Spring time magic
Finishing of a busy April, I was heading to Fredericton New Brunswick , for the fist time in my life. It’s kind of funny when you underestimating the land mass that is between cities, realizing that it takes 6 hours of flying to get there; Regina to Toronto from Toronto to Montreal and finally Montreal to Fredericton.Once landed in the Fredericton, I originally thought it was a larger city but in fact it’s just a small city of approx 60 thousand. The city was super cute and had that old maritime charm that I got to enjoy staying there , plus the people were great.
I got to enjoy a week long guest spot at Crystal Head Tattoo along side MacPherson and Crystal. Both were so welcoming and accommodating , extremely helpful with getting to and from the convention. I also got to enjoy a week long guest spot in Edmonton Alberta, at Bombshell along side mind blowing artists like, Liz Venom, Jay Freestyle, Razor Shapes and many more (Those are their instagram names so make sure to follow them).
KIRBY FOR THE WIN
Fredericton Tattoo Convention was super small but such a fun convention. During this I got to do a couple larger projects like Catwoman/Batman and Kirby/Metaknight Mashups , tattooed Friday respectively Saturday. Friday as I waited for judging with my client we unfortunately didn’t win but after asking the judges we came in 2nd which was so nice to find out , and get their input on the tattoo.
“HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE STARBRITE COLORS FOR THE REST OF YOUR CAREER ? – KIRK SILVER”
These were the words that changed my career. Patiently waiting for judging Saturday night with my Cousin who I got to tattoo a Kirby/Metaknight Mashup on. Judging was slow but worth the wait. We took home Best tattoo of the Day for Saturday , which was my first tattoo of the day award and a very proud moment. Kirk Silver, a pro-team artist from Starbrite Colors was one of the judges that evening and came up to me after I took pictures with my awards and we talked about my piece I just won with. After talking he asked me , if I would be interested in using Starbrite Colors for the rest of my career. I was blown away by this as this is a huge event for any tattooer and 3 weeks later I myself was a pro-team artist for Starbrite Colors.
WHY HAVEN‘T YOU GUESTED AT MY SHOP YET?
This is what I got asked by the famous Liz Venom during the Pile-O-Bones Convention in Regina. She casually came up to my booth and asked me
Star struck after watching her tattoo , and knowing who she was , I remember saying something along the lines of “I didn’t think I was of calibre to tattoo along side you guys yet!” After talking we ended up booking a week long guest spot with Liz at her shop Bombshell in Edmonton. While there , it was so great to see multiple stunning pieces just being created each day , and having such a friendly welcoming vibe at her studio. I watched Liz tattoo one day during my stay at her studio , I recall her talking about Northern Tattoo Supply , a company she owns , and what they do for their sponsors artist , and hints she made during our conversation.
After the session was done Liz just stands besides me and says” What do you think?”. I was just asked at this moment to be apart of the pro-team of Northern Tattoo Supply! I asked if she was serious, her response will always make me laugh , “It’s my team , I can put who ever I want on it”. Proudly I am , since that moment , a pro-team artist for Northern Tattoo Supply. This all has blown me away because just 1 month prior I was a ‘nobody’ in the tattoo world.
From this, I went on to do my first two conventions, in Edmonton in September and Calgary in October. These have started a crazy addiction to conventions, and the drive to do better at my art and start winning awards was the goal. Calgary was such a successful show for me as I got to tattoo many patches throughout the weekend, which was so much fun. I finished the Patch of “The Stitch” character at 4 am Sunday so we could enter it into the tattoo of the day for Sunday and was only 1/2 point away from winning tattoo of the day! This was the closest I got to an award for the 2021 convention series.
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