Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "tattoos"

Neo Crocker: believe it or not

2010-10-19T01:46:08Z

"Can you believe this is Sacramento?"

Saturday night, at Neo-Crocker 2010, I heard many variations on this theme, but the first time I heard it stands out.

The awestruck reveler voicing the sentiment? None other than Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

It was easy to understand his, and others’, disbelief. At first blush, Neo-Crocker certainly seemed to be a party more suited to New York or Los Angeles than our own fair hamlet, yet here it was, at Third and O, not on Fifth Avenue or Rodeo Drive.

But this was better.

It was like a New York party, but without the pretension.

It was like an L.A. party, but without the disingenuousness.

This was a party for a Sacramento all dressed up and wearing its big-boy pants.

It was certainly a feather in the cap for the "Sacramento as a world-class city" crowd.

Ultimately, the museum itself was the star, as well it should have been. I could have very easily spent the entire evening wandering the upper floors, perusing the art and enjoying the various strategically placed performers. As it was I spent close to two hours meandering through the myriad galleries, and I feel like I only scratched the surface.

The second floor, which celebrates the Art of Wayne Thiebaud, "Sacramento's most famous artist," featured Poetry Machine, by the Sacramento Poetry Center. Imagine a deli, but instead of serving hoagies, they serve poems.

As I walked by, not sure what was going on, I was shanghaied with "what do you want a poem about?" I repeated the question, stammered a bit and then replied, belatedly, "existentialism?" (I thought we left the pretension in New York?)

In less time than it took me to answer his question, the dapper gentleman at the typewriter produced this tour de force "instamatic" poem:

"Sometimes its hard to ask for the poem you want ask for.

This is why we don't get what we don't want.

Is this a song?

Is this a story?

Not sure"

I'm not exaggerating when I say this is now one of my favorite poems.

Robert Burns, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Frost – and that guy in the tux.

On the third floor, I fell in love with landscape artist Edwin Deakin, a British painter who immigrated to Chicago at the age of 18 in 1856. In 1870, he moved to San Francisco and began creating iconic images of the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe Basin.

It seemed that every other painting that caught my eye was his work. I was admiring a particularly interesting piece of his, "Strawberry Creek," when I struck up a conversation with a statuesque blonde.

"This is so much better than it was before" said Autumn, referring to the museum. "This is great for Sacramento. I'm so impressed." She also said she'd just returned to Sacramento from New York and Milan, implying, I think, that she wasn't easily impressed.

In addition to art ranging from 16th-century Dutch masters to 21st-century modernist ceramics, there were several poets, musicians and "living sculptures" adding to the atmosphere.

Eventually I dragged myself away from the art upstairs to check out more of the action on the ground floor. On my way down I stopped by the drink check table (apparently they frown on carrying alcoholic beverages near the priceless artifacts) to mention how impressed I was to Jenny, one of the many volunteers on duty.

"I know, isn't it great? And it's here, in Sac. It's ours. I feel I have a certain ownership of it," she said, beaming like a proud parent.

Downstairs, the party was in full swing. On the main stage, where the Sacramento Ballet had performed earlier, fire dancers Vulcan Crew and Solar Flare were performing. The Main Stage was hosted by Taryn Thru-U, Mizz Monique Moore & Malhae, female impersonators extraordinaire.

In the Friedman Court, they were having a free-form fashion show by Miss Velvet Cream and Muse Salon. There were beautiful people, in beautiful clothes, with beautiful hair beautifully made-up, being beautiful. On pedestals.

In the E. Kendall Davis Courtyard there were all sorts of things going on – Body painting, Social Sculpture, a Wells Fargo Photo shoot, Style Inspired by Art presented by the Arden Fair Mall.

It was also the setting for my favorite musical act of the evening, Exquisite Corps, a three-piece jazz ensemble that closed out the evening.

As you went around the courtyard, counterclockwise, you could get your hair and makeup done, a professionally staged photo taken, your body painted and then made personalized pins or T-shirts...presumably with a stop at the cash bar between each station. Or maybe the smokers’ cage in the back (warning: please do not feed or taunt the smokers).

Throughout it all there were roaming performances by Santa Cruz's Nocturnal Sunshine. There is just something about stilt walkers. They add a wonderful level of surrealism to an event. And Sierra, Cindy and Karen, the girls from Nocturnal Sunshine, were great. I saw nary a stumble.

As if this weren't enough, there was also a live tattoo demo and life drawing taking place in the art studio. Alycia Harr of Leonardi Tattoo was putting her considerable talents on display, working on an arm sleeve for one person and a monumental back piece for another.

Right next door were a dozen or so easels set up around a small stage where various men and women modeled for revelers who drew them to the best of their ability. I must say, there were some supremely talented partygoers.

The headliner, RJD2, took the stage in Friedman Court at 11 p.m. to a decent crowd. He's a DJ and music producer out of Philadelphia and is well-known in hip-hop and electronica circles. You may know his track "A Beautiful Mine" as the theme song to the "Mad Men" TV series.

He started off with a lot of melodic and interesting instrumental tracks. He even dropped a caveat to the crowd early in his set. "If this is too damned artsy for you, and you just wanna dance, stick around. We'll get to that."

And he did, eventually, but I actually enjoyed his earlier stuff more than the straight dance stuff he played later. Although he was a bit more creative and eclectic in his mixes (I particularly liked his use of Desmond Decker’s "Shanty Town" and Talking Heads’ "Once in a Lifetime"), a lot of it felt like semi-generic club music. ("You got the best of my love," "She's a bad Mama Jamma" and "No Diggitty." Blackstreet? really?)

For the most part, the crowd seemed to enjoy the more elementary dance stuff, and there was a high-energy, if limited, dance floor. I guess that's what really matters. ( At one point, there was a little pushing and shoving, which looked like it was going to degenerate into a fight. Seriously, at a museum fund raiser? Who does that? Thankfully cooler heads prevailed, or this may have been a very different piece.)

Speaking of the crowd, I was struck by its heterogeneousness. It's hard to imagine a more eclectic group (at least for an event that cost nearly $100 at the door.) At one point, it may have been during "No Diggity," I was at the back of the dance floor next to two mostly naked and body-painted kids in their early 20s, when what must have been an 85-year-old woman came by with her walker, a huge smile on her face. Par for the course.

The outfits ranged from the snazzy to the absurd, black tie to sesame street. Many wore tuxes, one wore a jacket made of swatch watches. Our own editor in chief, David Watts Barton, was wearing a full red silk suit.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the food, provided by Bobbin and Patrick Mulvaney, who will also be operating the new Crocker Cafe. An army of servers wandered the grounds with goat cheese bruschetta with porcini mushrooms, mini burgers (so good), small chinese takeout boxes filled with delectable noodles, trail mix, Yukon gold potatoes with white cheddar and bacon, and many other yummy goodies.

Overall, the party was outstanding. It was visually stunning, artistically moving, culinarily satiating and sonically satisfactory.

"Can you believe this is Sacramento?"

I can.

All of the images are the work of the lovely and talented Kati Garner

The Submarines @ Blue Lamp

2010-07-02T07:25:41Z

The Submarines are an indie-pop group comprised of married couple Jack Dragonetti and Blake Hazard. Touring with drummer Jason Stare and new bass player "Scott," they passed through Sacramento on Wednesday night, playing a small show at Blue Lamp.

If you don't recognize the band name, you would certainly recognize the music. Their songs have been featured in Nip/Tuck, Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, and in maybe the most well-known placement, the songs "You, Me and the Bourgeoisie" and "Submarine Symphonika" were used in Apple commercials for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS.

Originally working as solo artists in Boston, Dragonetti and Hazard played in each other's bands and were romantically involved for four years. The relationship ended, but because Hazard still recorded her music in Dragonetti's home studio, the pair quickly discovered the songs they were writing were about each other and their sadness in having broken up. They starting working together again and eventually married. They have released two full-length albums, Declare a New State! and Honeysuckle Weeks, and a third release is upcoming.

Fun fact: Hazard is the great-granddaughter of The Great Gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Who attends tattoo festivals, why?

2009-06-22T07:02:40Z

The second day of the eighth annual All American Tattoo festival brought a much larger crowd to the Convention Center Saturday than on its opening night, Friday.

Attendees had various reasons for checking out the tattoos and tattooed.

Justin Maulit came with his wife and 16-month-old daughter to finish part of their wedding vows.

“I’m here to get tattooed. It’s for our wedding. Me and my wife are getting matching ones. It’s a lady and a skull, and it says, ‘Til Death Do Us Part.’” She always wanted to get one, and we had [our daughter] and she couldn’t get one for the past two years, so now she’s getting hers done. [We brought our daughter] just as an experience, I’m pretty sure she’s going to get some later on down the line, and every year we’ve brought her.”

Justin Nixon came with his best friend: his 9-year-old son, Tanner Nixon.

“For six years I’ve been coming out here. It’s a cool environment…There’s a lot of good artists here, and there’s all kinds of different art. Not just body art, there’s paintings…it’s just a neat experience. [I brought my son] because that’s my best friend. We do everything together.”

Tanner said he plans to get a tattoo of Jesus Christ with thorns around his head. "[I want] the same one my dad’s going to get.”

Carl Puchalski (shown in photos 3, 6, and 10) a 55-year-old state worker, came to get more work done on his front-and-back piece, which has been a work in progress for the past nine to 10 years. Puchalski has been getting worked on by Bill from Liberty Art & Ink.

Puchalski won first place at this year's festival for best male large tattoo. He admits to wearing long sleeve shirts to work at his state job and gets an occasional reaction from co-workers. "I do because I started rolling my cuffs up, so they can see that I’ve got this [but] no one knows about the body yet."

Tanya Tallent also made the festival a family affair, bringing along her five 5-year-old son Nathan.

“Some friends of mine and I were considering getting tattoos, and we wanted to explore the different styles of artwork … They ended up not being able to come," Tallent said. "I came with my family instead. I thought [my son] would just get a kick out of the art. He asked me just a little while ago if he could get one, and I said not until he’s 18.”

Alex Briones (shown on left in photo 1) came to the festival with members of his organization, Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club and the Legacy Vets.

“We promote issues dealing with veterans. We don’t want people to forget our POWs and MIAs," Briones said. "We come here to just check it out, be seen and have fun.”

*Author's Note: All photos courtesy of Jonathan Mendick

Sac Convention Center gets inked

2009-06-21T03:58:48Z

Guns and needles took over the Sacramento Convention Center Friday.

Tattoo guns and needles, that is. The first day of the eighth annual Forever Tattoo’s All American Tattoo Festival kicked off the weekend with the best of the best in the ink industry, tattoo contests and circus-style side performer George the Giant.

Sponsored by Tatt life, Tattoo Energy and Budweiser, the festival gave ink fans the chance to peruse and purchase the work of more than 80 tattoo artists from not only the United States but as far as Sweden (Living All Tattoo), Greece (Nico Tattoo) and Italy (Cherry Tattoo).

“I usually go to the festivals in San Francisco, but this is the first year I’ve gone to one [in Sacramento]," festival-goer Zachary Bacon said. "They have a lot of great artists and I’m really impressed."

Some festival-goers had blank flesh canvases and others had mere inches of available space to tattoo. A few artists offered “festival” specials, knocking anywhere from $20 to $40 off their prices, and some charged several hundred dollars to customers, who more than willing to pay for their expertise.

Newly tattooed festival-goers have the opportunity to enter their pieces into contests, which will continue throughout the weekend. Friday’s contests included best sleeve and leg tattoos, and the recipients of the coffin-themed plaques (and bragging rights) were Samantha Schue and Matthew Kleinhauas (pictured).

The evening’s main attraction, besides fresh ink, was George the Giant, a stunt performer who starred in the movie Big Fish and was on “America’s Got Talent.” George stunned his captive audience by swallowing a sword, hammering a nail through his nose and inviting an audience member to walk on his face, which was resting sideways on a pile of broken glass.

In the center of all the action, an art showing that will remain through Sunday lined the aisle leading up to the stage. The tattoo-themed paintings were created by various local artists whowill be inking throughout the festival, including Sacramento’s American Graffiti and Folsom City Ink.

Tattoos weren’t the only things being hawked, however. Livermore’s Charlotte’s Web sold tattoo-inspired clothing and Belzel Books set up a tattoo book nook. Tattoo aftercare companies took the opportunity to boasts their products as well, with companies like Tattoo Genie and Tattoo Goo claiming faster and better healing.

Hells Angels Sacramento, whose many members are tattoo collectors, set up shop to sell their gear and promote their organization. Passion Parties representatives handed out free samples of their intimate party favors, and Nos energy drink supplied boosts to the crowd.

Tattoo fans of all ages roamed the convention center until the doors closed at 11 p.m., many preparing to return the next day and get inked.

The All American Tattoo Festival will continue through Sunday, June 21 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 at the box office, located in front of the Sacramento Convention Center.

For Saturday and Sunday's schedule, click here

All photos taken by Jonathan Mendick

Does the economy have any effect on the tattoo industry?

2008-12-27T03:58:45Z

As I spend more and more time in downtown Sacramento, it seems that I see more and more tattoos. This realization led me to wonder: does the economy affect tattoo parlors? Do less people get tattoos? Do different people get tattoos?

According to Royal Peacock tattoo artist Jan Hill, not much has changed. "I haven't noticed a decrease in business from the economy at this time," he says.

There is a noticeable economic trend influenced by the weather. Less people are liable to get tattoos during the winter than during the summer. "Wintertime slows business down for tattooing," says Hill. "When it's harsher weather, people don't come out."

Business also tends to decrease specifically around Christmas time when people are putting their money towards gifts. According to American Graffiti artist Ryan Tanton, "right after Christmas it tends to pick back up again."

The state of the economy also hasn't changed the diversity of clientele. "In the last two years or so there's been a more diverse clientele," says Tanton. "But everyone gets tattoos. It's not a specific age group."

"Everyone gets tattooed for all different reasons. All different ages," says Hill.

So what encourages people to get a tattoo, even in a period of unstable economy? "That's not for us to find out or figure out," says Hill. "That's for each individual person to know."

Would the state of the economy deter you from getting a tattoo?

Royal Peacock is located at 2101 P Street. To check it out, click here.
American Graffiti is located at 16th and J Street. To check it out, click here.

To read the previous two articles about Sacramento tattoo parlors, click on the "storyline" tab to the right.

Tattoo artistry

2008-12-23T01:09:04Z

In my previous article about Sacramento tattoo parlors, which you can access by clicking on the "storyline" tab on the right, I wrote about the business aspects of a tattoo parlor: how to get a license, laws about sterilization, etc.. To get a more rounded perspective on the typical tattoo parlor, I spoke with a couple of artists from different parlors around town.

The foundation of a successful tattoo parlor is its artists. So what sets an individual artist apart from all others? "What sets them apart would be style, the way they draw, and the way they lay out the tattoos," says American Graffiti tattoo artist Ryan Tanton.

Artists can also distinguish themselves by learning multiple styles. "One way [that sets them apart] would be their ability to be a chameleon in the different styles of tattooing," says Royal Peacock tattoo artist Jan Hill.

Both style and technique can contribute to the individual aesthetics of a tattoo. As for style, there is no one particular way. "There's all different styles," says Hill. "There's Japanese style, there's street style, there's black-and-grey style."

There are also different techniques an artist can incorporate while applying the tattoo, like holding the needle a certain way. "[Your technique] might come from where you learned, how you learned, what country you live in," explains Hill. "You can pick up different techniques as you learn."

As for methods of applying tattoos, there are only two. "There's hand tattooing which would be by hand with a stick, and there's the electric machine," describes Tanton. "Those are the two basic ways about it."

Hand tattooing with a stick and a hammer is the earliest form of tattooing, and is still practiced in the application of traditional Borneo tattoos. However, most established parlors use the electric machine.

What about quality? What constitutes a quality tattoo? "A quality tattoo is going to have a nice, crisp black outline where it's a consistent line throughout the whole tattoo," says Tanton.

"You can always tell by good line work," says Hill. "If it's real smooth and it has nice line weight. If it's consistent. If the color's real bright, solid."

Tattooing is a form of artistry. It may seem similar to other art forms like graphic design or painting, but, as Tanton says, "it's in a category all its own."

Royal Peacock is located at 2101 P Street. To check it out, click here.

American Graffiti is located at 16th and J Street. To check it out, click here.

Sacramento tattoo parlors

2008-12-16T01:44:03Z

Whenever I spend time in downtown Sacramento, I can't help but notice the vast amount of tattoos and tattooed people. They're everywhere: the barista making your coffee, the waitress serving your food or that guy riding his bike across the street. Tattoos have become an inherent part of the Sacramento culture.

No wonder — there are over twenty licensed tattoo parlors scattered throughout the midtown and downtown areas. Each one is unique and based entirely on the individuality of its tattoo artists.

Parlor registry is regulated by the State of California. According to AB 186, to get a parlor license both the artists and the parlor must register with their county health department, pay the registration and inspection fees, and agree to regular health inspections on top of getting their business license.

To keep blood-borne pathogens from infecting the client, sterilization is mandatory. These days if the parlor is reputable, it sterilizes. All licensed parlors in California are subject to the California Health and Safety Code, meaning tattoo artists have to register with their county health departments and follow the code's strict policies on sterilization in order to practice in an establishment.

Although they are becoming increasingly more popular, there still remains a stigma against tattoos. Plus, most of them are open late at night. I'm curious to know what the relationship is like between the parlor and its neighbors. Do you or someone you know live near a tattoo parlor? What is your perspective? What do you think about the tattoo culture in general?

I'm also curious to know if the economy has any negative effects on the tattoo business. Do people still get tattoos even when the economy is bad? What would you choose, art or money?

To read reviews about Sacramento parlors, visit midtowngrid.com.