but this year I was convinced to go,
and it turned out a million times better than I expected.
It's way different than other conventions;
there's less public,
and it's mostly just filled with tattoo artists, aspiring tattoo artists,
and serious tattoo collectors.
There's seminars/panels all day every day on painting, tattooing, taxes, etc.
It's pretty nuts.
I took a Shawn Barber painting seminar,
met a bunch of awesome people,
did a few fun tattoos, etc.
But there were two things about the weekend that topped it all.
Amy and Jamie came out from Northampton to stay with me for the weekend,
and I got to share a double booth with Jeff Gogue, Mick Squires (of Australia), and Horien (of Japan).
I think the Amy and Jamie hangout time made everything so much better.
They brought batches of homemade vegan cookies,
and boxes of vegan chocolates.
They brought smiles, hugs, and laughs.
They are two of the best people I've ever met,
and I couldn't have been happier that they weekended with me.
They got along with everyone,
are brutally helpful,
and took a ton of wonderful photos for me.
Sharing a booth with Jeff Gogue and friends was pretty amazing.
Jeff was the keynote speaker of the convention,
and all of his art was on all of the promotional materials.
He is kind of the entire face of Paradise.
He is also one of the most inspiring people I have ever met,
and it was a huge honor to have been included in that booth.
Usually I come away from tattoo conventions with no voice,
tired, cranky, etc,
but this time I left hungrier than ever,
and full of drive.
I'm somehow even more excited to go out to Oregon in January for the extended guest spot.
I did two new tattoos during the convention.
This big leg addition is on Scout,
a fantastic artist and tattoo apprentice in Northampton, MA.
She already had the mermaid,
but we added some fish morphing into birds going up her leg.
We got all the black and grey work taken care of,
and next time we'll do the color.
She sat like a champ,
and a lot of fun to talk to.
Todd H came and got tattooed,
and it was fun hanging out with him, too.
(as always)
He got a memorial tattoo for his friend I once met while tattooing him.
She died last year, and he wanted a piece based on her nickname,
"stubborn jungle man bad guy".
That's certainly the right way to remember the good times.
Thanks to everyone who helped made it a fantastic weekend,
especially the people at Off the Map/TattooNow who put it all on.
And for Miss Mary Bowen,
since she always looks out for me extra special...
