you're unwilling to hear the answers you receive. How many of your "top five" have you been tattooed by?

I'm just at the end of four days in Stockholm.
My wife did two days getting her side panel started by Calle Corson at King Carlos. A really giant peony (picture on his IG if anyone is interested).
I've been here before for work but this time I was just minding my son- so we were in every park and playground I could find.
Cool city. Expensive but that's a bit like complaining Dublin is wet. Of course it is.

"Fear of a flash planet"
http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2012/08/01/jojo-ackermann-fear-of-a-flash-planet/
It's been posted before, but reposting it is easier than rehashing the argument about the role of flash in helping people get good tattoos. And Jo Jo Ackerman makes it better anyway :)
Classic or modern flash that is tattooed however many times (that army of crawling panthers) just isn't the same as someone copying what is clearly intended as custom work...

Since Oliver M. is out of town when I'm in London I think I might try to get a walkin at Modern Classic Tattoo in Fullham tomorrow.
Will see how things proceed!

Also, don't people take out regular loans for things anymore?

I'm just at the end of four days in Stockholm.
My wife did two days getting her side panel started by Calle Corson at King Carlos. A really giant peony (picture on his IG if anyone is interested).
I've been here before for work but this time I was just minding my son- so we were in every park and playground I could find.
Cool city. Expensive but that's a bit like complaining Dublin is wet. Of course it is.

I'm just at the end of four days in Stockholm.
My wife did two days getting her side panel started by Calle Corson at King Carlos. A really giant peony (picture on his IG if anyone is interested).
I've been here before for work but this time I was just minding my son- so we were in every park and playground I could find.
Cool city. Expensive but that's a bit like complaining Dublin is wet. Of course it is.

I'm just at the end of four days in Stockholm.
My wife did two days getting her side panel started by Calle Corson at King Carlos. A really giant peony (picture on his IG if anyone is interested).
I've been here before for work but this time I was just minding my son- so we were in every park and playground I could find.
Cool city. Expensive but that's a bit like complaining Dublin is wet. Of course it is.

Also, don't people take out regular loans for things anymore?

My reading of the story is that the judge made the order on the basis that she could contract HIV or Hepatitis or similar as a result of getting tattooed. There's also mention of her having been tested, window periods etc.
To me, if that is the primary concern of the court, it seems like the judge shouldn't stop there ... Why not ban her from drinking alcohol in excess, having unprotected sex etc. also? The odds of her getting HIV from a tattoo are vanishingly small in comparison with other risky life activities. I think that's the main silliness of the story.
For what it's worth my wife is still breastfeeding our son and just started a big side piece. He's over a year old and there have been no bumps in the road so far. I think where any kind of illness could pose a problem is in the early stages of nursing, the first few weeks or months, moreso than down the road when the baby is eating solids and whatnot as well. Maybe we're cavalier about these things in our house but we haven't worried about it overly.
Breastfeeding seems to result in such positive health outcomes for babies (and arguably mothers too) that I would venture to say a judge should have no business making this kind of order without pretty pressing grounds for doing so, in my opinion, not just because of the effect it will have on the family in question but for the broader signal it sends out potentially. It's kind of depressing here in Ireland to see how many mothers who might want to try breastfeeding have formula pushed upon them almost immediately, even though ostensibly we're supposed to be trying to improve the rate at which women breastfeed.
The main reason I posted the story, though, is that it illustrates a judge with a pretty skewed perception of the health risks associated with getting tattooed are. We'd have more than a few HIV cases on this board at the rate we get tattooed here, if his fears were well-founded. I suspect he's not the only one out there of that generation in positions like that who holds those sorts of ideas.

My reading of the story is that the judge made the order on the basis that she could contract HIV or Hepatitis or similar as a result of getting tattooed. There's also mention of her having been tested, window periods etc.
To me, if that is the primary concern of the court, it seems like the judge shouldn't stop there ... Why not ban her from drinking alcohol in excess, having unprotected sex etc. also? The odds of her getting HIV from a tattoo are vanishingly small in comparison with other risky life activities. I think that's the main silliness of the story.
For what it's worth my wife is still breastfeeding our son and just started a big side piece. He's over a year old and there have been no bumps in the road so far. I think where any kind of illness could pose a problem is in the early stages of nursing, the first few weeks or months, moreso than down the road when the baby is eating solids and whatnot as well. Maybe we're cavalier about these things in our house but we haven't worried about it overly.
Breastfeeding seems to result in such positive health outcomes for babies (and arguably mothers too) that I would venture to say a judge should have no business making this kind of order without pretty pressing grounds for doing so, in my opinion, not just because of the effect it will have on the family in question but for the broader signal it sends out potentially. It's kind of depressing here in Ireland to see how many mothers who might want to try breastfeeding have formula pushed upon them almost immediately, even though ostensibly we're supposed to be trying to improve the rate at which women breastfeed.
The main reason I posted the story, though, is that it illustrates a judge with a pretty skewed perception of the health risks associated with getting tattooed are. We'd have more than a few HIV cases on this board at the rate we get tattooed here, if his fears were well-founded. I suspect he's not the only one out there of that generation in positions like that who holds those sorts of ideas.

I've never heard of an allergic reaction or infection arising from out of tattooing making breast milk unsafe to consume... I know my wife would be interested - are there many cases you're aware of or are there any resources / articles on this out there?
Fascinated as to how the judge will enforce his no breastfeeding ban though!
Given his concerns you'd think he would have banned her from risky sexual practices too.

I went to Tokyo Disney and was wearing shorts and a t-shirt...
When I went through the ticket area I was getting some pained looks but I (honestly) didn't realise until later in the day, when I saw a sign, that tattoos were to be covered.
I guess they were irritated but for some reason said nothing (I think even Japanese employees look the other way if it's too much hassle / embarrassment sometimes).
Had I known I would have covered up, if it's the rules then it's the rules...

I don't think traditional tattoos necessarily inspire a 'fuck yeah, that's awesome' reaction in most people straight off the bat. A segment immediately - absolutely - and maybe more since they really came to fore as a genre in the past few years, but I think it's fair to say that most people (and a lot of collectors) are more readily able to recognise good tattooing when it comes in the form of accomplished japanese style, black and grey etc.
It probably took me at least five years of collecting and looking at tattoos a lot before I started to "get" traditional (maybe I was a slow learner). Even then, it was even longer before I understood what was going on with some of the more folksy approaches to it.
To me the thing about traditional tattoos is that although you could say that there is a flash lexicon there ready to use, the devil is in the subtle details. A Bert Krak crawling panther will be a very different beast, excuse the pun, to an Uncle Allen take on the same starting point. I love that aspect of it. Looking at stuff from particular artists and seeing where they've gone with it. You get the really whimsical and fun, like Jesse Gordon Jnr, you get the real traditionalists, like Tommy T. here in Dublin and people who are doing a really distinct personal folk style like Mario Desa (or at least, that's what I see there, apologies if I'm wrong :P ).

RIP Const. Woodall.

Just on Jezebel, this article and really journalism in general: As a news junkie one of the downsides of the move from print media to online for me is that "click bait" articles seem here to stay.
It doesn't matter if it's contrived, deliberately provocative or just plain badly written... If it gets the hits then it apparently fits a (short sighted) business model.
Already with The Guardian in the UK there is a divergence between the print paper and website. You'll find nutty pieces online you won't in print.
BTW, on that original article, what was her obsession with the guy's on-the-fly analogy... Is he supposed to be a tattooer or a professor of English!?

Of course I'm glad tattoos hurt: I agree it's an integral part of keeping them for the dedicated only... Willing to sit and take it for the lifetime reward of the tattoo.
But...
I got to admit that I stopped philosophising too earnestly about the educational or self improving nature of the pain the time I got my front lined out. It wasn't a relevatory experience for me ... I just felt like I got carved up! I guess I found my personal tipping point that day.
Small tattoos, or decent pieces most places on the body... I can grin and bear it and, yes, I probably learned a thing or two about managing pain mentally. Even my back piece was pretty Ok.
But a really long sessions on a sensitive place like the torso or ribs... mostly just makes me miserable end of story. Can't make a purse from a sow's ear.

Of course I'm glad tattoos hurt: I agree it's an integral part of keeping them for the dedicated only... Willing to sit and take it for the lifetime reward of the tattoo.
But...
I got to admit that I stopped philosophising too earnestly about the educational or self improving nature of the pain the time I got my front lined out. It wasn't a relevatory experience for me ... I just felt like I got carved up! I guess I found my personal tipping point that day.
Small tattoos, or decent pieces most places on the body... I can grin and bear it and, yes, I probably learned a thing or two about managing pain mentally. Even my back piece was pretty Ok.
But a really long sessions on a sensitive place like the torso or ribs... mostly just makes me miserable end of story. Can't make a purse from a sow's ear.

Just on Jezebel, this article and really journalism in general: As a news junkie one of the downsides of the move from print media to online for me is that "click bait" articles seem here to stay.
It doesn't matter if it's contrived, deliberately provocative or just plain badly written... If it gets the hits then it apparently fits a (short sighted) business model.
Already with The Guardian in the UK there is a divergence between the print paper and website. You'll find nutty pieces online you won't in print.
BTW, on that original article, what was her obsession with the guy's on-the-fly analogy... Is he supposed to be a tattooer or a professor of English!?

Talk to anyone at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop.
The Okey Doke is reputable too.

Talk to anyone at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop.
The Okey Doke is reputable too.

Talk to anyone at The Pearl Harbour Gift Shop.
The Okey Doke is reputable too.