By Paige Whipple
An estimated 1,000 visitors and 300 artists packed the Baltimore Convention Center this weekend for the eighth annual Baltimore Tattoo Arts Convention.
Tattoo enthusiasts went to the show to meet and get tattooed by some of the major names in the industry, including VH1’s Black Ink Crew, Shanghai Kate, who is known as “America’s Tattoo Godmother,” and 19 winners, runner-ups and finalists of the Ink Master contest, a tattoo reality competition on Spike.
Baltimore is just one of eight stops on Villain Arts’ multi-city tour of conventions, which included Philadelphia, Chicago and Minneapolis.
Photo by Paige Whipple
The three-day event included live tattooing, entertainment, seminars and tattoo contests. Villain Arts, a tattoo supply company based in Philadelphia, hosts the conventions each year.
Artists and vendors attended the convention to promote and grow their businesses, have a good time, and also collaborate, brainstorm, and be inspired by fellow artists. Vendors came from other states, but also included hometown artists and shops.
Nicole Phipps Pietras and her husband Adam Pietras traveled from Philadelphia, where he tattoos at Dakini Tattoo Art Collective, because of hometown roots and new clientele.
Photo by Paige Whipple
Nicole, who lived in Baltimore for 12 years and has a tattoo in homage of the city, said Adam often gets Baltimore-based clients who drive to his shop in Philadelphia for tattoos.
“We wanted to come to their territory so they wouldn’t have to travel to us,” she said. “[Adam] even created a Baltimore-based board of tattoos to display.”
Among the Charm City images: Edgar Allan Poe, an Oriole bird, Natty Boh, and a crab. Adam tattooed 10 visitors throughout the weekend.
Nicole said one of the couple’s favorite things about the convention was the opportunity to connect with other artists and tattoo lovers.
“It’s awesome to get to see everyone else’s art,” she said. “We love seeing what they got today, what they want to get next, or new ideas that they have.”
Alexa Villanueba, who works for New Jersey-based Aztec Ink, said that the convention is the best place to learn and get feedback from other tattoo artists.
“The owner of Aztec has been coming here for six years,” Villanueba said. “You can see other artists and what they do. It’s a great chance to learn from each other. There are artists who are just starting out that are watching and listening and taking pointers from other artists.”
Photo by Paige Whipple
Other artists weren’t the only people closely watching the handiwork. Shaneen Trotman drove from Columbia, Maryland, to scout out potential tattoo artists.
“It’s amazing to be able to watch hundreds of artists work, because it’s honestly just hit or miss with tattoo parlors,” Trotman said. “You don’t know what it’s going to look like until someone is permanently inking your body. There’s no test run. Having all weekend to watch them turn visions and pieces of paper into tattoos is the closest thing you can get to a test run.”
Trotman said that while she didn’t get tattooed at the convention, it was a starting point in the process of getting her next one. She was able to walk around, watch all the artists work and network with them. She plans to research her favorites from home and go back to the chosen artist later on.
“If I find an artist that I love whose shop is in Philadelphia or Atlanta, I’m willing to make that trip,” she said. “I’d love to just take a weekend trip, get my tattoo and spend the weekend in a new city.”
The next Villain Arts tattoo convention is in Kansas City, Missouri, from May 1 to 3.