Manchester International Tattoo Show

Body art is a divisive thing. I have friends who have full sleeves of tattoos, some who have had body modifications through to those who find the whole idea abhorrent.

 

Mr GFB and I sit on almost entirely opposite sides of the fence. I love tattoos, love piercings and whilst body mods aren’t really my thing (or at least I’ve never found anything I fancied having done), Mr GFB has none at all and doesn’t find tattoos attractive – though piercings are less of an issue.

 

I can understand why – tattooing, despite laser removal, is generally seen as permanent. Most piercings can quickly heal and be gone within a short space of time.

Whereas I see body art as an expression. Each tattoo I have had done was at a specific time in my life I wished to mark and for a particular reason. They have significance and ever since my mum died in 2010 I’d been looking for a way to mark both it and the most recent changes in my life.

So when the International Tattoo Show rolled into town, I was at the very least going to have a look around.

Walking in, the sound of tattoo guns fills the air, that distinct buzz that for anyone who has been on the receiving end of that gun, is seductive. It teases you. Tempts you. Tattoos are addictive. The pain is fleeting, the art is forever. Or until you get it lasered off.

 

At stand after stand people were sitting and lying while artists worked. Some stands were full with pre-made appointments, others are accepting walk ups, some were restrictive with their designs, others designing on the day. If you were looking for something new, chances are, you’d find it.

 

I felt like a kid in a sweet shop. Vintage designs sat side by side with modern artwork. And it wasn’t just tattoos on offer.

 

Almost as soon as I walked in I spotted Dr Evil from Punctured Body Modification. I’d wanted my lip pierced, a Monroe piercing for a good few years, but simply hadn’t gotten around to it. Here was opportunity, a very good price and I knew I was in safe hands. Any man whose own body mods include a tongue split, knows what he’s doing.

 

A sharp scratch and a stud later, and my piercing was in place.

But it wasn’t just tattoos and piercings on offer. Scorpio Shoes had some of the most incredible steampunk themed shoes I’ve ever seen.

The Red Queen Boutique and the Razorblade Mermaid had some beautiful one off pieces of jewellery and Tile Productions had incredible tattoo tags and large tiled splashbacks.

And if a little shopping didn’t appeal, then there were incredible cupcakes from The Custom Cupcake Company, including the Afterburner – cinnamon meets heat, meets sugar. Incredible.

 

With acrobatic and musical acts on the main stage, it was hard not to be distracted from the buzzing machines and smell of disinfectant spray.

 

But I returned to my meanderings around and I spotted a bird. A simple tattoo that caught my attention. The bird spoke to me of freedom. Of being released from unhappiness and a decades long cage of depression. And of a change of life, a new way of existing. So I chatted to Martin of Sacred Ink and a deal was struck.

 

And the bird was mine.

She sits on my left arm, on the line to my heart and it’s as important as the lizard on my shoulder that reminds me of independence gained, the paw prints of unconditional love and the lilies of a heart’s home.

When I’m an old lady and someone asks me about them, I’ll tell them the stories, they’re as important to me as the lines on my face and, though hidden under dye, the grey hairs on my head.

Each is now part of me.