The constant buzzing of tattoo needles provided a fitting soundtrack to the second annual Reformed In Ink tattoo convention held this weekend at the Holiday Inn in Mansfield.
More than 50 tattoo artists worked their craft despite being somewhat crowded for space at the convention, a problem convention manager Rick Fields is happy to have.
“Originally I did (the convention) here in Mansfield because I didn’t want to bite off more than I could chew, so I wanted to go a little smaller in size,” said Fields. “So we did it last year and it was a huge success, we had lines out the door all three days. There was a huge demand to come back, so we’re doing it annually, and we’re actually outgrowing it. We’ve got people stuffed in there.”
Fields, who has nine tattoos himself, has been working as a tattoo artists for more than 20 years and just opened a shop in Mansfield two years ago. After attending numerous conventions in the past and hearing artist complaints, he decided he wanted to create a convention that was more geared towards the artists’ wants and needs.
“At other shows, anybody is allowed to get into the contest but at my show, if you want to enter your tattoo the artist that did it must be in attendance at the show. It gives the artists a little recognition for their work,” explained Fields. “We do blind judging for contests, meaning when the person comes in and we judge it, all we know is a number, we don’t know who did the art, and we don’t even know the person’s name. That makes it unbiased so you don’t have to worry about favoritism. And at a lot of conventions the people that throw the conventions are also the ones winning the most trophies. All of the people that work for me are not allowed to enter any contests.”
Fields’ convention has attracted artists from all over the country, from Colorado to Arizona, though he said his convention only accepts “the best of the best” so people can “shop” for what they really like.
“Fifteen years ago, there were less than 100 tattoo shops in the state of Ohio; as of last year, there’s over 5,000,” said Fields. “A lot of people don’t realize there’s a difference in quality from shop to shop, so we’re trying to bring in the best so you don’t have to guess.”
One tattoo artist, Eddy Arg, traveled to Mansfield from Atlanta, Georgia to participate in the convention after meeting artists from the Tattoo Factory in Bucyrus at a convention last year. In his sixteenth year as an artist, Arg believes the tattoo industry has given way to “the rise of the artist.”
“Back then, anybody with the right amount of talent and/or gumption would be able to score an apprenticeship if you were deemed worthy,” said Arg. “Nowadays, unless you have an extensive art background no one is going to give you the time of day unless you pay your way into it. The industry is evolving to where you need art skills and to have a grasp on the fundamentals of art before getting into tattooing.”
No one knows the struggles of breaking into the industry better than tattoo artist Jessica Haney of Dover, Ohio, one of the few female tattoo artists present at the convention. Haney originally went to art school to work in advertising.
“Then the computer sort of took over everything, so I got mad and joined a rock band,” said Haney.
It was while touring with the band Mushroomhead based out of Cleveland that Haney got her first taste for tattoos, and started an apprenticeship in a tattoo shop. However, it was a difficult road to the top being a female.
“Everything I’ve learned is by watching, and I learned the hard way,” said Haney.
Haney’s background in art gave her a different perspective in the tattoo world that wasn’t always appreciated; her realism style of tattooing was initially frowned upon in an industry based on a traditional tracing style. She had the last laugh, though. Haney started her tattoo shop My Museum Tattoo Studio in 2004, and is now booked more than a year in advance.
“I am able to do realism on skin because of my background in painting, and I’m already a girl fighting in a male-dominated industry,” said Haney. “But your end result is what matters, not how you got there.”
Another female tattoo artist present at the convention was Whitney Drown, otherwise known as Whitney D. Whitney has been tattooing for 15 years now, and on Saturday was busy correcting a tattoo for her friend Chelsea Gheen, a 21-year-old from Mansfield. Gheen’s tattoo, a skull with crossing swords and roses, sprawls across her middle back.
Over the past three years, Gheen has gotten 83 tattoos in various places on her body, and she said there is a story behind every piece.
“Nine times out of ten if I’m getting a tattoo, it has meaning,” she said. But she admitted that there’s mornings when she gets out of the shower and wonders where the new tatoo came from.
Across the convention hall floor, 30-year-old Patrick Lockwood of Oak Harbor, Ohio was busy getting a tattoo that also had special meaning to him: a portrait of Doc Holliday on his calf, in honor of his dog named Huckleberry. He noted every tattoo on his body has special meaning, particularly two tattoos on the inside of each of his wrists: the names of his mother and father.
“I used to cut myself, so I tattooed my mother and father’s names on my wrists as a reminder that when I cut myself, I hurt the two people that love me the most,” said Lockwood.
Tattoo artist Josh Phillips of Mansfield worked from a picture of the American Old West character as he tattooed the likeness onto Lockwood’s leg, and both men agreed with the typical saying of tattoos being addicting.
“I planned on getting just one, and I was doing tattoos a year later,” said Phillips.
Lockwood, who has 18 tattoos accumulated over the last four years, guessed tattoos were addicting because people either love the pain, want something with meaning, or “you just can’t get enough.”
The latter was the case for Joey Korb of Cleveland. Korb traveled to the Mansfield convention simply to offer himself as a blank canvas for his friend, tattoo artist Jake Ross of Cleveland. Ross has been tattooing for five years now after starting when he was just 15 years old, and has given Korb all of his 17 tattoos except for one.
“And I’m in the process of covering that up,” said Ross with a laugh.
Ross spent more than four hours on Saturday tattooing the demon doll Chucky onto the back of Korb’s left thigh, right next to a portrait of Michael Jordan he’d done previously. When asked how he chooses his tattoos, Korb said he goes with “whatever strikes my fancy.”
“I don’t like to put too much thought into (my tattoos) because it’s going to be permanent on your body,” said Korb. “If I was some dude that had tattoos all over his body I’m not going to explain every one. Some people just want ink.”
“Fifteen years ago, there were less than 100 tattoo shops in the state of Ohio; as of last year, there’s over 5,000,” said organizer Rick Fields. “A lot of people don’t realize there’s a difference in quality from shop to shop.”
