Wednesday, September 10, 2008

The Boston Tattoo Convention is coming up

Mobius Tattoo by Spacemanbobby.
The Boston Tattoo Convention is coming up this weekend! Bostonist is talking with tattoo artists to get a feel for what the weekend will be like. Today's artist is Joe Boo of Lightwave Tattoo in Saugus, Mass. He had a lot to say, especially about folks who don't know how to prepare for a tattoo (portfolio, portfolio, portfolio).

How did you get started tattooing?
I was an arty punk kid growing up in Hanson, MA, and I went to a lot of punk/hard core shows in Boston all through high school. I could always draw, and found myself drawing a lot of tattoo designs for friends who were sneaking off to NH or RI. These kids would come back and the tattoos were either really well done (and this got me excited to see my art on them) or really poor, and when they came back bad all I could think about was how I could have done a better job if I had the gear. At this point the gears were turning, and I had been tattooed by a friend "Big Joe." Once I got my first tattoo, I fell in love with it. I went to college, got a BFA in studio arts. By the time I got out, my good friend Jim Duval was working at Yankee Tattoo in Burlington, VT, and I got started there. I first started with a piercing apprenticeship with Kathy Nelson and then moved on to a tattoo apprenticeship with Bald Bill Henshaw, and he showed me the ropes about tattooing. Bald Bill is an old school guy with a heart of gold, and is a rock solid tattoo artist, I am eternally grateful for all the time and effort he put into me. I would really be nothing without him. (Bald Bill and Jim will also be at the BTC this year under the Yankee Tattoo banner!!)

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